“You may be sure of it, for we love each other so much.”
“And besides, Kinko, what would one not do for a sweetheart who consents to shut himself up in a box for a fortnight, and arrives labelled ’Glass,’ ’Fragile,’ ’Beware of damp—’“
“Ah, you are making fun of a poor fellow.”
“Not at all; and you may rest assured I will neglect nothing which will enable you to arrive dry and in one piece at Mademoiselle Zinca Klork’s—in short, in a perfect state of preservation!”
“Again I thank you,” said Kinko, pressing my hands. “Believe me, you will not find me ungrateful.”
“Ah! friend Kinko, I shall be paid, and more than paid!”
“And how?”
“By relating, as soon as I can do so without danger to you, the particulars of your journey from Tiflis to Pekin. Think now—what a heading for a column:
‘A LOVER IN A BOX!
ZINCA AND KINKO! !
1,500 LEAGUES THROUGH CENTRAL ASIA IN A
LUGGAGE VAN! ! !’ ”
The young Roumanian could not help smiling.