"Oh, Herbert!" sobs Edna, makin' a wild grab at Marjorie for support.
As for Pa Pulsifer, his eyes get stary, the big vein in the middle of his forehead swells threatenin', and his bushy white eyebrows seem to bristle up.
"You!" he snorts. "How did you get in here, Sir?"
"Through the kitchen," says Gilkey. "I came to tell you that——"
"Stop!" roars Pulsifer, stampin' his foot and bunchin' his fists menacin'. "You can't tell me anything, not a word, you—you good-for-nothing young scoundrel! Haven't I warned you never to step foot in my house again? Didn't I tell you——"
Well, it's the usual irate parent stuff, only a little more wild and ranty than anything Belasco would put over. He abuses Gilkey up and down, threatens him with all kinds of things, from arrest to sudden death, and gets purple in the face doin' it. While Gilkey, he just stands there, takin' it calm and patient. Then, when there comes a lull, he remarks casual:
"If that is all, Sir, I wish to say to you that Edna and I are engaged, and that I intend to marry her early next week."
Wow! That's the cue for another explosion. It starts in just as fierce as the first; but it don't last so long, and towards the end Pa Pulsifer is talkin' husky and puffing hard.
"Go!" he winds up. "Get out of my house before I—I——"
"Oh, I say," breaks in Gilkey, "before you do what?"