“Who are you? And how dare you come in here now?” “And who are you?” returned Gordon. “I’m Madelaine Theddon—Mrs. Theddon’s daughter!” The lid of the boy’s bad eye flopped twice. “You’re who?” he cried, amazed. “I’m Mrs. Theddon’s daughter, I told you——” “Tell that to the Marines! Aunt Gracia hasn’t got a daughter. Unless——” Being naturally low-minded, the alternative occurred to him promptly. “But I am, I tell you! She adopted me—four years ago. And please go out till I’m dressed.” Gordon laughed coarsely and licked his lips. “Adopted you, did she? That’s a good one. She never told us about it.” “That’s her business, isn’t it? I don’t know as there was any reason why she was required to do so, whoever you are. But if you possess any traits of a gentleman you’ll leave my room until I’m dressed.” “Oh, don’t be catty. I’m her nephew, Gord, and you aren’t the first dame I’ve ever seen half-dressed.” “I might gather as much from your conduct!” “Been knocking me, has she? Well, just for that, I’ll get out when I please.” “I shall call the servants!” “Go ahead; I can lick any darned fathead Aunt Gracia’s got around here. But I hope you have better luck than I did. I hunted all over the place.” The girl was close to tears. She looked around desperately. Then with a flash of white she was gone—into the bathroom. The intervening door was fastened swiftly. “A peach!” whistled the boy. He moved back into the larger chamber. “Now I wonder where did Gracia pick her up? She’s a pippin! A dream! A cuckoo! A lulu—_Whew!_” III Gracia Theddon came into the room,—trailed in, a long string of jade beads clicking against her knees. She stopped. “Where did you come from?” she blazed. “Johnsville! They kicked me out!” “You mean you’ve been expelled?” “Call it that if you want.” “What for?” “Oh, a bunch of us took Dutch leave one night and the girl that was with us squealed. They said I was responsible.” “Which you probably were!” “Well, what of it? They kicked me out, anyhow. I might as well be blamed as not.” “But why have you come here?” “Haven’t got any other place to go, have I?—with the mater and governor across.” “Meaning you’ve spent all your money?” “I guess so.” “Take your feet off that polished chair! What do you think I’m going to do about it?” “Make me financial once more——or lemme stay here till the governor gets back. I’d just as soon stay,” he grinned with a glance at Madelaine’s door. “Oh, you had? Well, I’d as soon you had not!” “Yeah—on account of what you got in the bathroom, what?” “You unspeakable young vulgarian! How do you know——” “Oh, I busted in there, looking for your maid. But you don’t need to be sore! She’s all right, leave it to me! Great taste you got, Aunt Grace. I couldn’t ‘a’ picked a prettier one myself!” If Gracia Theddon had been less a lady she would have flown into a rage. Instead she returned calmly: