Then Zada said something and pointed. She seemed to be excited, but
not half so excited as Peter was. His face was all shot up with red,
and he looked as if he had eaten something that didn't sit easy.
Then he looked as if he wanted to fight somebody. He began to chew
on his words.
Kedzie caught only a few phrases in the holes in the noisy music.
"When did she get back? And she's here with him? I'll kill him--"
Kedzie stood on tiptoe, primevally trying to lift her ears higher
still to hear what followed. She saw Zada putting her hand on
Peter's sleeve, and she heard Zada say:
"Don't start anything here. Remember I got a reputation to lose,
if you haven't."
This had the oddest effect on Peter. He stared at Zada, and his anger
ran out of his face just as the water ran out of the silver washbowl
in the sleeping-car. Then he began to laugh softly, but as if he
wanted to laugh right out loud. He put his napkin up and laughed
into that.
And then the anger he had lost ran up into Zada's face, and she
looked at Peter as if she wanted to kill him.
Now it was Peter who put his hand on her arm and patted it and said,
"I didn't mean anything."
Mean what? Kedzie wondered. But she had no chance to find out, for
Peter rose from the table and, dodging around the dancing couples,
made his escape. He reappeared in the very nook where Kedzie watched,
and called up to Zada:
"Did they see me?"
Zada shook her head. Peter threw her a kiss.
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