"Hold on," said Pete, "you forgot something."
Max grinned and drew back the middle chair.
"This is for the guest of honor," he said, and looked at Hilda. Pete was looking at her, too, and James—all but Bannon.
The color, that had been leaving her face, began to come back.
"Do you mean me?" she asked.
"I guess that's pretty near," said Pete.
She shook her head. "Oh, no—thank you very much—I can't stay."
Pete and Max looked at each other.
"The boys'll be sorry," said Pete. "It's kind of got out that maybe you'd be here, and—I don't believe they'd let you off."
Hilda was smiling, but her face was flushed. She shook her head. "Oh, no," she replied; "I only came to help."