“It was,” replied Mr. Link, putting his hand to his side. “He yelled at us. Lordy, I’m too fat to hurry like that.” He strode on a few paces before discovering that he walked alone. Mr. Sikes had stopped stock-still and was gazing blankly after the receding roadster. “Come on! What’s the matter with you?” “Say, did you notice? Did you notice that woman sitting on his lap?” “She wasn’t doing anything of the kind. She was sitting between ’em.” “Well, anyhow, this settles everything,” said Mr. Sikes weakly. “He’s as good as hung right now. Absolutely.” “What the—” “Say, are you blind? Can’t you see _anything_ at all?” “I can see a darned sight better than you can, and you know it,” retorted Mr. Link hotly. “You can’t see ten feet in front of you. How many fingers am I holding up?” “Oh, go to thunder! What I’m asking you is, did you notice her?” “Certainly—that is, I noticed the back of her head.” “Well, what color was it?” demanded Mr. Sikes. “I didn’t notice,” said Mr. Link. “You didn’t, eh? Of course, you didn’t. The only way you ever notice anything is when I tell you to notice it. It was yaller.” “Yaller? Well, what of it?” “Oh, nothing—nothing at all,” exclaimed Mr. Sikes, throwing up his hands in a gesture of supreme disgust. “Nothing at all, except she’s the third yaller-haired one to come into his life. The one that was here last fall that he took such a shine to, and the one he confesses to being gone on out in Idaho or somewheres. Two dark and three fair women, is what she said. Didn’t she? Wait a minute! Answer me. Didn’t she?” “She did,” said Mr. Link, his brow clouding. “But he’s only had one dark one, far as we know,” he added hopefully. “That girl he says he was engaged to over in China.” “What do you call Jane Sage? You wouldn’t call her a blonde, would you?” “Certainly not. But what’s Jane got to do with it?” “She’s got a lot to do with it. She’s a dark woman, ain’t she?” “Not especially. Brown or chestnut, I’d say.” “Well, say _bay_, if you want to,” roared Mr. Sikes. “And I’ll tell you something you don’t know about Jane. She’s in love with Oliver, and always has been.” “Go on!” “That makes her one of the dark women, don’t it? And she makes two, don’t she? And this here new one—the one that was setting in his lap—she makes the third fair one, don’t she? Well, what you got to say to that? This is the last straw. I been prayin’ to God that we could get through the year without another light woman turning up. And here she comes, right when everything was looking safe. I—” “He won’t take any notice of this yaller-haired girl,” said Mr. Link, with an air of finality. “I can tell you something about Oliver that you don’t know. He’s in love with Jane, as the saying is, and always has been.” Mr. Sikes stopped again in his tracks and glowered at Mr. Link. “Who told you that?” he demanded.