And a little farther to the south, Mary V was making life unpleasant for the telephone operator and for her mother who preached patience and courtesy to those who toll, and for her dad who had ventured to inquire what she wanted to dog that young imp for, anyway, and why didn't she try waiting until he showed interest enough in somebody besides himself to call her up?
And where was her pride, anyway?
Then, after what seemed to Mary V sufficient time to call Johnny from the farthest corner of the universe, the telephone jangled.

The operator told her, with what Mary V called a perfectly intolerable tone of spite, that her "party" could not be located for her at present, as he had left town.
"And I hope to goodness he stays!" gritted Mary V, slamming the receiver on its hook.

"With dad acting the way he did and treating Johnny like a _dog_, and with Johnny acting worse than dad does and treating me as if I were to blame for everything, I just wish men had never been born.

I don't see what use they are in the world, except to drive a person raving distracted.

Now, dad, just see what you have done!" She confronted Sudden like a small fury.