"And then?"
"I paid off the loans."
Hunter paused, and taking out two strips of paper threw them on the table.
"Here are your notes. I feel compelled to say that unless you get my consent beforehand you must never incur a liability of the kind again."
"I shall never wish to," Florence answered penitently. "We'll talk about that afterward; I want you to go on. You haven't told me the whole of it yet."
"What do you expect to hear?"
Florence's eyes flashed.
"I should like to hear that you had thrashed the man until he could scarcely stand!"
Her husband's face relaxed into a grim smile.
"Well, I'm afraid I didn't go as far as that, though it wasn't because the desire to do so failed me. As it happens, there's a good deal more courage in the fellow than I ever gave him credit for, and it's unfortunate that virtuous indignation doesn't make up for an inequality in muscular weight." He stopped a moment and laughed outright. "Still, I believe I got in once or twice with the quirt, which is consoling to remember, and I dare say I should have left another mark or two on him if the lamp hadn't suddenly been put out. On taxing Symonds with it afterward, he admitted that he was afraid his wife would make trouble if the room should be wrecked."