Then he turned abruptly and made his way to the
Tirol.
It came to pass, in the course of the evening, that Mr. Ulstervelt,
supremely confident from the effect of past achievements, drew the
unsuspecting Mrs. Medcroft into a secluded tete-a-tete. It is not of
record that he was ever a diplomatic wooer; one in haste never is.
Suffice it to say, Mrs. Medcroft, her cheeks flaming, her eyes wide with
indignation, suddenly left the side of the indomitable Freddie and
joined the party at the other end of the _entresol_, but not before she
had said to him with unmistakable clearness and decision,--
"You little wretch! How dare you say such silly things to me!"
The rebuff decisive! And he had only meant to be comforting, not to say
self-sacrificing. He'd be hanged if he could understand women nowadays.
Not these women, at least. In high dudgeon he stalked from the room. In
the door he met Brock.
"For two cents," he declared savagely, as if Brock were to blame, "I'd
take the next train for Paris."
Brock watched him down the hall. He drew a handful of small coins from
his pocket, ruefully looking them over. "Two cents," he said. "Hang it
all, I've nothing here but pfennigs and hellers and centimes."
In the course of his wanderings the disconsolate Freddie came upon Mrs.
Odell-Carney and pudgy Mr. Rodney. They were sitting in a quiet corner
of the reading-room. Mr.
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