"Sweetheart—" he began with compunction.
But Peggy interrupted very decidedly. "No, you needn't make excuses. And I'm not goin' to be your sweetheart any more—ever—not till you take me for another ride."
"Oh, don't be cruel!" besought Noel. "I've been so shockingly busy lately. It wasn't that I forgot you, Peggy. I couldn't do that if I tried. So give me a kiss, little sweetheart, and let's be friends! I vow I'll tickle you if you won't."
Peggy, however, was nothing daunted by this threat. She kept her face rigidly turned over his shoulder. "When will you take me for another ride?" she demanded imperiously.
"Peggy," her mother broke in again, "I can't have you behaving like this, dear. It isn't decent. Go back to ayah at once!"
Peggy peeped mischievously over Noel's shoulder. "If I get down again, I shall come all undone," she said.
"By Jove, what a calamity!" said Noel. "Haven't you got a pin or something to hold the thing together?"
She tightened her arms about his neck. "You carry me back!" she whispered ingratiatingly. "An' I'll give you three booful kisses!"
Noel succumbed at once. "Can't resist that!" he remarked to Daisy. "I'll take her back and slap her for you, shall I?"
"I wish you would," said Daisy.