“Did—er—did you want to speak to me?” asked the physician, and Tom waited anxiously for the answer. He thought it might have something to do with the matter in hand.
“Of course I want to speak to you,” said Mrs. Sandow. “Do you think I’d come all the way here from my kitchen, and waste my time knocking at locked doors, though for the life of me I can’t see why you should lock you door, for I’m sure I don’t want to take any of your old books, no matter what others may wish, but then of course——” Here Mrs. Sandow appeared to forget what she had started out to say, but she switched off on another tack and asked:
“Do you remember me telling you that the water pipes in the kitchen would need fixing?”
“I—er—I seem to remember——” began the doctor.
“No, you don’t remember, and that’s just the trouble. You don’t remember anything. You’d forget to eat if I didn’t call you.”
“Oh, now I remember!” cried the doctor. “It was about the furnace. You said we’d need a new grate. I knew I would remember that, because I associated it in my mind with a book about Alexander the Great, and——”
“No, no! Nothing of the sort,” interrupted Mrs. Sandow. “That was last year when the grate broke, and you had to get a new one. This is about the water pipes in the kitchen. What I came to tell you was that one had burst, the water is spouting all over the room, and we need a plumber right away!”
“Bless my soul! Why didn’t you say so at once?” asked the doctor, in some alarm.
“I would have, only you had your door locked, and an honest person can’t make her way about,” and the housekeeper looked very much hurt.
“I’ll get a plumber at once,” said the doctor. “I know where there is one, on this street, or is it the next street?—I can’t seem to remember now——”