VIII
PINCKNEY AND THE TWINS
Say, when it comes to gettin' himself tangled up in ways that nobody ever thought of before, you can play Pinckney clear across the board. But I never knew him to send out such a hard breathin' hurry call as the one I got the other day. It come first thing in the mornin' too, just about the time Pinckney used to be tearin' off the second coupon from the slumber card. I hadn't more'n got inside the Studio door before Swifty Joe says:
"Pinckney's been tryin' to get you on the wire."
"Gee!" says I, "he's stayin' up late last night! Did he leave the number?"
He had, and it was a sixty-cent long distance call; so the first play I makes when I rings up is to reverse the charge.
"That you, Shorty?" says he. "Then for goodness' sake come up here on the next train! Will you?"
"House afire, bone in your throat, or what?" says I.
"It's those twins," says he.