I wrote my name in desperation, while Jim stood by, laughing.
"Jim," I said, "come, put yours down quick, and let's have it over."
"Well, now," said she, "fork out the stamps—five dollars each."
We both obeyed mechanically.
"Well, well," said she, good naturally, "that'll do for this time, good morning," and she vanished from the apartment with a jaunty toss of the head and a nod of the cock's feathers in her hat.
Jim closed the door smartly after her.
"Mercy upon us! Jim," said I, "who, and what is this creature?"
"Oh, one of the harbingers of the new millennium," said Jim. "Won't it be jolly when all the girls are like her? But we shall have to keep our doors locked then."
"But," said I, "is it possible, Jim, that this is a respectable woman?"