"Syd, dear, I don't care a bit about the whole concern, really, but please don't mention it to anyone, will you?"
"You mean not to tell Livingston," he smiled.
"I mean not anyone. I shouldn't want my father to hear such talk. Neither would you. What wouldn't he do!"
"Of course not," he agreed. "You'd get special summons, immediately, if not sooner. But there's something more I wanted to ask you about. How was it you happened to shoot old Peter?"
"How did you know?" she asked quickly.
"Now I promised I wouldn't mention the matter," he replied.
She studied for a moment.
"There's only one way you could have heard it," she finally decided in some anger. "That person had no right to tell you."
"It was told with the best intentions, and for your own good, Hope, so that I could look after you more carefully in the future."
"Look after me!" she retorted. "Well, I guess he found out there was one time I could look out for myself, didn't he?"