She stood up, too, looking rather surprised. "You're not going away?" "Oh, no; not out of town." I thought that was what she meant. I added: "And as I go out, I'll stop down-stairs and have some one come up and stay with you." She dropped to the arm of the chair, her pretty face showing dismay. "Oh, but see here! I'm running you off--I know I am. Say, Mr. Lightnut, I don't want to do that. I thought sure you were going to be here. Brother insisted you would be." Brother! Nice brother, indeed, for her--poor little thing! "Oh, you'll be all right," I said reassuringly. "I'm just going over to the club, don't you know--not far away." She came right up to me and placed a hand on each shoulder. "Honest Injun, now," she said--and her smile was ravishing. "Honest, now, Mr. Lightnut, you're going just because I'm here. Say now, own up!" And, dash it, there was nothing to do but admit it. "All right," she said; and I thought her eyes flashed a little. "Then I go to a hotel--that's all!" "A hotel! Why, you can't do that--oh, I say!" "Why can't I?" She was downright angry--I could see it; and how distractingly lovely she was with that flame in her cheeks! But she was just a child--an innocent little child; and how the deuce could I ever make her understand? I stammered: "Why--er--not in New York, you know. They won't take a lady in at this time of night. They--" She snapped her fingers. "Oh, I say, Mr. Lightnut, play easier on that girlie and lady pedal; cook up a fresh gag! I tell you, I've put all that behind me. Say, wait till you've known me a little, and I'll bet a purse you never call _me_ a lady again! Lady! Say, that's _funny_!" And it certainly seemed to strike her sense of humor. She gave me a sudden punch in the side that fairly left me breathless, and her laughter rang out birdlike, joyous. Of a sudden I felt devilish awkward and foolish. "Oh, _please_ stop stringing me, Mr. Lightnut--don't treat me like a kid. I want to get acquainted." Then her bright face sobered. "Say, was that on the level--that about your going to leave me? See here, I'm not bothering you, am I, Mr. Lightnut?" "Bothering me!" I ejaculated. "Bothering _me_? I should say not!" I think I must have said it heartily and convincingly, don't you know, for her lovely face looked pleased. "Because if I am," she said earnestly, "I'll fade away into my own little room there." Her glance ranged toward her door. "It's sure some swell, that room." "So jolly glad you like it," I said. "Well, I should say!" Then her beautiful eyes looked at me full. "You know, I didn't expect this--I mean having a room all to myself. Never." And then, while I gasped, she went on, sweetly and calmly: "Why, Mr. Lightnut, Brother Jack would throw seventeen thousand fits if I went to a hotel, because--" She laughed deliciously. "Well, I promised him that if he would let me come home by New York I would stay right here with you and behave myself."