“I thought of him at first, of course. But I—well, I hesitated to approach him.”
“Hesitated? Why?”
“Well, you see,” he stammered, “I remembered about your refusing him, and I felt——”
“That would never make any difference to him,” she cried. “He’s too much of a gentleman. Besides, that was five years ago, and he has forgotten it.”
“Then you think he’ll take the case?”
“Of course, he’ll take it! He’ll take it because he’s a big man, and because you need him, and because he’s no coward. And with the biggest man in Westville on your side, you’ll see how public opinion will right-about face!”
She sprang up, aglow with energy. “I’m going to see him this minute! With his help, we’ll have this matter cleared up before you know it, and”—smiling lightly—“just you see, daddy, all Westville will be out there in the front yard, tramping over Aunt Rachel’s sweet williams, begging to be allowed to come and kiss your hand!”
He kissed her own. He rose, and a smile broke through the clouds of his face.
“You’ve been home only an hour, and I feel that a thousand years have been lifted off me.”
“That’s right—and just keep on feeling a thousand years younger.” She smiled caressingly, and began to twist a finger in a buttonhole of his coat. “U’m—don’t you think, daddy, that such a very young gentleman as you are, such a regular roaring young blade, might—u’m—might——”