"Pretty busy. And I spend what little spare time I can make with father."
"Of course," she agreed, gently. "But I think you need a little more change of scene than you get."
"I 'd like it. But I can't be bothering a girl like you with entertaining an old chap like me."
"An old chap!" mused Shirley. "Is that the way you feel?"
"I was feeling forty, at least--till the tire blew up. Then I came down to thirty. When I found the girl under the veil, I dropped off several years more. But when I looked at that boy Hille I became a patriarch again."
"I wish he could hear you call him a boy! Suppose I give you a special invitation, and run the risk of your bothering me, will you accept it?"
"In a hurry!"
"Your first spare evening then?"
"You tempt me to cut everything and come to-morrow night. No--I 'll wait a decent interval, to let you get caught up after this midnight dissipation. May I come early?"
"The earlier the better."