"I fussed and fixed for a couple of hours, it seems to me, and then I thought I'd better go to the nearest telephone and have a garage send a car out for us. But Helen, poor girl, was tired and of course I couldn't leave her there alone. So I tackled the engine again and just when I was giving up hope, a car came along.
"They couldn't take us in—they were filled—but they promised to wake up a garage man in the next town and send him to the rescue. It was half past two when he turned up, but it didn't take him long to find the trouble, and here we are at last."
He drew a full breath and turned to Helen.
"Of course I wouldn't have cared a snap," he said, "if it hadn't been for poor Helen here."
"Oh, I don't mind—now," she said.
"I knew it!" thought Mary. "They're engaged…" And though she tried to smile at them both, for some reason which I can never hope to explain, it took an effort. Wally and Helen were still looking at each other.
"Tired, dear?" he asked.
Helen nodded and glanced at Mary with a look that said, "Did you hear him call me 'Dear'?"
"I think if I were you, I'd go to bed," continued Wally, all gentle solicitude. She took an impulsive step toward him. He kissed her.
"We're engaged," he said to Mary.