What
gets me is this darned nagging and simpering around, and opening old
sores, and putting on sentimental style, and doing the bereaved
business generally. I reckon he'd be even horrified to see you and me
here--though it was just a chance with both of us."
"I think not," said Brimmer dryly. "He knows Miss Montgomery already.
They're going by the same steamer."
Markham looked up quickly.
"Impossible! She's going by the other line to Panama; that is"--he
hesitated--"I heard it from the agent."
"She's changed her mind, so Keene says," returned Brimmer. "She's going
by way of Nicaragua. He stops at San Juan to reconnoitre the coast up to
Mazatlan. Good-night. It's no use waiting here for a cab any longer, I'm
off."
"Hold on!" said Markham, struggling out of a sudden uneasy reflection.
"I say, Brimmer," he resumed, with an enforced smile, which he tried to
make playful, "your engagement with Keene won't keep you long. What do
you say to having a little supper with Miss Montgomery, eh?--perfectly
proper, you know--at our hotel? Just a few friends, eh?"
Brimmer's eyes and lips slightly contracted.
"I believe I am already invited," he said quietly.
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