'Oh, Hilary!'
'But then, Hilary knew the girl.'
'Hilary knew! You mean to say Hilary knew?'
'No one better,' said I composedly.
Mrs. Hilary rose to her feet.
'Who was the creature?' she asked sharply.
'Come,' I expostulated, 'how would you like it, if your young man had taken to theft, and'
'Oh, nonsense. Tell me her name, please, Mr. Carter.'
'Johnny told Hilary that just to see her and talk to her and sit by her was "worth all the money"—but, then, to be sure, it was somebody else's money—and that he'd do it again to get what he had got over again. Then, I'm sorry to say, he swore.'
'And Hilary believed that stuff?'
'Hilary agreed with him,' said I. 'Hilary, you see, knows the lady.'
'What's her name, Mr. Carter?'
'Didn't you notice his attentions to any one?'
'I notice! You don't mean that I've ever seen her!'
'Certainly you have.'
'Was she ever here?'
'Yes, Mrs. Hilary. Hilary takes care of that.'
'I shall be angry in a minute, Mr. Carter. Oh, I'll have this out of Hilary!'
'I should.'
'Who was she?'
