"Good evening, everybody!"
Virginia quickly held up a protesting finger, while Fanny exclaimed angrily:
"Don't you see that mother's asleep?"
Throwing his hat and coat on a sofa, the newcomer sat down gingerly on a chair. With a glance at the old lady, he demanded:
"What's she sleepin' here for? Why don't she go to bed?"
Virginia, always irritated by his gaucheries, pretended not to hear and went on with her book, but Fanny answered him. In a whisper she said:
"She's tired out." Anxiously she, added: "I don't like the way she looks to-day. I think it's the heart. I'll telephone the doctor to-morrow—"
Jimmie gave a snort of disapproval.
"Pshaw! What's the good?" he exclaimed contemptuously. "Those doctors can't do nothing; they're the worst kind of fakers. All they do is to look wise, scribble on a bit of paper some words no one can read—not even the druggist—and charge you a two-spot. It's to laugh!"
"Dr. Everett doesn't charge us anything—so you're wrong for once," interrupted Virginia, glad of the opportunity to give him a dig.