"Oh, but see here! I'm running you off—I know I am. Say, Mr. Lightnut, I don't want to do that. I thought sure you were going to be here. Brother insisted you would be."
Brother! Nice brother, indeed, for her—poor little thing!
"Oh, you'll be all right," I said reassuringly. "I'm just going over to the club, don't you know—not far away."
She came right up to me and placed a hand on each shoulder.
"Honest Injun, now," she said—and her smile was ravishing. "Honest, now, Mr. Lightnut, you're going just because I'm here. Say now, own up!"
And, dash it, there was nothing to do but admit it.
"All right," she said; and I thought her eyes flashed a little. "Then I go to a hotel—that's all!"
"A hotel! Why, you can't do that—oh, I say!"
"Why can't I?" She was downright angry—I could see it; and how distractingly lovely she was with that flame in her cheeks!
But she was just a child—an innocent little child; and how the deuce could I ever make her understand?