"You will treat him respectfully, won't you, Dan?" she urged, as she turned to go into the adjoining room.
Dan's eyes danced with fun.
"I'll treat him with all the respect he deserves, mother," he answered.
Mrs. Mordaunt looked a little doubtful, for she understood Dan, but did not say more, for Mr. Grab was already knocking at the door.
"Don't come out, whatever you hear, mother," said Dan, in a low voice. "I'll come out all right, though I shall tantalize him a little at first."
The knock was repeated.
"Come in!" Dan called out, in a loud, clear tone.
The door opened, and a thin, undersized man, with bushy red hair and the look of a cross mastiff, entered the room.
Before his entrance Dan had seated himself in the plain wooden rocking-chair with his feet on a cricket. He looked quite easy and unconcerned.