Everything was very peaceful.
Zip came out and looked in the postbox. It was all very peaceful, very natural. He did not recognize Frank by the top of his spotty cap, but he saw Elizabeth, and nodded affably to Bill across the lawn. He was glad they were there to see the well-dressed visitors coming and going so casually. He went inside, and in a moment the lady appeared, followed by the man, and behind him the chauffeur bearing the bulky blanket.
They walked slowly down, Bill having all the acute symptoms of apoplexy. Elizabeth stared.
“She is fatter than I thought,” she said scornfully. “I thought she was real thin. And the man! What a funny, careful way he has of walking, as though he might break himself!”
“Do you think so?” said Bill. “Oh, Elizabeth, I do hope you think so! I certainly do!”
“How funny you are!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “You act as though you cared how he walks. I don’t see—”
But here something happened that took Bill a long, long time to explain away. When Elizabeth looked up, Bill was gone. The strange car had gone too, and Bill was leaping into Frank’s car and he looked as though he had forgotten every single thing about her. The strange car turned the first corner and so did Frank, but he slowed down as he reached it, and Elizabeth, angrily looking after, saw two soldiers leap on the running board and a blue-clad workman tumble into the back seat.
The strange car cut across to Fourth Street and turned down. On the side street one of the soldiers and Bill leaned out and ripped off a narrow piece of tire-tape that ran around the whole top, just at the edge. Then the workman, who made himself wonderfully at home, reached out the back window and hauled down a large piece of black oilcloth that had been lying flat on the top and that had been secured by the tire-tape.
Then for the first time someone spoke. It was the workman, and he addressed Frank. “Sure you painted that white panel good and large?” he asked.
“Sure!” said Frank. “Fact is, Ernest did it himself, and he said it would be pie to follow it. They don’t seem to be in a hurry, do they?” he added, his eyes on the strange car ahead.