"Say, you—you lying dog! You——"
"Let him alone!" his wife said quickly. "Permit him to tell me the truth!"
"He's not telling you the truth!" cried Johnson Boller. "He's lying! He—why, Wilkins, I'll smash your face into so many nasty little pieces that——"
"I beg pardon, sir!" Wilkins said hastily. "The—the lady was here——"
"There was no lady here!" Mr. Boller shouted.
Wilkins put up his hands.
"Well, the lady that was eating breakfast, sir, after a manner of speaking," he stammered. "Her that was introduced as Mrs. Boller, which caused me to take it, sir, that she——"
"Say! I said there was no lady here and there was no lady here! Get that, you putty-faced idiot!" Johnson Boller cried frantically, for he was beyond reason. "What do you mean by standing there and lying and babbling about some woman——"
Again Wilkins's intelligence manifested itself. To be a perfect servant, one's teeth must remain in place and one's face must be free from bruises. Wilkins, after a brief, intent look at Johnson Boller's fists, turned and fled!
"So this," said Mrs. Johnson Boller with deadly calm, "is what happens when you think I've gone away!"