Page:Arthur Stringer - Twin Tales.djvu/106

96 "I want to be alone," moaned Teddie through her tear-wet fingers.

"Of course yuh do," acknowledged her new-found knight. "And yuh will be. But if I'm goin' to hit those Long Island resorts in a li'l club roadster when the hot weather comes, I'd like to think it's goin' to be wit' yuh!"

And before she quite realized what he meant Gunboat Dorgan had caught her up and kissed her on the tear-stained cheek.

"Y' understand don't yuh!" he said, laughing a little triumphantly at the stricken light which came into her eyes.

She stood up, dizzy, gathering her breath to say what she had to say. But he pushed her back gently into her chair, with a smile that was both a little shy and a little proprietary. Then he slipped out of the room with his light and panther-like step, leaving her with the bed-rock of existence no longer merely undulating, but fallen utterly away.