Page:Arthur Stringer - Twin Tales.djvu/155

Rh youth. "Whereupon Teddie stiffened and winced and had to take a grip on herself before she could control her voice.

"I'm sorry there's been any mistake about it," explained Teddie, doing her best to be patient. "I remember now, I said you could have the car. And, as a matter of fact, you are perfectly welcome to it, or what's left of it!"

"Then why's this man West talkin' so big about grand larceny and gettin' me locked up? What's he know about what's been passin' strictly b'tween yuh and me? Yuh were up ag'inst it, and I could see it, and I helped yuh out the same as I'd help any girl. And I didn't have me hand out when I did it!"

"That was the trouble, Mr. Dorgan," Teddie tried to tell him. "I was willing to accept service from you without stopping to consider whether or not it could be repaid, I mean adequately repaid. And that's where I made my mistake. You'll have to attribute that mistake, I'm afraid, to the defects in my bringing up. It's a sort of penalty for the past. One gets into