"Not at all," said Bartlett. "Money is all they want."
"An explanation," said the general, "will be sufficient. We do not want any tampering with the law." He picked up his hat and started for the door as he would sally forth and demand the surrender of a beaten foe.
"But, father," Henrietta's clear voice made him pause, "what can we explain?" She pushed back her auto veil and gazed from one to the other in gentle deprecation. "How we got in? But they wouldn't want us to explain that. You see, they can surmise that."
The general came back to the table. A little firmness, tempered with a lucid explanation in words of one syllable had always been his method in dealing with the weaker sex. "My dear Henrietta, we can explain why we are here."
"Why are we?" asked Henrietta meekly.
"Why are we?" demanded the general. "Because we took it for the house of a very old and dear friend."
"But as soon as we entered, father, we knew our mistake."
"Henrietta," said the general, "I can not argue with you."
"No, father," agreed Henrietta. "But when we found out our mistake, why didn't we leave?"
"I can not argue with you, Henrietta," repeated the general.