"What's the matter, Bertus?" the girl began quite abruptly. "You look worried. What's the matter?"
"Nothing is ever the matter," said Sagner.
The girl laughed, and began to build a high, tottering paper tower out of a learned-looking pack of catalogue cards. Just at the moment of completion she gave a sharp little inadvertent sigh and the tower fluttered down.
"What's the matter with you?" quizzed Sagner.
"Nothing is ever the matter with me, either," she mocked smilingly.
Trying to butt into the silence that was awkward for me, if not for them, I rummaged my brain for speech, and blurted out triumphantly, "We've just come from Professor Lennart's."
"Just come from Professor Lennart's?" she repeated slowly, lifting her eyebrows as though the thought was a little bit heavy.
"Yes," said Sagner bluntly. "I've been there twice this evening."
With a rather playful twist of her lips the girl turned to me. "What did you think of 'Little Sister'?" she asked.
But before I could answer, Sagner had pushed me utterly aside once more and was shaking his smoke-stained finger threateningly in Madge Hubert's face. "Why—didn't—you—come—to the—Lennarts'—to—dinner—to-night—as—you—were—invited?" he scolded.