She hung up the ear-piece and turned to Forbes with her broad smile.
"A cook has no chance to entertain her gempman friends. The minute I get a policeman in here somebody rings."
She kept him wretchedly ill at ease by more of the same banter, which he hardly knew how to take. And she seized his arm with a gesture of culinary coquetry just as Persis sauntered in. Forbes was horrified to note a look of anger in Persis' eyes. He should have been flattered. She greeted Winifred, and also Forbes, with a discreet "Good morning!"
"Good get-busy!" Winifred growled.
"What can I do?" said Persis, helplessly.
"For one thing, you can rout the other loafers out of bed."
"How?"
"Use the telephone. Tell 'em the house is on fire."
While Forbes fetched and carried at Winifred's beck and call, Persis rang up the various rooms and conveyed Winifred's orders. But her gentle voice carried no conviction, and Winifred took her place at the instrument and howled in her best cook lingo:
"Get up and come down, or I'll quit you cold and lave you to starve. It's scrambled eggs and bacon the marnin', and no goods exchanged."