Linda gave her head a quick shake. "No wonder I say idiotic things!" she exclaimed. "It's catching!--Fred! Fred!" The sudden call was a cry of relief, and the girl quickly stepped out of an open glass door upon the piazza, and hurried down the steps. A motor had stopped beside the walk. King caught up his hat and followed her. "I thought you'd never come!" cried Linda, to the joy of the distracted chauffeur. "Great Scott! I thought I never would either!" he responded. "What have you been doing? Climbing trees?" asked King. "Linda and I had nearly decided to be reckless and go to a movie." "Nothing of the sort," averred Linda, "but I had begun to believe all four were punctured." "One was," admitted Whitcomb, "and I've had a dozen delays." And he gnashed his teeth over a wasted hour of June as he handed his fair one into the front seat. "Whither away?" inquired King. "To the North Shore," responded Whitcomb, with fire in his eye which portended speeding. "Drop me at the club, then, will you, Freddy?" And without waiting for the assent Bertram landed in the tonneau as the car started. In front of the University Club he descended, and stepped forward beside Linda. "I may not see you again," he said, standing between the wheels, hatless, and holding her hand. "Have a good time. If you send me a picture postal, it will be all off between us." "What did he mean?" asked Whitcomb, as with a whirr and a jerk they were on their way again. "Why, I'm going to Colorado with my father; or he's going with me. He's tired." "Well, he has nothing on King," remarked Freddy. "Never saw any one run down as that chap has the last month. He'd better get some smaller collars. Don't you care, Linda! Send _me_ a picture postal, and I'll frame it." The look that accompanied this outburst was lost on the adored one. She was trying to remember if Bertram King's collar had looked too large. The University Club was a lonely place! CHAPTER IV THE JUNE NIGHT Linda enjoyed the long flight under the June stars between the waves of the freshwater sea and the star-filled lagoons of Lincoln Park, and returned late to the dark house on the avenue. "Did you ever see anything look so inhospitable!" she exclaimed, as her escort ran with her up the steps. "I wonder why Sedley didn't light up." "Do you want me to go in and look under all the beds for you?" asked Whitcomb gayly. "No. Father's bound to be in one of them by this time. I'm afraid to look at my watch. You shouldn't have kept me out so late, Freddy. You know it was against my will." He could see her dimples in the starlight. They had been dear to him in grammar school; dear to him all the years while he was bereft of them at Harvard. "If I could keep you always!" he ejaculated, in a lower tone. "Against my will?" she laughed. "How about your promise, Freddy?"