“Anything the matter, old man?” inquired Dan, still smiling.
“I want a word about Phyllis,” said Philip.
“Oh!” answered Dan, winking.
“I don’t know what you mean by your asinine behavior,” said Philip indignantly.
“Forgive me!” said Dan, growing serious; “I was in a ridiculous mood.”
“I want to warn you, Dan, not to let yourself get too fond of Phyllis,” said Philip. “I want to tell you that there is an unsurmountable obstacle to—to the possibility of anything between you two.”
“My dear fellow!” broke out Dan, laughing outright, “make yourself quite easy! I have no intention whatever of poaching on your preserves!”
“My preserves, man! Heavens! what can you be thinking of?”
Dan eyed his companion with whimsical criticism in his merry blue eyes, but he did not tell of the embrace he had witnessed so short a time before. “They want to keep it dark for some reason—very likely the Colonel,” he thought within himself. But what he said was:
“All right, old man, no offence meant—a natural conclusion, you know, from your remarks, and Miss Lane’s frequent visits to the bungalow. I see I was ‘off the trail,’ as old Alvin says.”