“Of course if Evelyn wants a row——”

“Oh, Bob! Please, be quiet!”

“But I can’t leave it this way! You’ve meant too much to me for us to part like this. What I was going to say was—is——”

She sighed despairingly and resettled herself in her place.

“What I want you to know is that I care a lot for you, Grace—and if there’s a row—if we break up, Evelyn and I, I mean——”

“I think you’ve lost your mind!” she cried furiously.

“But, you don’t see—you don’t understand——”

“Oh, but I do! If Evelyn turns you out you think maybe you’d like to give me a trial! That’s certainly an idea! I suppose you have visions of me figuring in your divorce suit—Cummings against Cummings! I don’t believe you used to be like this. It’s astonishing how you’ve deteriorated!”

“I didn’t expect this from you, Grace!” he replied bitterly. “I’ve felt that I could always count on you to——”

The engine began to cough peevishly and he stopped to investigate.