Page:The Plutocrat (1927).pdf/415

 and to the horror of the owner of the arm he clasped, he explained heartily: "Why, Mr. Ogle and me. That's who I mean by 'us.' It's simple enough, isn't it, Mamma?"

"Indeed it is!" she returned; and she delivered a terrible blow. "Mr. Ogle was walking with you and those other gentlemen 'around here' while he was up on the roof talking to Libby this afternoon, was he?"

It staggered him, and his bright look began to fade pathetically. "Walking with me?" he said. "Walking with me? When do you mean, dearie?"

"I mean when you were walking with those gentlemen who invited you to dinner. Mr. Ogle was with you then, too, wasn't he?"

"Oh, you mean then?" Tinker exclaimed, and he brightened again, in his relief. "No, no! He wasn't there then. No! What I was talking about was only this Koos Koos affair. No; he didn't go walking with us."

"Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't Mr. Ogle you were walking with?" She stepped closer to him, and her voice, growing louder and sharper, threatened to break. "Wasn't it Mr. Ogle you were sitting with up on the boat-deck all afternoon every