"I'll admit it was takin' a chance," says I; "but you see, Miss Hampton, when I was joshin' him as to whose picture it was he got so enthusiastic in describin' you——"
"Did he, truly?" she cuts in.
"Unless I don't know a Romeo gaze when I see one," says I. "And then, when I figures out that if you'd given him the chuck it might have been through some mistaken notion, why—well, come to talk it over with Vee, we thought——"
"Pardon me," says Miss Hampton, "but just who is Vee?"
"Eh?" says I, pinkin' up. "Why, in my case, she's the only girl."
"Ah-ha!" says she. "So you—er——"
"Uh-huh!" says I. "I've come near bein' ditched myself. And Mr. Robert he's helped out more'n once. So this looked like my cue to hand back something. We thought maybe the roses would kind of patch things up. Say, how about it, Miss Hampton? Suppose he hadn't boobed it this way, wouldn't there be a show of——"
"You absurd youth!" says she, liftin' both hands protestin', but failin' to smother that smile.
And say, when it's aimed straight at you so you get the full benefit, that's some winnin' smile of hers—sort of genuine and folksy, you know! It got me. Why, I felt like I'd been put on her list of old friends. And I grins back.
"It wa'n't a case of another party, was it?" says I.