"We are alive and clothed," he replied tranquilly.
"What a frightful way to put it!"
"The lowest terms—and not very different from others." His eye rested upon the glossy horses and the spotless victoria.
"No!" Miss Hitchcock answered dispiritedly. "But I won't think of it that way. I am coming to see you again, if I may?"
"You were very good to look us up," he answered evasively.
They lingered, speaking slowly, as if loath to part in this superficial manner. He told her of his employment in Burnside, and remarked slowly,
"I wonder who could have put the manager on my track."
"I wonder," she repeated, looking past him.
"You see I didn't start quite at the scratch," he added, his face relaxing into a smile.
"I shouldn't quarrel about that handicap."