“‘“What’s the matter?”
“‘“Don’t know, sir, but it is serious.”
“‘“All right,” I said.
“‘My chauffeur was off for the night, so I ’phoned to the stable and got Patrick and told him to hitch up the black mare at once, dressed, and took everything that I was likely to need in an emergency, got into the wagon, and hurried away in the 37 darkness. After all, I thought, it is something to have one’s skill so much in request by the rich and the powerful. It was a long ride with one horse-power, but we got there.
“‘Many windows of the great house were aglow. The first butler met me in the hall and took me to my lady’s chamber––an immense room finished in the style of the First Empire. She was half reclining and playing solitaire as she smoked a cigarette on a divan that occupied a dais overhung with rare tapestries on a side of the room. The effect of the whole thing was queenly––à la Récamier. She greeted me wearily and without rising.
“‘“Sit down,” said she, and I did so.
“‘She turned to a good-looking maid who timidly stood near the divan.
“‘“My dear little woman, you weary me––please go,” she said.
“‘The maid went.
“‘“Dawctah,” the lady said to me, “I 38 have a nahsty little pimple on my right cheek, and I really cahn’t go to the ball, you know, unless it is cuahed. Won’t you kindly––ah––see what can be done?”