"Many thanks!" said Nick.

Violet's peal of laughter mingled with the weird notes of her mandolin,
and Olga, returning, desired to be told the joke.

Nick pulled her down beside him on the sofa. "Come and take care of me,
Olga _mia_! I'm being disgracefully maligned. Can't you persuade Miss
Campion to sing to us, by way of changing the subject?"

"Who has been maligning you?" demanded Olga, looking at Max with very
bright eyes.

He looked straight back at her with that gleam in his eyes which with
any other man would have denoted admiration but which with him she well
knew to be only mockery.

"I admit it, fair lady," he said. "I threw a clod of mud at your hero. I
thought it would be good for him. However, you will be relieved to hear
that it went wide of the mark. He still sits secure in his tight little
shrine and smiles magnanimously at my futility."

Olga's hand slipped into Nick's. "He's the biggest man you've ever
seen!" she declared, with warmth.

"Please don't fight over my body!" remonstrated Nick. "I never professed
to be more than a minnow among Tritons, and quite a lean minnow at
that."

"You're not, Nick!" declared his champion impetuously. "You're a giant!"