第15章

I don't care much about girls, one way or the other. But, for all I've got the name of being several things--a savage among the rest--I don't like to feel such a brute as to make war on a girl that seems to be getting it handed to her right along."He tardily lighted his cigarette and sat smoking beside her, the tiny glow lighting his face briefly now and then.

"When I was joshing you there before supper," he went on, speaking low that he might not be overheard--and ridiculed--from the house, "I didn't know the whole outfit was making a practice of doing the same thing. I hadn't heard about the dead tarantula on your pillow, or the rattler coiled up on the porch, or any of those innocent little jokes. But if the rest are making it their business to devil the life out of you, why--common humanity forces me to apologize and tell you I'm out of it from now on.""Oh! Thank you very much." Evadna's tone might be considered ironical. "I suppose I ought to say that your statement lessens my dislike of you--""Not at all." Grant interrupted her. "Go right ahead and hate me, if you feel that way. It won't matter to me--girls never did concern me much, one way or the other. I never was susceptible to beauty, and that seems to be a woman's trump card, always--""Well, upon my word!""Sounds queer, does it? But it's the truth, and so what's the use of lying, just to be polite? I won't torment you any more;and if the boys rig up too strong a josh, I'm liable to give you a hint beforehand. I'm willing to do that--my sympathies are always with the under dog, anyway, and they're five to one. But that needn't mean that I'm--that I--" He groped for words that would not make his meaning too bald; not even Grant could quite bring himself to warn a girl against believing him a victim of her fascinations.

"You needn't stutter. I'm not really stupid. You don't like me any better than I like you. I can see that. We're to be as decent as possible to each other--you from 'common humanity,' and I because I promised Aunt Phoebe.""We-e-l!--that's about it, I guess." Grant eyed her sidelong."Only I wouldn't go so far as to say I actually dislike you. Inever did dislike a girl, that I remember. I never thought enough about them, one way or the other." He seemed rather fond of that statement, he repeated it so often." The life I live doesn't call for girls. Put that's neither here nor there. What I wanted to say was, that I won't bother you any more. Iwouldn't have said a word to you tonight, if you hadn't walked right up to me and started to dig into me. Of course, I had to fight back--tho man who won't isn't a normal human being.""Oh, I know." Evadna's tone was resentful. "From Adam down to you, it has always been 'The woman, she tempted me.' You're perfectly horrid, even if you have apologized. 'The woman, she tempted me,' and --""I beg your pardon; the woman didn't," he corrected blandly.

"The woman insisted on scrapping. That's different.""Oh, it's different! I see. I have almost forgotten something Iought to say, Mr. Imsen. I must thank you for--well, for defending me to that Indian.""I didn't. Nobody was attacking you, so I couldn't very well defend you, could I? I had to take a fall out of old Peppajee, just on principle. I don't get along very well with my noble red cousins. I wasn't doing it on your account, in particular.""Oh, I see." She rose rather suddenly from the bench. "It wasn't even common humanity, then--""Not even common humanity," he echoed affirmatively. "Just a chance I couldn't afford to pass up, of digging into Peppajee.""That's different." She laughed shortly and left him, running swiftly through the warm dusk to the murmur of voices at the house.

Grant sat where she left him, and smoked two cigarettes meditatively before he thought of returning to the house. When he finally did get upon his feet, he stretched his arms high above his head, and stared for a moment up at the treetops swaying languidly just under the stars.

"Girls must play the very deuce with a man if he ever lets them get on his mind," he mused. "I see right now where a fellow about my size and complexion had better watch out." But he smiled afterward, as if he did not consider the matter very serious, after all.