"Miss Desha--"

"You'll have to call me Sue. You're Billy; I'm Sue. That's one of
the minor penalties. Our prenatal engagement affords us this charming
familiarity," she interrupted scathingly.

"Sue, then. Sue," continued Garrison quietly, "from your type, I thought
you fashioned of better material. Now, don't explode--yet a while. I
mean property and parents' blessing should not weigh a curse with you.
Yes; I said curse--damn, if you wish. If you loved, this burlesque
engagement should not stand in your way. You would elope with the man
you love, and let property and parents' blessings----"

"That would be a good way for you to get out of the muddle unscathed,
wouldn't it?" she flashed in. "How chivalrous! Why don't you elope
with some one--the dark, clinging girl--and let me free? You want me to
suffer, not yourself. Just like you Yankees--cold-blooded icicles!"

Garrison considered. "I never thought of that, honestly!" he said, with
a laugh. "I would elope quick enough, if I had only myself to consider."

"Then your dark, clinging girl is lacking in the very virtues you find
so woefully missing in me. She won't take a risk. I cannot say I blame
her," she added, scanning the brooding Garrison.

He laughed good-humoredly. "How you must detest me! But cheer up, my
sister in misery! You will marry the man you love, all right. Never
fear."

"Will I?" she asked enigmatically. Her eyes were half-shut, watching