"Shimminy Gristmas!" muttered the Dutch lad, "uf id don'd peen britty tight blace here den I ton't know somedings."
"It is all right," returned Tad, who had obtained a position where he could peer out. "Keep cool, and let your hair curl."
Pretty soon Nancy fluttered downstairs, and then Frank heard the high-pitched voice of Professor Jenks in the hall. A moment later, the widow entered the parlor.
"Oh, dear!" she simpered. "What a surprise this is, dear Mr. Jenks! Set right down on this chair close to the fire. You must be cold. Let me take your hat and coat."
"I am rather cold," squeaked the professor, as he peeled off his coat, and allowed her to take it away with his hat. "It is a chilly night. You are cozy in here."
The widow was wonderfully and artistically gotten up in a back-number silk dress, beneath which was an expansive hoop-skirt, while all around her face were cork-screw curls, meant to be very fetching. As she was somewhat deaf, although she never acknowledged it, she misunderstood the professor's last remark.
"Oh, yes," she smiled, coming back and sitting quite close to Jenks, "no one can hear. We are quite alone."
"Is that so?" gasped the professor, nervously, looking as if he contemplated flight. "I received your letter."
"You believe I'm better! Why, my dear professor, I haven't bin sick. You must have been misinformed."
"I didn't say that, Mrs. Cobb. I said that I received——"