"Yes, I have," said Dick, brusquely, "and I would like to come in and have a talk with you."
But Kat barred the way, standing upon the threshold and gripping the knob of the screen door in her hand. "We are having such a busy day today," she said sweetly; "Really you will have to excuse us."
Dick looked about. The house was placed with its long side toward the beach, and the space between it and the hedges dividing the property from that adjoining, was filled with a close growth of hibiscus and crotons, so that there was no apparent access to the rear excepting through the front door. However, through the wide space of these double front doors, there was a vista of the sea, seen across a stretch of grass, and a bit of sandy beach up which the rising tide was sweeping with a very pretty surf.
Dick stood facing the woman, uncertain what to do. If Bert were only here, she would know in an instant how to tackle the situation; but he felt helpless in the face of this smiling woman with the cat gleams in her eyes and her steel grip upon the door, apparently waiting quietly for him to go. The only way seemed to be to temporize and to hope for Bert's speedy arrival, and pray that she had not been held up a second time. Kat must certainly know why he had come, and therefore she must know that he would not go away again without the child. Evidently she, also, was temporizing; but for
