wretches for I; I shall fight them for he."

When he had finally been prevailed upon to exchange his martial
threats for a fresh paean of rejoicing, he fell in behind,
declaring firmly that he intended to follow his new-found hero
wherever he might go, though the course laid were straight for
those infernal regions that played so large a part in his fancy.

In the midst of Kirk's expressions of gratitude for the timely
intercession of Cortlandt and his wife, the former surprised him
by saying, in a genuinely hearty tone:

"My wife has told me all about you, Anthony, and I want you to
come over to Panama as my guest until you hear from your father."

When Kirk informed him of the cablegram that had cast him adrift
in Panama, leading indirectly to his entanglement with the dignity
of Ramon Alfarez and the Spanish law, Cortlandt replied,
reassuringly:

"Oh, well, your father doesn't understand the facts in the case,
that's all. You sit down like a sensible person and write him
fully. It will be a great pleasure for us to have you at the
Tivoli in the mean time."

Seeing a warm second to this invitation in Mrs. Cortlandt's eyes,
Kirk accepted gracefully, explaining: "You know this is the first
time I was ever up against hard luck, and I don't know just how to
act."