"Here is your money. Will you take it please?"
"No, I won't take it, until you explain——"
She opened her fingers, and the bills fell to the floor. "All right," she said.
Conward's eyes had shifted to Dave. "You are at the bottom of this, Elden," he said. "What does it mean?"
"It means, Conward," Dave answered, and there was steel in his voice—"it means that after all these years I have discovered what a cur you are—just in time to baulk you, at least in this instance."
Conward flushed, but he maintained an attitude of composure. "You've been drinking, Dave," he said. "I meant no harm to Miss Wardin."
"Don't make me call you a liar as well as a cur."
The word cut through Conward's mask of composure. "Now by God I won't take that from any man," he shouted, and with a swing of his arms threw his coat over his shoulders. Dave made no motion, and Conward slowly brought his coat back to position.
"I was right," said Dave, calmly. "I knew you wouldn't fight. You think more of your skin than you do of your honour. Well—it's better worth protection."
"If this girl were not here," Conward protested. "I will not fight——"