"There is one exception, at least," he returned, bowing. "Decide between yourselves to whom the captive belongs."
"May I be umpire?" asked Miss Arnold, her cheeks dimpling mischievously.
"When I was a boy, Miss Lelia, I read in an old spelling-book, of two cats, who came to the scratch over a piece of cheese, and agreed to refer its division to the monkey's arbitration. You have read it too, and recollect the catastrophe."
He appeared to take pleasure in being as rude to her as the letter of politeness allowed; and she bore it patiently, without relaxing her efforts to please and attract.
"Where are Helen and Miss Read?" he asked of Alice. "Do all the duties of hospitality devolve upon Miss Ross?"
"They are resting, I suppose, to be blooming at the party to-night," replied she.
"Your roses, then, are not so precious. Is this so?"
"Say instead, that they are perpetual," said Ida.
Alice blushed and laughed.