"Lots." Willie looked uneasily at Forbes, as if he were in the way.
"I'll be changing for dinner," Forbes said, with uncomfortable haste.
"You'd better be cooking the dinner," Willie said. "Winifred is counting on your soldierly experience to help her out."
So Forbes went to the kitchen to salute and report for duty. As he entered the house he looked back to see Enslee leading Persis toward the marble steps to the little temple where he proposed regularly.
Forbes' heart thudded heavily in his breast. He felt helpless to protest or intervene in any way. Persis was up at auction. He had bidden her in under a misapprehension of the upset price, and she was put back for sale again.
CHAPTER XXXIX
AS she mounted the steps with Willie, Persis felt something of Forbes' regret. She was a slave on the block, and the man she wanted for owner was crowded from the mart.
"What did father have to say?" she asked, in a dull tone already despairing.
"I—I—it wasn't very pleasant."