Mr. Tiernan suddenly looked very solemn:
"Kidding, is it? Me kiddin' you? Give me a chance, that's all I'm asking.
Where will you be, now?"
"Is Frear wanted?" she demanded.
Mr. Tiernan's expression changed. His nose seemed to become more pointed, his eyes to twinkle more merrily than ever. He didn't take the trouble, now, to conceal his admiration.
"Sure, Miss Bumpus," he said, "if you was a man, we'd have you on the force to-morrow."
"What's he wanted for?"
"Well," said Johnny, "a little matter of sprinklin'. He's been sprinklin' his company's water without a license."
She was silent a moment before she exclaimed:—"I ought to have been wise that he was a crook!"
"Well," said Johnny consolingly, "there's others that ought to have been wise, too. The Cascade people had no business takin' on a man that couldn't use but half of his mouth."
This seemed to Lise a reflection on her judgment. She proceeded to clear herself.