Of course there was nothing for the gentleman to do but obey, which he did with an icy: 

“Certainly, Miss Minturn, and pray pardon my intrusion.”

They were obliged to wait a moment for some people to alight, and during the delay Katherine heard him say in an aside to her roommate: 

“Next time, Sadie, don’t bring a prude with you.”

“Next time!” Katherine repeated to herself, with a, heart-bound of astonishment.  These meetings, then, were of frequent occurrence, and there was no telling what regret and disgrace her friend was storing up.  For herself, for it was only a question of time when she would be found out.

Of course, she could not talk the matter over with her on the car, but when they alighted and were entering the school grounds she felt she must speak a word of caution.

“Sadie, did you have an appointment to meet Mr. Willard to-night?” she inquired.

“Well, suppose I did!” was the defiant retort.

“If you did, you certainly had no right to draw me into anything of the kind,” said Katherine, indignantly.  “It was not an honorable thing to do.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to give me away?” demanded the girl, tartly.

Katherine flushed.

“I have no wish to tell tales of anyone,” she replied; “but, truly, I do not like what I have heard and seen to-night.  Sadie, I overheard what Mr. Willard said to you just as we were getting on the car.”

“Lor’!  Did you?  Well, of course, he didn’t like it; to have all our fun spoiled and—–­”

“And it proved to me that you are in the habit of meeting him clandestinely,” interposed Katherine, determined to sift the affair to the bottom.

“I’m sure I don’t know what business you have to meddle,” spiritedly began the girl, when Katherine checked her again by saying: 

“You know, Sadie, that my only thought is to save you from getting into trouble,” and she laid a gentle hand upon the arm of the angry girl.

“I reckon I made a mistake asking you to go with me,” Sadie observed, in a calmer tone after a moment of silence, “but—­but—­ Katherine, I might as well own up—­I’m—­engaged to Ned Willard.”

“Engaged!  Sadie!  Where did you meet him?  How long have you known him?” exclaimed Katherine, aghast.

“Oh, about three months.  I met him the night Mrs. Bryant gave that theater party.”

“Did Mrs. Bryant introduce him to you?  Was he with her party?”

“N-o; but Nellie Nixon knew him and introduced us on our way out after the play.”

“Does your guardian know of your engagement?”

“No.  Ned thought it would be as well not to say anything about it at present,” Sadie reluctantly admitted, but cringing visibly at the question.

“Dearest,” said Katherine, fondly, “I feel that I have no right to ‘meddle,’ as you say, in your affairs, but I do not see how you can respect or trust a man who would draw you into a secret engagement and then endanger your reputation and standing in school by insisting upon clandestine meetings.  If he possessed a fine sense of honor he would go to your guardian, frankly tell him of his regard for you, and ask his permission to address you openly.  What is Mr. Willard’s business, Sadie?”