doorway watching the bacchanalian scene, listen¬ ing to the tom-tom of the drums when she came up to him.
‘‘I wanta dance,” she said huskily. “I wanta dance with you—you—you blond beast.1* Seeing no way to decline to dance with the half-drunk girl, he put his arm around her and started off. Hes¬ ter’s tongue was no longer in control, but her feet followed his unerringly. When the music stopped, she whispered, “Take me—ta-take me to th’ th’ dining-room.” Wonderingly, Hugh led her across the hall. He had not been in the dining-roo!m since the dance started, and he was amazed and shocked to find half a dozen couples in the big chairs or on the divans in close embrace. He paused, but Hester led him to an empty chair, shoved him clumsily down into it, and then flopped down or his lap.
“Le’s—le *s pet,” she whispered. “ I wanna pet ’ Again Hugh smelled the whisky fumes as she pul her hot mouth to his and kissed him hungrily. H( was angry, angry and humiliated. He tried to ge up, to force the girl off of his lap, but she clunj, tenaciously to him, striving insistently to kiss hin on the mouth. Finally Hugh’s anger got the bet ter of his manners; he stood up, the girl hanging to his neck, literally tore her arms off of him, tool her by the waist and set her down firmly in th< chair.
