Page:In The Cage (London, Duckworth, 1898).djvu/128

122 'I didn't let him do anything.'

Mr. Mudge considered an instant. 'Then what did you go there for?' His tone was even slightly critical.

'I didn't quite know at the time. It was simply to be with him, I suppose—just once. He's in danger, and I wanted him to know I know it. It makes meeting him—at Cocker's, for it's that I want to stay on for—more interesting.'

'It makes it mighty interesting for me!' Mr. Mudge freely declared. 'Yet he didn't follow you?' he asked. 'I would!'

'Yes, of course. That was the way you began, you know. You're awfully inferior to him.'

'Well, my dear, you're not inferior to anybody. You've got a cheek! What is he in danger of?'

'Of being found out. He's in love with a lady—and it isn't right—and I've found him out.'

'That'll be a look-out for me!' Mr. Mudge joked. 'You mean she has a husband?'