As the opportunity seemed slow in coming, with characteristic energy he made one to order. Gorham required some important papers which he had left at his house the night before, and the boy so arranged his arrival that he had the pleasure of seeing Covington depart, although he himself was unobserved. He found Alice deep in the mysterious detail of her growing responsibility, but not at all disturbed to be discovered at her work. The desk which had been placed in her father's library was as near a duplicate of his in reduced size as could be found. A bunch of letters covered one end of it, while a neatly arranged pile of checks directly in front of her showed that the contents of her mail had proved profitable. She told Riley to bring Allen here, and the boy stood regarding her for a moment before she looked up.
"Don't let me disturb you, Miss—Manager," he said, loftily, as he caught her eye. "We magnates become peeved by interruptions—I always do myself."
Alice laughed as Allen unlocked the drawer in Gorham's desk and placed the desired papers in his pocket.
"Isn't it fun?" she asked, merrily.
"Isn't what fun?" was the unresponsive reply. "I haven't burst any buttons off my waistcoat watching you and Mr. Covington do the turtle-dove act while I drag out a tabloid existence in a two by twice hall bedroom, and stay tied down to my desk all day. Where does the fun come in?"
The girl looked at him in complete surprise. "What in the world—" she began.
"Oh, I mean it—every word!" he insisted. Now that he had plunged in there was no retreating. "I say, are you going to marry him?"
"I'd be angry with you if you weren't so terribly amusing, Allen," she replied, smiling again after the first shock of his outburst. "Truly, you don't know how funny you are when you try to be serious. It doesn't fit."
Allen bit his lip. "I'm a joke still, am I?" he asked, without looking at her. "I thought it was the pater's prerogative to consider me that, but I see he didn't get it patented."
"Is it being a 'joke' when you ask questions which you have no right to ask?"