accused of disliking girls. However, he continued to stand at the door of the compartment waiting for Lieutenant Martin as his superior officer to open the conversation and explain their presence. “I, we,” Lieutenant Martin began stiffly, and then stopped, as if he never were to go on. Then he turned to the younger man. “Do, Kelley, speak for us both, won’t you? Give an excuse for our appearance. For if you are not an Irishman, with that name of yours, your ancestors surely were.” Hugh Kelley laughed. “Oh, the situation isn’t so serious; please don’t be alarmed. It is only that Lieutenant Martin is so in the habit of issuing commands[52] lately that he does not know how to ask a favor. And it’s a favor I be after askin’,” Hugh continued, breaking into a fairly poor imitation of the Irish brogue, somewhat to Mollie Drew’s amusement. [52] “You see, I have been feeling rather homesick for the past few hours, so I mustered up courage to ask our Colonel if Lieutenant Martin and I could come in here to talk to you. I told him, Miss Davis—hope you do not mind—that you and Lieutenant Martin were old childhood friends; kind of boy and girl business, you know the kind. So the Colonel said we might come if I brought Martin along, and if we did not mention the fact to any of the other fellows in our car for fear of starting a riot in your direction. So I dragged Martin with me.” Hugh ended with a perfectly deliberate intention of confusing his superior officer, perhaps in revenge for past severities. Then he dropped down into a seat between Barbara Thornton and Mollie Drew. “I say, isn’t this good luck? Anyhow, it is more than I deserve,” he concluded boyishly. [53]Lieutenant Martin took a place beside Nona. He appeared really more uncomfortable than necessary. [53] “I should like to court-martial Kelley for that speech, Miss Davis. How can I possibly talk to you with such a beginning?” [54]
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