“VER—which?”
“Engaged.” She nodded her head thrice: viciously, decidedly, mischievously.
“So much the better.”
“ACH GOTT!” She made a gesture of hopelessness at his incorrigibility, and again attempted to withdraw her hands.
“I must go now.”
“Well then, good-by.”
It was easy to draw her closer by simply lowering her still captive hands. Then he suddenly kissed her coldly startled lips, and instantly released her. She as instantly vanished.
“Elsbeth,” he called quickly. “Elsbeth!”
Her now really frightened face reappeared with a heightened color from the dense foliage—quite to his astonishment.
“Hush,” she said, with her finger on her lips. “Are you mad?”