“And Ronald will appreciate it, too,” Iris added. “It means so much to us just at this time. Of course, in the end you will get it all back.” “I am glad to do what I can to help,” Doris told them. Already she was pleased to see that the tension between Iris and Azalea was somewhat relaxed. She hoped that before the day was over they would have forgotten their foolish quarrel. As Dave had stated that he would call for the girls about one o’clock, they began to watch for him soon after luncheon. As the airport was some distance from the mansion, they expected him to come for them in a car, and accordingly kept close watch of the road. Presently an automobile drove up, and Doris and Kitty, thinking it must be Dave, snatched up their wraps and started for the gate. Halfway down the path they saw they had made a mistake. Ronald Trent was getting out of his roadster. “Hello, girlies,” he greeted with a sickening smile as he opened the gate. “Coming to meet me, eh?” “No, we weren’t,” Doris returned. “We are waiting for a friend of ours.” “We’re going for an airplane ride,” Kitty added. “High fliers, eh?” Ronald smirked, and then laughed loudly at his own inane joke. Doris and Kitty did not even smile. They wished that he would go on into the house and leave them alone. “Who is that flying sweetheart of yours?” he teased. “He isn’t a sweetheart and you don’t know him,” Doris replied somewhat coldly. “Come on, Kitty.” They started to walk to the gate but the man called them back. “Just a minute. Aren’t you forgetting something?” The girls paused and looked at him in surprise. Ronald came over to Doris and leaned unpleasantly close. “Haven’t you forgotten to give Cousin Ronald a goodbye kiss?” Indignantly, Doris recoiled. “I’m not in the habit of kissing strangers!” she snapped. “That remark was entirely uncalled for!” “Come now, don’t be bashful,” Ronald cajoled. He edged nearer and caught her by the hand. Doris jerked away and faced him with blazing eyes. “Don’t you dare touch me!” Undoubtedly, Ronald would have pressed his unwelcome attentions, but just at that instant an automobile drove up to the gate. “Oh, well, we’ll save it until the next time,” he said with a shrug. Chuckling gleefully to himself, he went on up the path toward the house. “Oh, how I hate that man!” Doris muttered in an undertone to her chum. “I wanted to slap his face!” “I wish you had!” They said no more, for turning toward the gate they saw that Dave had arrived. Eagerly he sprang from the taxicab and came to meet them. Noticing Doris’s flushed and angry face he asked what was the matter. “Oh, it was that horrid cousin of mine,” she told him. “He tried to get fresh.” “He did?” Dave demanded sharply. “Say, I’ll just go after him and tell him a thing or two!” Doris placed a restraining hand on his sleeve. “No, you mustn’t do that. Iris and Azalea would never forgive us for creating a scene. I don’t doubt but that it’s just his way.”