"That's Farrago!" I exclaimed, catching sight of a United States flag floating majestically from a bamboo-pole. "Give me the megaphone, if you please."
She handed me the instrument; I hailed the shore; and presently a man appeared under the palms at the water's edge.
"Hello!" I roared, trying to inject cheerfulness into the hollow bellow. "How are you, professor?"
The answer came distinctly across the water:
"Who is that with you?"
My lips were buried in the megaphone; I strove to speak; I only produced a ghastly, chuckling sound.
"Of course you expect to tell the truth," observed the pretty stenographer, quietly.
I removed my lips from the megaphone and looked around at her. She returned my gaze with a disturbing smile.
"I want to mitigate the blow," I said, hoarsely. "Tell me how."
"I'm sure I don't know," she said, sweetly.