you. You'll _see_
what she's like. I felt very much as you do. I was right on the jump.
Got all worked up. Would have gone clean off the hooks if----"

There followed the narrative of his loss of temper, of his wild talk,
of her clever strategy in counting ten--"just like a cold douche it
was"--and the faint turn he so often had after spells of emotion. To
convince Miss Walbrook of the queer little thing's ingenuousness he
told how she had made him lie down on the library couch, covered him
up, rubbed his brow with Florida water, and induced the best sleep he
had had in months.

She surprised him by springing to her feet, her arms outspread. "You
great big idiot! Really there's no other name for you!"

He gazed up at her in amazement. "What's the matter now?"

Flinging her hands about she made inarticulate sounds of exasperation
beyond words.

"There, there; that'll do," she threw off, when he jumped to her side,
to calm her by taking her in his arms. "_I'm_ not off the hooks. _I_
don't want anyone to rub Florida water on my brow--and hold my
hand--and cradle me to sleep----"

"She didn't," he exclaimed, with indignation. "She never touched my
hand. She just----"

"Oh, I know what she did--and of course I'm grateful. I'm delighted
that she was there to do it--_delighted._ I quite see now why you
couldn't let her go, when you knew your fit was coming on. I've seen
you pretty bad, but I've never seen you as bad as that; and I must say
I never should have thought of counting ten as a cure for it."

"Well, _she_ did."

"Quite so! And if I were you I'd never go anywhere without her. I'd
keep her on hand in case I took a turn----"

He was looking more and more reproachful. "I must say, Barbe, I don't
think you're very reasonable."

She pushed him from her with both hands against his shoulders. "Go
away, for heaven's sake! You'll drive me crazy. I'm _not_ going to
lose my temper with you. I'll never do it again. I've got you to bear
with, and I'm going to bear with you. But go! No, go now! Don't stop
to make explanations. You can do that later. I'll lay in a supply of
Florida water and an afghan...."

He went with that look on his face which a well meaning dog will wear
when his good intentions are being misinterpreted. On his way to the
office he kept saying to himself: "Well _I_ don't know what to do.
Whatever I say she takes me up the wrong way. All I wanted was for her
to understand that the little thing is