“Simply Valerie; or you may say ‘dear Valerie,’ if you like,” replied the girl, archly.
“Well—ah—Valerie, then!” stammered the Professor, “would you mind conveying a message for us, or, to speak more accurately, I should say causing a message to be conveyed for us, since we would prefer—and you will no doubt know how to manage this—that such message should not come from either yourself or your father. Perhaps, I might suggest, you could so contrive as to enable us to send it by one of the sentinels outside this door?”
The girl glanced at the Professor curiously.
“What is the message?” she asked.
“That we demand to see the person in command here—Colonel Henry, I believe.”
“Oh! won’t father do?”
“No, no; not at all! We want to see the one in chief command.”
“Any complaint as to the cooking or the service?” asked the girl pertly.
“Really, Miss——”
“Valerie!”