"I didn't know it was going on. I heard only after it was all over."
"If he could stand on two feet, I'd break every bone in his worthless body!"
McClintock said soothingly: "But that wouldn't nullify the marriage, old boy. I know. Thing's upset you a bit. Go easy."
"But, Mac . . . !"
"I understand," interrupted McClintock. Then, in a whisper: "But there's no reason why the whole hotel should."
The doctor relaxed. "I've got to see him; but I'll be reasonable. I've got to know why. And what will they do, and where will they go?"
"With me—the both of them. So far as I'm concerned, nothing could please me more. A married man!—the kind I've never been able to lure down there! But keep your temper in check. Don't lay it all to the boy. The girl is in it as deeply as he is. I'll wait for you down here."
When the doctor entered the bedroom and looked into the faces of the culprits, he laughed brokenly. Two children, who had been caught in the jam-closet: ingratiating smiles, back of which lay doubt and fear.
Ruth came to him directly. "You are angry?"
"Very. You don't realize what you have done."