"Why, I'm here, and I can't help listening."
"No. I mean later. I can't stop now, really."
"How much later?"
"Let's see. It's nearly midnight, and all this has got to be cleared up and set straight before one. Do be patient with me until a quarter to one, now won't you please?"
"I may be busy then."
"Oh, come! That's all swank, and you know it. Besides, you do owe me, at least, some little consideration. I don't mean that, exactly--our account's pretty well squared, the way I see it. But, after all, life's a give-and-take affair. Say you'll meet me at a quarter to one."
"Well. Where?"
He appeared to take thought. "It's got to be somewhere off the beaten track. And you're not afraid of the dark. Would you mind coming as far as the gate on the drive?"
"Back there, beyond the trees?"
"I mean the gateway to the main road."