"I—don’t—believe—any—such—boo-hoo"——And the lovely young matron began to rock herself to and fro and to dab at her eyes unremittingly. "It’s just as plain as day that Jack has done some wrong to this poor Mr. Conway, and this friend of Jack’s in St. Louis, named Bub, has heard that Mr. Conway is looking for Jack, and he has sent him this telegram to warn him to be on his guard—and—boo-hoo—who would ever dream that my Jack would get himself involved in such an awful"——
Her feelings overcame her again at this point, and she was unable to proceed.
"Mrs. Barlock," said her husband’s senior partner, severely, rising and confronting her, "I am surprised at you—I am, indeed. I was certainly of the opinion that in a matter of this sort you would at least give your husband—a most considerate husband—the benefit of the doubt; that you would at any rate give him an opportunity to explain himself. How do we know what he is to Conway or Conway to him?" And the senior partner, growing eloquent, declaimed as if he were speaking of Hecuba instead of the mysterious Conway. "Is it not more than likely that you are doing him a grievous wrong by even so much as imagining for a moment that this extraordinary telegraphic communication from—er—this Bub—person has any reference whatsoever to—er—uh—domestic or family affairs? Wait until Jack returns, my dear Mrs. Barlock, and I’ve not the least doubt that he will explain everything to your entire satisfaction, and"——
"Oh, yes, explanations—explanations!" exclaimed the junior partner’s wife, giving her eyes a final dab and rising. "You’ll telegraph him on the train to have some sort of an explanation ready, and then he’ll come in here with a deeply aggrieved countenance—just as if he had had no part at all in endeavoring to break up this poor Mr. Conway’s home and tell me hypocritically that I’ve wronged him and all that. I know you horrid men and the way you stand by each other through thick and thin, no matter how wicked you know each other to be. I shall be back here at 4 o’clock, when Jack is due, Mr. Topknot, and notwithstanding the way he is treating me, if there is any possible way I can prevent him from meeting this Mr. Conway and having a disgraceful altercation with him, I shall do it. And I promise you that I shall be able to detect very easily whether he is telling me the truth or not when I demand him to explain this terrible business."