Did he deny it, he would save his own face at the expense of the other young woman's feelings.

So, though he could have throttled Purdy he put a bold front on the matter.
"CARPE DIEM is my motto, my boy! I intend to make both young ladies pay toll." His words were the signal for a fresh scream and flutter: the third young person had escaped, and was flying down the path.

This called for chase and capture.

She was not very agile but she knew the ground, which, outside the garden, was rocky and uneven.

For a time, she had Mahony at vantage; his heart was not in the game: in cutting undignified capers among the gooseberry-bushes he felt as foolish as a performing dog.