“And then,” said Katherine, with a little laugh, “and then I'll have somebody to play with again.”
She stooped and kissed him, and then noticing that McNally was still standing she addressed him for the first time.
“Please don't wait for me to sit down. I'm going to stay right here.”
Porter yielded to the restfulness of having her there and sat with closed eyes, while she stroked the trembling lids with the tips of her fingers. Neither of the men spoke, and at last Katherine broke the silence.
“Don't you think,” she said to her father, “that everything would go just as well if you came home with me now and took a little rest? You'll feel lots better to-morrow, if you do, and there's a to-morrow coming, you know. It isn't likely that anything more will happen tonight, is it?”
“I'm afraid it is,” said McNally. “You see we think Weeks is coming down the line now, with a trainful of armed men, and he may force us into a fight before morning.”
“I see,” said Katherine. “That is, when his army meets the one you sent up the line this afternoon.”
Porter moved his head free from her hands and asked sharply,—
“What do you know about that, dear?”
“Just what Senator Jones told me,” she answered. “He got off the train at Sawyerville and drove over to the Club to telephone.”