"I always try to
swear in English."
Alvarado placed an affectionate hand upon Miss Evans's shoulder.
"O'Reilly, this girl has done more for Cuba than any of us. She
has spent a small fortune for medical supplies," said he.
"Those poor men must live on quinine," the girl exclaimed. "Any
one who can bear to take the stuff ought to have all he wants.
I've a perfect passion for giving pills."
"Oh, you may joke about it. All the same, if others would make the
same sacrifice--"
Miss Evans interrupted breezily: "It wasn't any sacrifice at all.
That's the worst of it. The salve I bought was really for my
conscience, if you must know. I squander altogether too much on
myself." Then, turning to O'Reilly, "I love extravagance, don't
you?"
"Dearly! It's my one unconquerable vice," he told her. He thought
grimly of the four dollars in his pocket which represented his and
Leslie Branch's total wealth, but it seemed to him that he was
called upon to agree with anything Miss Evans might choose to say.
O'Reilly liked this girl. He had liked her the instant she favored
him with her friendly smile, and so, trusting fatuously to his
masculine powers of observation, he tried to analyze her. He could
not guess her age, for an expensive ladies' tailor can baffle the
most discriminating eye. Certainly, however, she was not too old--
he had an idea that she would tell him her exact age if he asked
her.
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