"It isn't so cold as—as that, is it?" asked the voice under the plaid.
"Quite," I returned valiantly, tightening my clasp. She laughed a low, mellow laugh that set my heart beating to the tune of a trip-hammer. I felt a great intoxication of strength that might have razed Fort Douglas to the ground and conquered the whole world, which, I dare say, other young men have felt when the same kind of weight hung upon their protection.
"Oh! Little Statue! Why have you been so hard on us?" I began.
"Us?" she asked.
"Me—then," and I gulped down my embarrassment.
"Because——"
"Because what?"
"No what. Just because!" She was astonished that her decisive reason did not satisfy.
"Because! A woman's reason!" I scoffed.
"Because! It's the best and wisest and most wholesome reason ever invented. Think what it avoids saying and what wisdom may be behind it!"