Page:Emily Climbs.pdf/170

 way—so did he—then I thought I saw a chance of getting past and I made a wild dash—he made a dash—with the result that I ran full tilt against him. He had thrown out his arms when he realised a collision was unavoidable—I went right between them—and in the shock of the encounter they involuntarily closed around me for a moment while my nose came into violent contact with his chin.

“‘I—I—beg your pardon,’ the poor creature gasped, dropped me as if I were a hot coal, and tore off around the corner.

“Ilse was in fits. She said she had never seen anything so funny in her life. It had all passed so quickly that to a by-stander it looked exactly as if that man and I had stopped, gazed at each other for a moment, and then rushed madly into each other’s arms.

“My nose ached for blocks. Ilse said she saw Miss Taylor peering from the window just as it happened. Of course that old gossip has spread the story with her own interpretation of it.

“I explained all this to Aunt Ruth, who remained incredulous and seemed to consider it a very limping tale indeed.

“‘It’s a strange thing that on a sidewalk twelve feet wide you couldn’t get past a man without embracing him,’ she said.

“‘Come now, Aunt Ruth,’ I said, ‘I know you think me sly and deep and foolish and ungrateful. But you know I am half Murray, and you think any one with any Murray in her would embrace a gentleman friend on the public street?’

“‘Oh, I think you could hardly be so brazen,’ admitted Aunt Ruth. ‘But Miss Taylor said she it. Every one has heard it. I do like to have one of my family talked about like that. It would not have occurred if you had not been out with Ilse Burnley in defiance of my advice. Don’t let anything like this happen again.’