"Allow me to present my friend, Mr. Bedelle!" said the Gutter Pup in the correct tones of an undertaker.
Miss Connie shook hands vigorously and said, beaming with surprised delight:
"I think it's just too darling of you to drop in. Every one's out and I was trying to read a poky old book. We'll have tea and there's some chocolate cake left. Course I know your sister, Mr. Bedelle. I think she's just the dandiest girl."
"I hope your father and mother are well," said Skippy gravely.
"What? Oh, yes! They're all right. Let's be cozy and camp down over here."
"And your sister?" said the Gutter Pup with equal punctiliousness.
"Sis? Oh, she's fine and dandy," said Miss Connie, curling up on the sofa, after lighting the lamp under the tea kettle.
Skippy and the Gutter Pup after this irreproachable beginning, sat up stiffly and, retiring into a set silence, stared very hard at their hostess.
"You'll have a bit of chocolate cake, won't you?" said the young lady, wondering how to open the conversation.
At this moment the bell rang and the maid announced:
"Mr. Mather and Mr. Crocker callin' on you, Miss Connie."
Miss Brown could not believe her ears. Such a thing had never happened before, even in her happiest dreams. If her sister could only see her now! She gave a hurried calculating glance at the chocolate cake and went joyfully more than halfway to meet the new arrivals. The four conspirators, after formal greetings, ranged themselves in a semicircle, stiffly balanced on the edges of their chairs, hands on their knees, and waited for their hostess to play with the conversation.
"Did you see Maude Adams in her new piece this spring?" said Miss Connie, who began to fidget with the cups and carefully cut the cake into five exact divisions.
As this question was addressed to the company in general, the four visitors maintained a frozen attention.
"I'm just crazy about Maude Adams. I went three times," said Miss Connie, who found that five teacups choked up the table in the most disconcerting way. "You like Maude Adams, don't you--er--Mr. Mather?"
Miss Connie was staring at the teapot desperately, seeking for some new topic of conversation, when again the bell rang and two more callers were announced. Miss Connie's Cinderella-like enthusiasm gave way to a feeling of panic. She whispered hoarsely to the maid to bring two more cups and surreptitiously made a new allotment of the chocolate cake. The new arrivals inquired solemnly after the health of Miss Connie's mother, father and sister, and then joined the expectant silence. When the young lady in turn had discovered that the new callers liked Maude Adams, all mental processes came to an end and the sound of the clock from the mantel fell like the blows of a hammer in the room.