Della realized he was merely teasing, but she made a cruel thrust in
return.

"You don't expect a good looking girl to be interested in you, do
you?" she said.

Frank laughed, then reached out to seize her by the shoulders, but she
eluded his grasp and went speeding off across the lawn with him in
pursuit. They reached the tennis court, laughing and flushed, Della
still in the lead. There Della beckoned the other girl to them, and
managed introductions.

"This is that scatter-brained Frank Merrick, I told you about, Pete,"
she said. "Frank, this is my own particular pal at Miss Sefton's
School, Marjorie Faulkner, better known as Pete. If you can beat her
at tennis, you will have to play above your usual form."

"That so?" said Frank, entering into the spirit of badinage. "Give me
a racquet, and I'll take you both on for a set. About 6-0 ought to be
right, with me on the large end. Never saw a girl yet that could play
passable tennis."

"You scalawag," laughed Della. "When it was only my playing that
enabled us to beat Bob and Jack last light. Well, here's your racquet,
all waiting for you. Come on."

Della was a prophet. The slender, lithe Miss Faulkner, with her
tip-tilted nose, freckles, tan and all, proved to be almost as good a
player as Della herself. The result was that, although both games were
hotly contested, Frank lost the first two of the set. He was about to
start serving for the third game, when Bob and Jack, giving evidences
of considerable excitement, approached from the house.

"Hey, Frank, come here," called Bob.

Frank stood undecided, but Della called to her brother:

"He's a very busy boy, Bob. You and Jack better come and help him."

Noting the presence of the other girl, Bob and Jack came forward,
whereupon Della once more managed introductions. Bob, usually rather
embarrassed in the presence of girls, seemed at once at ease, and
apparently forgot entirely his urgent business with Frank. He and Miss
Faulkner fell into the gay chatter from which the others were
excluded. Jack seized the opportunity to pull Frank aside.

"Look here," he said. "Something has happened already. That call was
from one of the government prohibition enforcement agents up in New
York. He said Inspector Condon had carried our information and
surmises about our neighbors to him immediately after seeing us. He's
coming down to-night to the house. Said he thought he could make the
trip in about three hours, and wo