"Oh," said Burleson, honestly depressed; "I am sorry. There were
Nevilles in Hitherford Lower Falls two hundred years ago. I've always
liked to think of you as originating, somehow or other, in Massachusetts
Bay."
"No, John: unlike McGinty, I am unfamiliar with the cod-thronged ocean deeps…. When are you going?"
"Day after to-morrow. Rita says you don't need her any longer on that picture—"
"Lord, man! If I did I wouldn't hold you up. But don't worry, John; she wouldn't let me…. She's a fine specimen of girl," he added casually.
[Illustration: "'You'd better understand, Kelly, that Rita Tevis is as well born as I am.'">[
"Do you suppose that is news to me?"
"Oh, no; I'm sure you find her amusing—"
"What!"
"Amusing," repeated Neville innocently. "Don't you?"
"That is scarcely the word I would have chosen, Kelly. I have a very warm admiration and a very sincere respect for Rita Tevis—"