"Huh!" says I, twistin' my neck and feelin' of my tie. "You ain't springin' any tea-pourin' stunt, are you?"
"Strictly business," says he; "at least," he adds, chucklin', "that is the presumption. As a matter of fact, I've just been called over the 'phone by Miss Verona Hemmingway's aunt."
"Eh!" says I, gawpin'.
"She holds some of our debenture bonds, you know," says Mr. Robert, "and I gather that she has been somewhat disturbed by these reorganization rumors."
"But she ought to know," says I, "that our D.B.'s. are as solid as——"
"The feminine mind," cuts in Mr. Robert, "does not readily grasp such simple facts. But I haven't half an hour or more to devote to the process of soothing her alarm; besides, you could do it so much more gracefully."
"Mooshwaw!" says I. "Maybe I could. But she's only one. Who's the other?"
"She failed to state," says Mr. Robert. "She merely said, 'We shall be down about three o'clock.'"
"We?" says I. Then I whistles. So that was her game! It was Vee she was bringin' along!
"Well?" says Mr. Robert.