His voice was grave and rather stern.
“You’ve never seen bubonic plague,” he said, “or you wouldn’t joke about it.”
“I’m sorry. But it wasn’t wholly a joke. If we were really cooped up with an epidemic, I’d volunteer. What else would there be to do?”
“Nothing of the sort,” he cried vehemently. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Anyway, isn’t the wonderful Luther Pruyn on his way to exorcise the demon, or something of the sort?”
“What about Luther Pruyn? Who says he’s coming here?”
“It’s the gossip of the diplomatic set and the clubs. He’s the favorite mystery of the day.”
“Well, if he does come, it won’t improve matters any, for the first case he verifies he’ll clap on a quarantine that a mouse couldn’t creep through. I know something of the Pruyn method.”
“And don’t wholly approve it, I judge.”
“It may be efficacious, but it’s extremely inconvenient at times.”