"Oh, will you, Patty? You're a dear old thing!"
"And amn't I mean and horrid, and a deserter?"
"Well, you're a bit of a deserter, and I suppose you'll rush off to a
Cosmic meeting the night of the Sale, and leave me to run it!"
"You're mean, now, Elise. You know I wouldn't do such a thing,—unless——"
"Unless what?"
"Unless it happened to be on a night of a special meeting of the Cosmic
Centre. In that case, I'd have to go for a little while."
Just then Van Reypen came in.
"You here, Patty?" he said. "I've been looking you up. How are you,
Elise? What are you girls confabbing about?"
"I'm scolding Patty for her desertion of us and her infatuation for those Blaney people."
"Confound those Blaney people! I wish they were in Timbuctoo!"