Page:Caroline Lockhart--The Fighting Shepherdess.djvu/355

 "No — I can't say that. Why?"

He hesitated and the color swept hotly over his face.

"It will be an accommodation to us if you will wait a few days."

"In what way?"

Her calmness reassured him and he replied with a little less constraint:

"This is a large sum for a small bank, and I don't mind telling you confidentially that the payment of this check will leave us a little — er — short."

Kate raised her beautifully arched eyebrows and questioned :

"Yes?"

Wentz drew a deep breath of relief.

"You see, I inferred that you would be leaving this with us for a considerable length of time and, anyway, I was sure that you would be considerate if it was not quite — not quite convenient to pay the full amount at once."

"What made you think that?" she asked softly.

"Oh, our friendly relations, and all that," he replied more easily.

"Aren't you taking a great deal for granted, Mr. Wentz?"

The timbre of her voice — the deadly coldness of it — made him start. He had the sensation of an icicle being drawn slowly the length of his back.

"Why, I — I don't know," he stammered. "Am I?"

" Do you recall any reason, as you look back, why I should grant this favor that you ask? "

Mr. Wentz distinctly squirmed.

"N-no."

"Quite the contrary, if you'll recollect."