"Hello!" he said, unhooking the receiver.
Kingsbury's voice replied: "I'm here in Semois-les-Bains, at the charity bazar. Can you distinguish what I say?"
"Perfectly, my Romeo! Proceed."
"I'm in a fix. Our Ambassador didn't come, and I don't know anybody to take me over and present me."
"Buy a doll, idiot!"
"Confound it, I've already bought ten! That doesn't give me the privilege of doing anything but buying ten more. She's busy; about five million people are crowding around her."
"Buy every doll she has! Put her out of business, man! Then if you can't fix it somehow you're a cuckoo. Is the Countess the dark-haired girl?"
"Certainly."
"How do you know?"
"Isn't she here selling dolls? Didn't the paper say she was going to?"