He held out his hand which Max took with a dry, "Thanks! One can't scrag a man under his own roof, I suppose, though it's a sore temptation."
"You will have ample opportunity in the future," Nick assured him genially, "though, as I think I told you long ago, I'm the most well-meaning little cuss that ever walked the earth. I threatened once to put a spoke in your wheel, didn't I? Well, I never did it. I've been pushing and straining to get it out of the bog ever since. And now I've done it, you want to scrag me. Olga, the man's a blood-thirsty scoundrel. If you have the smallest regard for my feelings, you will kick him out of the house at once."
But Olga was holding the two clasped hands in hers, and she would not let them part. "Nick, you're a darling—a darling! And Max knows it, don't you, Max? It was dear of you to make the wheels go round. They would never have done it without you, and we shall never, never forget it as long as we two shall live."
"Amen!" said Max.
"Bless your hearts!" said Nick benevolently. "Well, come and have something to eat!"
He turned towards the door, but Olga hung back. "Is—is Noel here?" she asked.
"Heavens, no!" said Nick. "He eloped with Peggy long ago."
"Oh!" A note of relief sounded in her voice. "I shall see him to-morrow," she said.
"Yes, he'll be over to-morrow." Nick shot her a swift look in the twilight. "Meantime, I have a message to give you from him," he said.
"So have I," cut in Max.