But--I fixed him."
"Indeed?"
"I couldn't let him spoil my fun, could I? Of course not. Well, I
put a damper on him. I told him about you--about us."
O'Reilly was puzzled. "What do you mean?" he inquired.
"You won't be angry, will you? When he waxed romantic I told him
he had come into my life too late. I confessed that I was in love
with another man--with you." As her hearer drew back in dismay
Miss Evans added, quickly, "Oh, don't be frightened; that isn't
half--"
"Of course you're joking," Johnnie stammered.
"Indeed I'm not. I thought it would discourage him, but--it
didn't. So I told him a whopper. I said we were engaged." The
speaker tittered. She was delighted with herself.
"Engaged? To be MARRIED?"
"Certainly! People aren't engaged to--to go fishing, are they? I
had to tell him something; he was getting positively feverish. If
he'd kept it up I'd have told him we were secretly married."
"This may be funny," the young man said, stiffly, "but I don't see
it."
"Oh, don't look so glum! I'm not going to hold you to it, you
know. Why"--Miss Evans's bantering manner ceased, and she said,
earnestly: "Doctor Alvarado told me your story, and I think it is
splendid. I'm going to help you find that little Rosa, if you'll
let me. You were thinking about her when I came up, weren't you?"
Johnnie nodded.
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