He, however, smiled vaguely and, sitting down, coughed slightly, and placed his fingertips together.  “I have had an—­er—­interview with Mr. Hotchkiss, but—­I—­er—­regret to say there seems to be no prospect of—­er—­compromise.”  He paused, and to his surprise her listless “company” face lit up with an adorable smile.  “Of course!—­ketch him!” she said.  “Was he mad when you told him?” She put her knees comfortably together and leaned forward for a reply.

For all that, wild horses could not have torn from the Colonel a word about Hotchkiss’s anger.  “He expressed his intention of employing counsel—­and defending a suit,” returned the Colonel, affably basking in her smile.  She dragged her chair nearer his desk.  “Then you’ll fight him tooth and nail?” she said eagerly; “you’ll show him up?  You’ll tell the whole story your own way?  You’ll give him fits?—­and you’ll make him pay?  Sure?” she went on, breathlessly.

“I—­er—­will,” said the Colonel, almost as breathlessly.

She caught his fat white hand, which was lying on the table, between her own and lifted it to her lips.  He felt her soft young fingers even through the lisle-thread gloves that encased them and the warm moisture of her lips upon his skin.  He felt himself flushing—­but was unable to break the silence or change his position.  The next moment she had scuttled back with her chair to her old position.

“I—­er—­certainly shall do my best,” stammered the Colonel, in an attempt to recover his dignity and composure.

“That’s enough!  You’ll do it,” said the girl, enthusiastically.  “Lordy!  Just you talk for me as ye did for his old Ditch Company, and you’ll fetch it—­every time!  Why, when you made that jury sit up the other day—­when you got that off about the Merrikan flag waving equally over the rights of honest citizens banded together in peaceful commercial pursuits, as well as over the fortress of official proflig—­”

“Oligarchy,” murmured the Colonel, courteously.

“Oligarchy,” repeated the girl, quickly, “my breath was just took away.  I said to maw, ‘Ain’t he too sweet for anything!’ I did, honest Injin!  And when you rolled it all off at the end—­never missing a word—­(you didn’t need to mark ’em in a lesson-book, but had ’em all ready on your tongue), and walked out—­Well!  I didn’t know you nor the Ditch Company from Adam, but I could have just run over and kissed you there before the whole court!”

She laughed, with her face glowing, although her strange eyes were cast down.  Alack! the Colonel’s face was equally flushed, and his own beady eyes were on his desk.  To any other woman he would have voiced the banal gallantry that he should now, himself, look forward to that reward, but the words never reached his lips.  He laughed, coughed slightly, and when he looked up again she had fallen into the same attitude as on her first visit, with her parasol point on the floor.