“As far away as that?” She looked at him, sidelong.

“All around. I know that neighborhood like a book.”

“What's the name of that alley?”

“Alley? Er—what alley?”

“Mr. Cyrus Murphy, how long have you been following me about?”

He turned an unpicturesque, dull red. “Well, that's no place for a girl alone,” he growled.

“You know, one evening I thought I saw you, down near Avenue C, but I couldn't be sure. Was it?”

“It might have been,” he grudged. “Avenue C is a public thoroughfare.”

“And you've been guarding me,” she murmured.

Her eyes brooded on him, and the color was rising in her face to match his. But, while Cyrus blushed like a brick, the Bonnie Lassie blushed like the hue of flying clouds after sunset.