"I'll wait, Patty," and Van Reypen spoke cheerfully. "I'll wait, Little Girl, because I think a love like mine is bound to win at last. And I know you're too young yet to make up your mind. But, Patty, there isn't anybody else, is there?"
"Anybody else what?"
"Anybody else who likes you as much as I do. Is there?"
"Now, Phil, how could I tell that? When people say they love you heaps and heaps, you never know quite how much to believe, or quite how much is just the influence of the moonlight."
"Well, there's no moonlight here now. So when I tell you how much I love you, it's all true. You believe that, don't you, Little Girl?"
"Yes, I believe it. But, Philip, I wish you wouldn't talk about it to-day. I'm tired of—"
"Of having men tell you how much they love you? Poor little Patty! I'm afraid you'll have to put up with that all your life."
"Oh, horrible!" and Patty made a wry face. "I suppose some girls like it, but I don't."
"I'll tell you a way to avoid it, Patty. Be engaged to me, now,—even if you won't marry me right away, and then, you see, other men can't propose to you."
"Do you mean be engaged to you, Phil, without intending EVER to marry you!"