Sara entered at that juncture, and they all sat down to listen for half an hour to Leslie's harangue on the way the California meet was being mismanaged, at the end of which he departed.
He took Booth away with him, much to that young man's disgust.
"Do you know, Brandy, old fellow," said he as they walked down Fifth Avenue in the gathering dusk of the early winter evening, "ever since I've begun to suspect that damned old humbug of a father of hers, I've been congratulating myself that there isn't the remotest chance of his ever becoming my father-in-law. And, by George, you'll never know how near I was to leaping blindly into the brambles. What a close call I had!"
Booth's sarcastic smile was hidden by the dusk. He made no pretence of openly resenting the meanness of spirit that moved Leslie to these caddish remarks. He merely announced in a dry, cutting voice:
"I think Miss Castleton is to be congratulated that her injury is no greater than Nature made it in the beginning."
"What do you mean by 'nature'?"
"Nature gave her a father, didn't it?"
"Obviously."
"Well, why add insult to injury?"
"By Jove! Oh, I SAY, old man!"