“Ah, cruel maiden!” cried Tommy dramatically. “Would you keep the pent-up emotion of my heart burning itself out with a lambent flame? Gee, but that was a good one! Wonder how I happened to think of it? I can’t always trace these brilliant ideas which occasionally flash from the bubbling fountain of my intelligence. They’re really going, Janette. Let’s rest. Let’s ensconce ourselves. Let’s modestly retire from the public gaze.”
But the tall brunette was obdurate, and Tommy could not inveigle her behind the palms.
“I must look like a dangerous devil,” said Tucker fiercely. “Never saw a girl that wasn’t scared to death to get out of sight with me for ten seconds.”
“I’ll give you a pointer,” smiled Janette. “Don’t let them know you’re so dreadfully anxious to get out of sight with them.”
“Never thought of that,” confessed the little chap. “Say, Janette, let’s stand under the chandelier a while. I’m awfully timid, you know. I wouldn’t go behind those palms for the world.”
Then, in a mock whisper, he murmured to himself:
“I wonder if it will work?”
“Oh, you’re the silliest little chap!” exclaimed the amused girl. “I suppose, now, you expect me to seize you bodily and drag you behind the palms. You’ve got a lot to learn, Tommy.”
“Bless you! bless you!” panted Tucker, beaming with gratitude. “You didn’t say mister.”
Again he resorted to an aside in a hoarse stage whisper: