Man to Man | Page 3

he was
conscious solely of a desire to pick her up and shake her.
"Gee!" she panted at him with an angry scornfulness which made him
wince. "You're about the freshest proposition I ever came across!"
Later, perhaps, he would admit that she was undeniably and most
amazingly pretty; that the curves of her little white body were
delightfully perfect; that she had made an armful that at another time
would have put sheer delirium into a man's blood.
Just now he knew only that in his moment of nothing less than stupidity
he had angered her and that his own anger though more unreasonable
was scarcely less heated; that he had made and still made but a sorry
spectacle; that he was sopping wet and cold and would be shivering in
a moment like a freezing dog.
"Why did you want to yell like a Comanche Indian when you went in?"
he demanded rudely, offering the only defense he could put mind or
tongue to. "A man would naturally suppose that you were falling."
"You didn't suppose any such thing!" she retorted sharply. "You saw
me dive; if you had the brains of a scared rabbit, you'd know that when
a girl had gone to the trouble to climb into a bathing-suit and then
jumped into the water she wanted a swim. And to be left alone," she
added scathingly.
Packard felt the afternoon breeze through the wet garments which stuck
so close to him, and shivered.
"If you think," he said, as sharply as she had spoken, "that I just jumped

into that infernal ice-pond, clothes and all, for the pure joy of making
your charming acquaintance in some ten feet of water, all I can say is
that you are by no means lacking a full appreciation of your own
attractiveness."
She opened her eyes widely at him, lying at his feet where he had
deposited her. She had not offered to rise. But now she sat up, drawing
her knees into the circle of her clasped arms, tilting her head back as
she stared up at him.
"You've got your nerve, Mr. Man," she informed him coolly. "Any time
that you think I'll stand for a fool man jumping in and spoiling my fun
for me and then scolding me on top of it, you've got another good-sized
think coming. And take it from me, you'll last a good deal longer in this
neck of the woods if you 'tend to your own business after this and keep
your paws off other folks' affairs. Get me that time?"
"I get you all right," grunted Packard. "And I find your gratitude to a
man who has just risked his life for you quite touching."
"Gratitude? Bah!" she told him, leaping suddenly to her feet. "Risked
your life for me, did you?" She laughed jeeringly at that. "Why, you big
lummox, I could have yanked you out as easy as turn a somersault if
you started to drown. And now suppose you hammer the trail while it's
open."
He bestowed upon her a glance whose purpose was to wither her. It
failed miserably, partly because she was patently not the sort to be
withered by a look from a mere man, and partly because a violent and
inopportune shiver shook him from head to foot.
Until now there had been only bright anger in the girl's eyes. Suddenly
the light there changed; what had begun as a sniff at him altered
without warning into a highly amused giggle.
"Golly, Mr. Man," she taunted him. "You're sure some swell picture as
you stand there, hand on hip and popping your eyes out at me! Like a
king in a story-book, only he'd just got a ducking and was trying to

stare the other fellow down. Which is one thing you can't do with me."
Her eyes had the adorable trick of seeming to crinkle to a mirth which
would have been an extremely pleasant phenomenon to witness had she
been laughing with him instead of at him. As matters stood, Packard
was quite prepared to dislike her heartily.
"I'd add to your kind information that the trail is open at both ends," he
told her significantly. "I'm going to find a sunny spot and dry my
clothes. No objection, I suppose?"
He clambered up the bank and made his way to the spot whence he had
dived after her, bent on retrieving his boots and spurs. Her eyes
followed him interestedly. He ignored her and set about extricating a
spur rowel from the fabric of the bright blue cloak. Her voice floated up
to him then, demanding:
"What in the world are you up to now? Not going to swipe my clothes,
are you?"
"I'd have the right," he called back