"What is the news?" she asked.
"Oh, I mustn't talk about news," said Pat. "I've come as a client."
Ben laughed. "A client! That's splendid." She became very businesslike. "What can we do for you to-day?"
"It's perhaps rather an odd request," said Pat, "but I was wondering if you could help me to find—well, in point of fact, a wife. For myself, I mean."
Ben reeled for a moment under the suddenness of the shock.
"A wife!" she then exclaimed, blushing a little and fumbling for her notebook. Anything to regain composure!
"Yes," said Pat. "There's nothing so extraordinary about that, is there? Lots of men have wanted wives ever since the world began. In fact, there's a rumour that that is why it has gone on."
"Yes—I know—I've heard," Ben replied. She was recovering her nerve now. "But we don't transact business like that here. You want a matrimonial agency, if there are such things."
"No, I want 'The Beck and Call.' I have the greatest faith in it," said Pat. "I believe it can get me one—if it will."