"I beg pardon?" says Mr. Robert.
"Say," says I, "help me put a smilin' party on the track of K. W. Mason, will you? Here she is."
I expect Mr. Robert would have ducked if he could, after one view of the polka-dot dress and the rusty straw lid; but there was Valentina comin' straight at us.
"For the love of Mike!" says I. "You ain't been waitin' all this time, have you?"
"Right hea-uh," says she. "Ah reckon Ah done missed him."
"Why," says I, "Mr. Mason left hours ago. Must be something important you want to see him about, eh?"
"Ah don't know as it is," says she; "only Ah promised, ef ever Ah got to Noo Yawk, Ah'd look him up. He made me. And Ah sure would like to see Warrie mahself."
"Warrie!" says I. "Oh, gosh! Why, you mean young Mr. Mason—Warren, don't you?"
She nods.
"Well, say, that's too bad," says I. "My fault, though. But I never thought of Warrie as the one. Why, he hasn't been with the Corrugated for over a year now."