We had reached the cheese and celery before Bill contributed a piece of news that impressed us in different ways.
"I 'phoned Miss Fraenkel this morning," she said, "and asked her to come up after dinner this evening. She said she'd be tickled to death to come."
I said nothing at first, and Mac, annexing an unusually large piece of cheese, grinned.
"Say," he said, "suppose we get Miss Fraenkel's opinion of the chap with the hooked nose. She's American; she'll be sure to have an opinion."
"No doubt," I conceded. "We shall see whether we have not taken too much for granted. There's only one thing, and that is, are we not exposing Miss Fraenkel to temptation by exciting her curiosity yet more about her neighbour?"
"Oh, bunk!" said Mac. "Women don't have to be led into that sort of temptation. They take it in with their mother's milk."
"You cynical old devil!" exclaimed Bill, indignantly.
"Well, it's true," he defended himself stoutly. "I'll bet you a quarter Miss Fraenkel's already tried them and found them guilty."
"Of what?" demanded Bill.
"Oh, ask Miss Fraenkel," said he. "How should I know?"