"It may be Aggie," suggested Zoie.
For the first time, Jimmy became aware that Aggie was nowhere in the
apartment.
"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he realised that he was again tete-a-tete
with the terror of his dreams. "Where IS Aggie?"
"Gone to do what YOU should have done," was Zoie's characteristic
answer.
"Well," answered Jimmy hotly, "it's about time that somebody besides me
did something around this place."
"YOU," mocked Zoie, "all YOU'VE ever done was to hoodoo me from the very
beginning."
"If you'd taken my advice," answered Jimmy, "and told your husband the
truth about the luncheon, there'd never have been any 'beginning.'"
"If, if, if," cried Zoie, in an agony of impatience, "if you'd tipped
that horrid old waiter enough, he'd never have told anyway."
"I'm not buying waiters to cover up your crimes," announced Jimmy with
his most self-righteous air.
"You'll be buying more than that to cover up your OWN crimes before
you've finished," retorted Zoie.
"Before I've finished with YOU, yes," agreed Jimmy. He wheeled upon her
with increasing resentment. "Do you know where I expect to end up?" he
asked.
"I know where you OUGHT to end up," snapped Zoie.
"I'll finish in the electric chair," said Jimmy. "I can feel blue
lightning chasing up and down my spine right now."
"Well, I wish you HAD finished in the electric chair," declared Zoie,
"before you ever dragged me into that awful old restaurant."
"Oh, you do, do you?" answered Jimmy shaking his fist at her across the
foot of the bed. For the want of adequate words to express his further
feelings, Jimmy was beginning to jibber, when the outer door was
heard to close, and he turned to behold Aggie entering hurriedly with
something partly concealed by her long cape.
"It's all right," explained Aggie triumphantly to Zoie. "I've got it."
She threw her cape aside and disclosed the fruits of her conquest.
"So," snorted Jimmy in disgust, slightly miffed by the apparent ease
with which Aggie had accomplished a task about which he had made so much
ado, "you've gone into the business too, have you?"
Aggie deigned no reply to him. She continued in a businesslike tone to
Zoie.
"Where's Alfred?" she asked.
"Still out," answered Zoie.
"Thank Heaven," sighed Aggie, then she turned to Jimmy and addressed him
in rapid, decided tones. "Now, dear," she said, "I'll just put the new
baby to bed, then I'll give you the other one and you can take it right
down to the mother."