"And you?" said Mary, smiling at last.
"Oh," said Lee witheringly, "I have an engagement to carve initials surrounded by a heart on a birch-tree."
And when Lee had gone Gay spoke up.
"I shouldn't wonder," said she, "if, by way of a blind, the baggage had told the truth."
"We should never have called it The Inn," said Mary; "we should have called it The Matrimonial Agency."
"Every pretty girl," said Arthur, "is a matrimonial agency."
At this moment Uncas, the chipmunk, rushed screaming into the room and flung himself into Arthur's lap. Arthur comforted the little beast, and noticed that his nose and face bore fresh evidences of a fight. Uncas complained very bitterly; he was evidently trying to talk.
"Is Stripes hurt?" asked Mary.
"It's his feelings," said Arthur. "He's been made a victim of misplaced confidence. Some young woman has been encouraging him."