“I enjoyed your lecture last night very much.”
“I am glad you liked it,” said the preacher, “I remember seeing you—your husband was with you.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Parker, my brother was with me; don’t you remember I introduced him to you after the lecture?”
“Yes, yes, certainly,” said Mr. Parker, “but there were so many introductions,” and I knew by the way he said it he was lying and did not remember her nor her brother. This gave me my cue; I got out of that part of the church and waited until the Rev. Mr. Parker came my way again, then I pounced upon him. I shook hands with him as though he was an uncle whom I expected would die soon and leave me a fortune.
“Mr. Parker,” said I, “you remember me, Mr. Henderson, I was introduced to you last night just after your lecture. I was deeply impressed by the way you handled your subject.” I had heard someone else say that to him, so I knew it must be the proper caper. He shook hands with me warmly,—he had to, I was doing the shaking and others were talking to him, but I still hung on. Pulling him towards me I said:
“Mr. Parker, I want you to introduce me to Miss Davidson.” With this I walked him across the room to where I felt she was watching us, and the deed was done.
“Miss Davidson, allow me to present Mr. Henderson,” and the preacher was released and gone. I put out my hand, but there was nothing doing—not with her hands, but her eyes sparkled with fun.
“Mr. Henderson, allow me to congratulate you on your wonderful nerve,” said she, and don’t you know, Billy, that was a body blow for me. I was down and nearly out and I know I must have looked foolish. I was not counted out, though, for I recovered before anyone could have counted more than nine.
“Miss Davidson,” said I, “I tried to be square and get acquainted without an introduction, but you wouldn’t have it that way, so I did the best I could.”
“Yes,” said she, “and you trapped a preacher into being your tool to carry out your plans.”