With crimson face he offered reparation.
“It’s my turn to apologize now, Miss Woodburn. I think you’ll forgive me, though. It’s my misfortune that I’m not very intelligent.”
“I couldn’t dream of doing so, Lieutenant Spencer,” Ethel asserted, still laughing. “You paid me out nicely, and I’m sure you did it wilfully; it was far too smart to be unintentional.”
“’Pon my honour, I didn’t. I’m not half sharp enough to say anything of that kind except by accident. One can’t be perfect, you know, and we must take into account that Russell did show poor taste in applauding the inferior horse and rider—especially going against your opinion, though we must acknowledge his perfect taste in at least one respect.”
“I must forgive you after that, Mr. Spencer, though it was rather crude,” said the girl, shaking her head.
“And I say, Spencer,” Jim interposed, “don’t talk about ‘inferior rider’. We all know, and Ted knows, that you are a far better horseman than he.”
“Of course I do,” the ensign heartily agreed.
“Too much praise isn’t good for a youngster,” the elder brother sagaciously opined.
Spencer placed a hand on Ted’s shoulder.
“All the same, young ’un, you won the Aurungpore Cup, and you deserved to win.”