However, the eccentricities of a person in such an extremity of love are seldom valued except as comedy, and even then with no warmth of heart for the comedian, but rather with an incredulous disdain; so it is safe to say that under other circumstances, Noble might have been missing, indeed, and few of the Atwaters would have missed him.  But as matters stood they worried a great deal about him, fearing that a rash act on his part might reflect notoriety upon themselves on account of their beautiful relative—­and The North End Daily Oriole.  And when nine o’clock came and Mrs. Dill reported to Herbert’s father, over the telephone, that nothing had yet been heard of her son, the pressure of those who were blaming the Oriole more than they blamed Julia became so wearing that Herbert decided he would rather spend the remaining days of his life running away from Wallie Torbin than put in any more of such a dog’s evening as he was putting in.  Thus he defined it.

He made a confession; that is to say, it was a proclamation.  He proclaimed his innocence.  He began history with a description of events distinctly subsequent to Sunday pastimes with Patty Fairchild, and explained how he and Henry had felt that their parents would not always be with them, and as their parents wished them to be polite, they had resolved to be polite to Florence.  Proceeding, he related in detail her whole journalistic exploit.

Of the matter in hand he told the perfect and absolute truth—­and was immediately refuted, confuted, and demonstrated to be a false witness by Aunt Fanny, Aunt Carrie, and Cousin Virginia, who had all heard him vehemently declare, no longer ago than the preceding Sunday evening, that he and his partner had taken secure measures to prevent Florence from ever again setting foot within the Newspaper Building.  In addition, he was quite showered with definitions; and these, though so various, all sought to phrase but the one subject:  his conduct in seeking to drag Florence into the mire, when she was absent and could not defend herself.  Poor Florence would answer later in the evening, he was told severely; and though her cause was thus championed against the slander, it is true that some of her defenders felt stirrings of curiosity in regard to Florence.  In fact, there was getting to be something almost like a cloud upon her reputation.  There were several things for her to explain;—­among them, her taking it upon herself to see that Noble received a copy of the Oriole, and also her sudden departure from home and rather odd protraction of absence therefrom.  It was not thought she was in good company.  Uncle Joseph had telephoned from a suburb that they were dining at a farmhouse and would thence descend to the general region of the movies.

“Nobody knows what that man’ll do, when he decides to!” Aunt Carrie said nervously.  “Letting the poor child stay up so late!  She ought to be in bed this minute, even if it is Saturday night!  Or else she ought to be here to listen to her own bad little cousin trying to put his terrible responsibility on her shoulders.”