"And yet you must realize that your conduct is shocking?"
"I suppose I do."
"You must know that you're an utterly immoral person?" He nodded. "You're my protector, Bernie; you're all I have. I'm a poor motherless girl and I lean upon you. But you must appreciate now that you're quite unfit to act as my guardian."
The little man wailed his miserable assent. His half-sister's reproachful eyes distracted him; the mention of her defenseless position before the world touched his sorest feeling. It was almost more than he could stand, He was upon the verge of hysterical breakdown, when her manner suddenly changed.
Her eyes brightened, and, rising swiftly, she flung herself down beside him upon the sofa, where he still sat clutching it as if it were a bucking horse. Then, curling one foot under her, she bent toward him, all eagerness, all impulsiveness. With breathless intensity she inquired:
"Tell me, Bunnie, is she pretty?"
"Very pretty, indeed," he said, lamely.
"What's she like? Quick! Tell me all about her. This is the wickedest thing I ever heard of and I'm perfectly delighted."
It was Bernie's turn to look shocked. He arose indignantly. "Myra Nell!
You paralyze me. Have you no moral—"
"Rats!" interrupted Miss Warren, inelegantly. "I've let you preach to me in the past, but never again. We've the same blood in us, Bunnie. If I were a man I dare say I'd do the most terrible things—although I've never dreamed of anything so fiercely awful as this."