During the remainder of the day he began to wonder if he had not
been a fatuous idiot. Anna did her work with the thoroughness of
her German blood plus her American training. She came back minus
her hat, and with her eyes carefully powdered, and not once during
the morning was he able to meet her eyes fully. By the middle of
the afternoon sex vanity and curiosity began to get the better of
his judgment, and he made an excuse, when she stood beside him over
some papers, her hand on the desk, to lay his fingers over hers.
She drew her hand away quickly, and when he glanced up, boyishly
smiling, her face was flushed.

"Please," she said. And he felt hurt and rebuffed. He had no
sentiment for her whatever, but the devil of mischief of twenty-two
was behind him, urging him on to the eternal experiment. He was
very formal with her for the rest of the day, and had the
satisfaction of leaving her, at four o'clock, white-faced and
miserable over her machine in the little office next to his.

He forgot her immediately, in the attempt to leave the mill without
encountering his father. Clayton, he knew, would be staying late,
and would be exacting similar tribute to the emergency from the
entire force. Also, he had been going about the yard with
contractors most of the afternoon. But Graham made his escape
safely. It was two hours later when his father, getting into the
limousine, noticed the absence of the boy's red car, and asked the
gateman how long it had been gone.

"Since about four o'clock, Mr. Spencer."

Suddenly Clayton felt a reaction from the activities of the day.