"I tell you," she said fiercely, "you are acting like a fool! If you interfere with me you will be drawn into all sorts of trouble, perhaps into tragedy, perhaps even into disgrace." "You're forgetting the net," he reminded her, "the nice net you mentioned this morning, with room for two. Also--" again he looked at the watch--"you're overlooking the value of time. See how fast these little hands are moving. The nearest police station is only two blocks away. Unless you give me that promise, you will be in it in--" he made a calculation--"in just about four minutes." She seemed to come to a decision. "Listen to me," she said, rapidly. "I cannot be frank with you--" "I've noticed that," Laurie interpolated, "with regret." She ignored the interruption. "But I can tell you this much. I am not alone in my--trouble. Others are involved. They are--desperate. It is because of them that I--you understand?" Laurie shook his head. He did not understand, at all; but vague and unpleasant memories of newspaper stories about espionage and foreign spies suddenly filtered through his mind. "It sounds an awful mess," he said frankly. "If it's got anything to do with German propaganda--" She interrupted with a gesture of impatience. "No, no!" she cried. "I am not a German or a propagandist, or a pacifist or a spy. That much, at least, I can tell you." "Then that's all right!" Laurie glanced at his watch again. "If you had been a German spy," he added, "with a little round knob of hair on the back of your head and bombs in every pocket, I couldn't have had much to do with you, I really couldn't. But as you and your companions are not involved in that kind of thing, I am forced to remind you that you'll be headed toward the station in just one minute." "I hate you!" she said between her teeth. He shook his head at her. "Oh, no, you don't!" he said kindly. "But I see plainly that you're a self-willed young person. Association with me, and the study of my poise, will do a lot for you. By the way, you have only
Prev.
Back
Top