ow I hate to see him
distressed for money, especially now when other things are distressing
him, and I wonder if there isn't some tactful arrangement by which I
could let him have some money without his knowing that it came from me."

"_Aren't_ you good!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I suppose he makes things out
as bad as he can so as to influence me as much as possible; but he says
we are in a terrible hole, that we oughtn't to have come here at all,
that if he'd had any idea how much money I'd been spending in New York
before we came he wouldn't have considered coming, that everybody is
hounding him for money, and that he doesn't see how he can possibly pay
his bills at the end of the season. Of course it's mostly my fault;
but I can't help it if the Democrats are in power and business is bad,
can I?"

"Well," I said, "I'm flush just now and I'll think up a scheme.
Meanwhile let's forget about everything that isn't pleasant. Where are
you going to drive me?"

"I don't care. Let's get away from the lights. What time is it? John
doesn't like me to be late; and besides I haven't kissed the kiddies
good-night. Let's just take a little dip in the woods. On a hot night
it's almost like going for a swim. Oughtn't you to have a hat or
something? If you get cold you can put the cooler on like a shawl."

Her manner affected me as it had never affected me before.

The dip from the hot dusk of the dusty road into the cool midnight of
the pine woods had all the exhilaration of an adventure. The fact that
she had sent into the Club for me flattered my vanity. She wanted me
and not another to be with her. I felt a tenderness for her that I had
never felt before. I wanted a chance to show that I understood her and
was her friend without qualification. Shoulder touched shoulder now
and then and it seemed to me as if I was being appealed to by that
contact for support, countenance, and protection.

We chattered about the night and the pale stars, and the smells of
flowers. We wished that there was no such thing as dinner, that the
woods lasted forever, and that we might drive on through the soft
perfumed air until we came to the end of them.

Then there was quite a long silence, and for the first time in my life
I experienced the wish, well, not to kiss her, but to lay my cheek
against hers. It was a wish singularly hard to resist.

"I suppose we ought to turn back."

"You know best," I said.

"Do you want to?"