"It means we wanted you, see? Now, Miss Clyde—or, may I call you Iris?"
"You may not!"
"Oh, very well—ve-ry well! But you call me Flossie, won't you?"
"I've no desire to call you anything——"
"Fie, fie! What a temper! Or doesn't your common sense tell you that it would be better for you to make friends with me than not?"
"I reserve the privilege of choosing my own friends."
"Oho! Of course you do, usually. But this is an unusual incident. An out-of-the-way occurrence, if I may say so."
Iris preserved a stony silence.
"All right, Miss Clyde. Here's your last chance. Be a little more friendly with me, and I assure you you'll get off much more easily. Continue to rebuff me with these crool, crool glances, and—take the consequences!"
The last three words were said in such a menacing tone that Iris jumped. It seemed this laughing young woman could turn decidedly threatening.