He nipped her enthusiasm in the bud.
"Do you think you could telegraph to me from your pocket?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"You know the letters now perfectly, and if you had your hand on an armature, you could send off messages quickly?"
"Yes. You know I learned the alphabet in one day, and it's nearly a week since you put up that line to my room. Think how we have talked with it already. And you remember the tea table, when the Lawsons and the Stebbens were here. Didn't I answer all your questions about Minna Lawson while I was talking with her by tapping on the table with a spoon?"
"Yes. So far so good; but now I'm going to try a most dangerous and difficult piece of scientific work, and you must help me. My plan is for you to keep in telegraphic communication with me while the interview goes on. Then, if he is insulting or troublesome, you can call me."
"How bright of you, Elmer. If Lawrence had been half so good and kind and bright—if he knew half as much—I might have loved him longer."
"Wait a bit, and I'll get the lines."
"May I go too?"
"Oh, yes; come."