“Awe,” said the boy, with a shrug down the length of him, “yer know what I mean, lady.  ’Tain’t a turn, it’s wind.  He told me to tell yer he’s got his collars and cuffs in dat grip for a scoot clean out to ’Frisco.  Den he’s goin’ to shoot snow-birds in de Klondike.  He says yer told him not to send ‘round no more pink notes nor come hangin’ over de garden gate, and he takes dis means of puttin’ yer wise.  He says yer refereed him out like a has-been, and never give him no chance to kick at de decision.  He says yer swiped him, and never said why.”

The slightly awakened interest in the young lady’s eyes did not abate.  Perhaps it was caused by either the originality or the audacity of the snow-bird hunter, in thus circumventing her express commands against the ordinary modes of communication.  She fixed her eye on a statue standing disconsolate in the dishevelled park, and spoke into the transmitter: 

“Tell the gentleman that I need not repeat to him a description of my ideals.  He knows what they have been and what they still are.  So far as they touch on this case, absolute loyalty and truth are the ones paramount.  Tell him that I have studied my own heart as well as one can, and I know its weakness as well as I do its needs.  That is why I decline to hear his pleas, whatever they may be.  I did not condemn him through hearsay or doubtful evidence, and that is why I made no charge.  But, since he persists in hearing what he already well knows, you may convey the matter.

“Tell him that I entered the conservatory that evening from the rear, to cut a rose for my mother.  Tell him I saw him and Miss Ashburton beneath the pink oleander.  The tableau was pretty, but the pose and juxtaposition were too eloquent and evident to require explanation.  I left the conservatory, and, at the same time, the rose and my ideal.  You may carry that song and dance to your impresario.”

“I’m shy on one word, lady.  Jux—­jux—­put me wise on dat, will yer?”

“Juxtaposition—­or you may call it propinquity—­or, if you like, being rather too near for one maintaining the position of an ideal.”

The gravel spun from beneath the boy’s feet.  He stood by the other bench.  The man’s eyes interrogated him, hungrily.  The boy’s were shining with the impersonal zeal of the translator.

“De lady says dat she’s on to de fact dat gals is dead easy when a feller comes spielin’ ghost stories and tryin’ to make up, and dat’s why she won’t listen to no soft-soap.  She says she caught yer dead to rights, huggin’ a bunch o’ calico in de hot-house.  She side-stepped in to pull some posies and yer was squeezin’ de oder gal to beat de band.  She says it looked cute, all right all right, but it made her sick.  She says yer better git busy, and make a sneak for de train.”

The young man gave a low whistle and his eyes flashed with a sudden thought.  His hand flew to the inside pocket of his coat, and drew out a handful of letters.  Selecting one, he handed it to the boy, following it with a silver dollar from his vest-pocket.