Barney was trying to make
his best impression.
"Seen much of that stiff, Larry Brainard?" he asked when the cab was
headed southward.
His tone, which he tried to make merely contemptuous, conveyed the
deep wrath which he still felt whenever his mind reverted to Larry.
Maggie reserved to herself the privilege of thinking of Larry just as
she pleased; but being the kind of girl she was, she could not help
being also a bit of a coquette.
"I didn't think he was such a stiff, Barney," she said in an
irritatingly pleasant voice. "His prison clothes were bad, but now
that he's dressed right I think he looks awfully nice. You and father
have always said he looked the perfect swell."
"See here--has he been talking to you?" Barney demanded savagely.
"A little. Yes, several times. In fact he said quite a lot that night
after you'd gone."
"What did he say?"
"He said he was not only going to go straight, but"--in her
provocative, teasing voice--"he was going to make me go straight."
"What's that? Tell me just what he said!" demanded Barney, his wrath
suddenly flaring into furious jealousy.
Maggie told him in detail; in fact told him the scene in greater
detail and with a greater length than had been the actuality. Also she
censored the scene by omitting her own opposition to Larry's
determination.
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