"You have addressed me familiarly, by a nickname sometimes used by intimate friends, though I can't for the life of me recall you. I want you to know that I am here in an official capacity, on an errand for the state of South Carolina."
Miss Dangerfield's chin, which had dropped a trifle, pointed again into the blue ether.
"You will pardon me," she said, "but an agent of the state of South Carolina is far exceeding his powers when he intrudes upon North Carolina soil."
"The state of South Carolina does what it pleases and goes where it likes," declared Miss Barbara Osborne warmly, whereupon Mr. Ardmore, at a glance from his coadjutor, waxed righteously indignant.
"It's one thing, sir, for you to ride in here as a sight-seer, but quite another for you to come representing an unfriendly state. You will please choose which view of the matter I shall take, and I shall act accordingly."
Griswold's companion spoke to him earnestly in a low tone for a moment, and then Griswold addressed Ardmore incisively.
"I don't know what you pretend to be, sir; but it may interest you to know that I am the governor of South Carolina!"
"And this gentleman," cried Jerry, pointing to Ardmore with her riding-crop, "though his hair is mussed and his scarf visibly untied, is none other than the governor of North Carolina, and he is not only on his own property, but in the sovereign state of which he is the chief executive."
Professor Griswold lifted his hat with the least flourish.
"I congratulate the state of North Carolina on having reposed authority in hands so capable. If this young lady is correct, sir, I will serve official notice on you that I have reason to believe that a person named Appleweight, a fugitive from justice, is hiding on your property and in your state, and I now formally demand that you surrender him forthwith."