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She nodded.

"But isn't it—don't you find it a bit lonesome—by yourself, I mean?"

There was a little shrug of the slim shoulders.

"It is better to be lonesome than bored," she answered, a trifle cynically. Miles flushed. She turned swiftly and surprised the look on his face.

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way!" she cried, in dismay. "Please, I didn't, really! You'll believe me, won't you?"

"Of course," he answered, smilingly. "But you might have meant it, and said it with good cause. I have been discourteous in forcing my presence on you as I have, and I dare say I have bored you horribly."

"Please!" she cried again, pleadingly. "You haven't! I had no