ok I needed was at the house, so I jumped into the car
and went up after it. Mary's electric was out in front. For a moment I
contemplated flight, Mary so obviously disliked me, but being determined
that no girl in the world could keep me from going where I pleased, I
trotted up the steps.

The door opened just as I reached the porch, and disclosed Mary hastily
saying "Good-by" to Helen. The sight of her leaving, so as to avoid
meeting me, angered me and some piratical old forebear of mine came down
from above or came up from below at that moment and perched on my right
shoulder.

"Treat 'em rough!" he whispered.

I hurried over to the door, walked in and slammed it after me.

Helen laughed and said: "Warren, dear, aren't you getting noisy?"

"Helen," I said, "will you please go into the other room?"

"Helen, stay here!" Mary ordered.

"I shall do neither the one nor the other. I shall go up-stairs." She
turned to leave.

"If you go, Helen, I'll go with you," Mary announced.

Another ancestral spook with dwarfed, hairy body and gorilla arms,
climbed to my left shoulder, sat down on his hunkers and whispered in my
ear: "Treat 'em rough!"

"You're going to stay right here!" I commanded, grabbing her by the
hand.

"Let go of my hand!" Mary demanded. "I am _not_ going to stay here."

The sight of her sweet indignant face made my heart jump to my throat.
Helen laughed and went up-stairs.

"Mary--" I began, my voice softening.

My ancient forebears made wry faces at each other and hopped down from
my shoulders.

"He's a fool!" announced the cave man.

"I'll say he is," answered the pirate.

"I'm not going to stay here a minute longer. Will you please get out of
my way?" Mary said coldly.

"No, I won't!" I yelled. "I've had about enough of this, Mary. You
think you can dangle me on the end of a string, like a damned jumping-
jack, until you see fit to let me have a little rest."

My guiding ancestors hopped back on my shoulders.

"That's the stuff to give 'em!" yelled Hunkers.

"Treat 'em rough!" shouted Captain Kidd.

"You know I was right when I objected to your going with Frank Woods.
It wasn't a friendly thing to do, after the way he messed up things in
my family."

"Well, if you hadn't been so dictatorial--"

"Why shouldn't I be dictatorial?" I shouted, while my ancestors held
their sides with laughter, "and this being my house I'm going to talk as
loud as I please. If the girl I l