"I'll do it before you count ten. One, two, three, four. I shall ask him for a light——"
"Sh-sh! He's coming."
Kitty slid her feet to the floor and covered them with her skirt. Then she looked down, fascinated, apparently, by the shining tips of her shoes. You could have drawn a straight line from her feet to the feet of the man coming up the lawn.
"Five, six, seven." Kitty lit her last match. "T-t-t! The jamfounded thing's gone out."
The long man's sister came up the steps of the veranda. The long man followed her slowly, with deliberate pauses in his stride.
"Eight, nine," said Kitty, under her breath. She waited.
The man's eyes had been upon her; but in the approach he lowered them, and as he passed her he turned away his head.
"It's no use," said Miss Keating; "you can't have it both ways."
Kitty was silent. Suddenly she laughed.
"Bunny," said she, "would you like to marry the long man?"