dBooks desire

``So why
not?''
``And you look horribly bored.''
``Unspeakably,'' replied Baird. ``I've spoken to no
one since I left Paris.''
``What are you doing on this ship?'' inquired she.
``To be perfectly honest,'' said he, ``I came this way
to avoid you. I was afraid you'd take passage on my
steamer just to amuse yourself with my nervousness.
And--here you are!''
``Amusing myself with your nervousness.''
``But I'm not nervous. There's no danger. Will
you let me have a chair put beside yours?''
``It will be a charity on your part,'' said she.
When he was comfortably settled, he explained his
uneasiness. ``I see I've got to tell you,'' said he, ``for
I don't want you to think me a shouting ass. The fact
is my wife wants to get a divorce from me and to soak
me for big alimony. She's a woman who'll do anything
to gain her end, and--well, for some reason she's always
been jealous of you. I didn't care to get into
trouble, or to get you into trouble.''
``I'm traveling as Mary Stevens,'' said Mildred.


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