He, hotly: “But I tell you I don’t want the money! I never wanted it, and wouldn’t take it on any account.”
She: “Oh! I thought you said you came to get it?”
He: “I said—I didn’t say—I meant—that is—ah—I”—He stops, open-mouthed.
She, quietly: “I could give you part of the money now.”
He: “Oh, whatever you like; it’s indifferent”—
She: “Please sit down while I write a receipt.” She places herself deliberately at the table, and opens her portfolio. “I will pay you now, Mr. Ransom, for the first six lessons you gave me—the ones before you told me that I could never learn to do anything.”
He, sinking mechanically into the chair she indicates: “Oh, just as you like!” He looks up at the ceiling in hopeless bewilderment, while she writes.
She, blotting the paper: “There! And now let me offer you a little piece of advice, Mr. Ransom, which may be useful to you in taking pupils hereafter.”
He, bursting out: “I never take pupils!”
She: “Never take pupils! I don’t understand. You took me.”