"But they'll all stand by her?"
"Oh, yes, she's Mary Ogden. We'd be as likely to desert New York itself because we didn't like the mayor. And she'll need us. It's the young women she'll have to look out for. My God! How they'll hate her. As for Anne Goodrich and Marian Lawrence——"
Clavering sprang to his feet. "Who's that? Jim?"
A man was running up the stairs.
"Janet," said Mrs. Oglethorpe grimly. "She's out."
XXXIII
"Don't be a flat tyre,
Don't be a dumb-bell;
Run from the dumb ducks,
Run from the plumbers.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Oglethorpe pounded on the door with his stick. There was a sudden hush in the room, then a wild scurry and a slamming door. He rattled the knob and, to his surprise, for he had assumed that these wild parties of his young friends were soundly barricaded, the door opened.
There were only four young men standing about a table covered with the remains of a chafing dish supper and many champagne bottles, but an excited whispering came through the partition. Young Farren was leaning against the table, his large moon-face pallid with fright. As he recognized Oglethorpe and Clavering fright was wiped out by astonishment and relief.