"Besides, why shouldn't I speak to him ?" "Why ?" shouted the captain.

"Why?
Because I won't have it." "I thought you liked him," said Miss Nugent, in affected surprise.

"You patted him on the head." The captain, hardly able to believe his ears, came to an impressive stop in the roadway, but Miss Nugent walked on.

She felt instinctively that the joke was thrown away on him, and, in the absence of any other audience, wanted to enjoy it without interruption.

Convulsive and half-suppressed sounds, which she ascribed to a slight cold caught while waiting in the kitchen, escaped her at intervals for the remainder of the journey home..