"How nice of you it was to talk of such pleasant things while we were coming through that black, dreadful swamp--with a Bill Quade waiting for us on the side!" A low ripple of laughter broke from her lips, and he stopped dead in his tracks, forgetting to put the automatic back in his pocket.

At sight of it the amusement died in her face.

She caught his arm, and one of her hands seized the cold steel of the pistol.
"Would he--_dare ?_" she demanded.
"You can't tell," replied Aldous, putting the gun in his pocket.

"And that was a creepy sort of conversation to load you down with, wasn't it, Ladygray?
I imagine you'll catch me in all sorts of blunders like that." He pointed ahead.

"There's Mrs.Otto now.