"Oh, no," said Frankie, "thank you. Mother has invited Mr. Perry up to our place. He wasn't able to go home."
"How was that?" asked Nelson, poking his nose in the room.
"Work," said Perry, professionally.
"Ledger!" murmured Evan, smiling inwardly. Notwithstanding, he felt more disgusted than amused—he scarcely knew at what.
"We'll see you again before we go, I hope," he said, addressing Frankie and her escort as one.
"When do you go?" she whispered to him aside, while the Bonehead was laughing at a joke he perpetrated on Lou. Frankie was beginning to weaken. Evan felt it, and it made him harden his heart. Such is man's disposition.
"Soon," he said, knowing it hurt.
She gazed into his unsmiling eyes a moment, then turned to Lou and Perry without speaking.
When she was gone, and Perry, Mrs. Nelson looked disconcertingly at her son. He mentally searched for something to hide his uneasiness and divert their minds from Frankie——
"Did you hear me say I must go soon, mother?"