Magdalen frowned, and drew back a step. The captain was not a man to be
daunted by a cold reception. He tucked his umbrella under his arm and
jocosely spelled his name for her further enlightenment. "W, R,
A, double G, E--Wragge," said the captain, ticking off the letters
persuasively on his fingers.
"I remember your name," said Magdalen. "Excuse me for leaving you
abruptly. I have an engagement."
She tried to pass him and walk on northward toward the railway. He
instantly met the attempt by raising both hands, and displaying a pair
of darned black gloves outspread in polite protest.
"Not that way," he said; "not that way, Miss Vanstone, I beg and
entreat!"
"Why not?" she asked haughtily.
"Because," answered the captain, "that is the way which leads to Mr.
Huxtable's."
In the ungovernable astonishment of hearing his reply she suddenly
bent forward, and for the first time looked him close in the face.
He sustained her suspicious scrutiny with every appearance of feeling
highly gratified by it. "H, U, X--Hux," said the captain, playfully
turning to the old joke: "T, A--ta, Huxta; B, L, E--ble; Huxtable."
"What do you know about Mr.
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