Page:Henry rideout--The siamese cat.djvu/25

 "Why, you're the devil-fish girl!" he exclaimed. Their laughter mingled happily.

"What a horrid name! But it shows a flattering memory," she said. "Still, I knew you clear across from the doorway, coming in—"

Scarlett replied, in cold and feeble words for a heart aglow. Their faces might have shown how glad they were; and of this the girl was perhaps aware, for on a sudden she made the matter less personal, saying:

"It's good to see an American again, isn't it? You live out here in the East?"

"Not now, thank Heaven," said Owen. "Ship me somewhere west of Suez. I'm tired of it. I'm just going—" By a flash of genius he stopped before committing himself. "I'm just going about on a few errands, to and fro in the world. You're travelling, too, aren't you?"

"Yes," replied the girl. "My aunt and I are