Page:The man on horseback (IA manonhorseback00abdurich).pdf/71

Rh He clenched his fists that the knuckles stretched white.

"It's no go, eh?" he asked. "It's because of that that German Baron—damn him"

"You must not swear! I won't have it. You—you are rude and ill-bred and"

"All right, all right!" Tom's temper was fast getting the better of him. "I understand all right. Your head has been turned by those—what does your father call them?—those brass-souled, saber-rattling coyotes"

"Father doesn't know!"

"You bet your life he does! He knew them in his youth, He hasn't got a bit of use for those bragging, swaggering, square-head Dutch officers"

She rose, fire in her eyes.

"You are insulting me," she cried. "I am a German myself!"

"Don't you believe it! You're a plain, every-day, field-and-garden American—just like me, just like your Dad—and that’s one of the many reasons why I'm so crazy about you."

"You—you are" The girl was near to crying. "I hate you, hate you!"

"All right. I guess you’ve made up your mind to marry one of those jackanapes with their pink-and-green monkey jackets, the lightning conductor spikes on their helmets, their haw-haw manners and the bits of window glass stuck in their eyes. You" quite suddenly he recollected himself. He bent his head, like a man submitting to the judgment of Fate, "I beg your pardon, Bertha. I lost my temper. God I love you so"

"I don't want to see you again Never!"

"You won't!"