Curtis's chauffeur was moon-faced
and--"
"He is, bedad," broke in Mr. O'Dowd, chuckling. "That's what deceived
me entirely, and no wonder. It wasn't Peter at all, but the
rapscallion washer who went after her. He was instructed to tell Peter
to meet the four o'clock train, and the blockhead forgot to give the
order. Bedad, what does he do but sneak out after her himself, scared
out of his boots for fear of what he was to get from Peter. I had the
whole story from Mrs. Van Dyke."
"Well, I'm tremendously relieved," said Barnes slowly.
"And so am I," said O'Dowd, with conviction. "I have seen the heroine
of our busted romance. She's a good-looking girl. I'm not surprised
that she kept her veil down. If you were to leave it to me, though,
I'd say that it's a sin to carry discretion so far as all that. I
thought I'd take the liberty of calling you up as soon as I had the
facts, so that you wouldn't go forth in knightly ardour--You see what
I mean, don't you?" His rich laugh came over the wire.
"Perfectly. Thank you for letting me know. My mind is at rest."
"Will you be staying on for some days at the Tavern?"
"I think so."
"Well, I shall give myself the pleasure of running over to see you in
a day or so.
Pages:
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119