"Where?" asks Vee, going to the point, as usual.
Miss Stribble glances accusin' at paw and maw. "Oh, they've been roastin' me, have they?" she demands. "Well, I can't help it. What they want to know is how much I'm gettin' so I'll have to give up more. But it don't work. See! I pay my board—good board, at that—and I'm not goin' to have paw snoopin' around my place tryin' to queer me. Let him get out and rustle for himself."
With that Mame sheds the throw-scarf and tosses her velvet tam on the table.
"I'm so sorry," says Vee. "I didn't mean to interfere at all. And I've no doubt you have a perfectly good situation."
"It's good enough," says Mame, "until I strike something better."
"What a cunning little hat!" says Vee, pickin' up the tam. "Such a lot of style to it, too."
"Think so?" says Mame. "Well, I built it myself."
"Really!" says Vee. "Why, you must be very clever. I wish I could do things like that."
Trust Vee for smoothin' down rumpled feathers when she wants to. Inside of two minutes she had Mame smilin' grateful and holdin' her hand as she says good-by.
"Poor girl!" says Vee, as we gets to the street. "I don't blame her for being dissatisfied with such a father as that. And it's just awful the way they talk about her. I'm going to see if I can't do something for her at the shop."