"Where?" asked Ruth, as Alice reached for her gloves.
"We must go to warn Russ."
"But we haven't eaten what we ordered," objected Ruth, pointing to the food, hardly touched, on the table.
"No matter, we can pay for it."
"But the cashier will think it so odd."
"What do we care. It's our food—we'll pay for it, and we can do what we like with it then. We can eat it or not."
"But they'll think it so queer. They may think we have some prejudice against it, and——"
Ruth was a stickler for the established order of things. Alice was more in the habit of taking "cross-cuts."
"Don't be silly!" exclaimed the younger girl. "We've just got to get out of here and warn Russ before those men have a chance to take his patent. You heard what they said about doing it to-night!"
"Well, I suppose we must," assented Ruth, with a sigh. "But it seems a shame to waste all that good food."