"Here it is," said Gertie. Her smile was cruel.

"Oh, I say, Gertie, that's too bad of you." It was Frank who spoke.

"Too bad!" Nora sprung to her feet with flashing eyes. "Too bad. It's
mean and despicable. There are no words to do it justice. But what could
I expect from----"

"Nora!" said her brother sharply.

Nora rushed from the table to her room. And although Eddie knocked
repeatedly at her door and begged her to let him speak with her if only
for a moment that evening at supper-time, she made no sign nor did
anyone see her again that night.

She made a point of not coming down to breakfast the next morning until
after the time when the men would be gone. She thought it best to meet
Gertie alone. It was time that they came to some sort of understanding.
To her surprise and annoyance Taylor was still at the table. Gertie was
nowhere to be seen.

"Come down to keep me company? That's real nice of you, I'm sure."

"I supposed, naturally, that you had gone. You usually have at this
hour."

"You don't know how it flatters a fellow to have women folks study his
habits like that," he said with a grin.