“And my brother, Nora, Mr. Jack Romayne, just come from England, and hungry as a bear.”
“Just from England? And hungry? Well, we are glad to see you, Mr. Romayne.” The girl came forward with a quick step and frankly offered her brown, strong hand. “We're awfully glad to see you, Mr. Romayne,” she repeated. “I ought to be embarrassed, I know, only I am so hungry.”
“Just my fix, Miss Nora,” said the young man. “I am really anxious to be polite. I feel we should decline the invitation to dinner which your sister has pressed upon us; we know it is a shame to drop in on you like this all unprepared, but I am so hungry, and really that smell is so irresistible that I feel I simply cannot be polite.”
“Don't!” cried the girl, “or rather, do, and stay. There's enough of something, and Joe will look after the horses.” She put her hands to her lips and called, “J-o-o-e!”
A voice from the woods answered her, followed by Joe himself. “Here, Joe, take the horses and unsaddle them and tether them out somewhere.”
Despite Kathleen's fears there was dinner enough for all.
“This is perfectly stunning!” said Romayne, glancing round the little clearing and up at the trees waving overhead, through the interstices of whose leafy canopy showed patches of blue sky. “Gorgeous, by Jove! Words are futile things for really great moments.”
“Ripping,” said Nora, smiling impudently into his face. “Awfully jolly! A-1! Top hole! That's the lot, I think, according to the best authorities. Do you know any others?”
“I beg pardon, what?” said Romayne, looking up from his fried pork and potatoes.
“Those are all I have learned in English at least,” said Nora. “I am keen for some more. They are Oxford, I believe. Have you any others?”