"Will you take the wager?" asked Dorothy.
"Nonsense!" was the only reply John deigned to give to so foolish a proposition.
"Then will you agree that I shall remain at the gate till Doll—Mistress Vernon comes?"
"I suppose I shall have to make the best terms possible with you," he returned. "You are an amusing fellow and as perverse as a woman."
"I knew you would soon learn to like me," she responded. "The first step toward a man's affection is to amuse him. That old saw which says the road to a man's heart is through his stomach, is a sad mistake. Amusement is the highway to a man's affections."
"It is better that one laugh with us than at us. There is a vast difference in the two methods," answered John, contemptuously.
"You dare to laugh at me," cried Dorothy, grasping the hilt of her sword, and pretending to be angry. John waved her off with his hand, and laughingly said, "Little you know concerning the way to a man's heart, and no doubt less of the way to a woman's."
"I, perhaps, know more about it than you would believe," returned Malcolm No. 2.
"If you know aught of the latter subject, it is more than I would suppose," said John. "It is absurd to say that a woman can love a man who is unable to defend himself."
"A vain man thinks that women care only for men of his own pattern," retorted Dorothy. "Women love a strong arm, it is true, but they also love a strong heart, and you see I am not at all afraid of you, even though you have twice my strength. There are as many sorts of bravery, Sir John, as—as there are hairs in my beard."