Little realizing that the girl was speaking in his own favor, for he knew not the need for such speaking, he believed her to be defending her father. He grasped her hands impulsively.
"You have grown up very much since you came to the capital, haven't you?" he said. "And you are right, Miss Hope. I ought to have known even when the facts were against him that your father couldn't have been really crooked. He can't be."
Hope Langdon's face flushed indignantly.
"Father crooked? Who said so? Who dared say that?" she exclaimed.
"Why, they told me he had sold out on the Altacoola bill. They said he was trying to make money on Altacoola. That's why I quit."
The flame of anger still was spread on the girl's face.
"They said that!" she exclaimed. "Then they lied. They said you were the crooked one. Why, father thinks you sold out on Altacoola. They said you were trying to make money on that navy yard."
"What! They said I was crooked!" Haines fairly shouted. He rushed around the desk and caught the girl by both hands.
"I see it!" he cried. "I see it! There's something I'm not just on to.
You thought it was I; your father thinks—"
"Of course," exclaimed Hope, quite as excited as he. "I couldn't believe it. That's why I came back to get you to explain. I wanted you to disprove the charge."