Another cheerful nod. “I ALWAYS need it,” answered Galusha.
Martha, of course, presided at the supper table. Primmie did not sit
down with the rest. She ate in the kitchen with the Cabot chauffeur.
But she entered the dining room from time to time to bring in hot brown
bread or beans or cookies, or to change the plates, and each time she
did so she stared at Cousin Gussie with awe in her gaze. Evidently the
knowledge that the head of Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot was sitting there
before her had impressed her hugely. It was from Cabot, Bancroft and
Cabot, so Primmie remembered, that Mr. Bangs had procured the mammoth
pile of bank notes which she had seen upon her mistress's center table.
She had never actually been told where those notes came from, but she
had guessed. And now the proprietor of the “money factory”--for that is
very nearly what it was in her imagination--was there, sitting at the
Phipps' 'dining table, eating the baked beans that she herself had
helped prepare. No wonder that Primmie was awe-stricken, no wonder
that she tripped over the mat corner and just escaped showering the
distinguished guest with a platterful of those very beans.
Mr. Cabot seemed to enjoy his supper hugely. He was jolly, talkative,
and very entertaining. He described his camp sojourn in Nevada and,
according to him, life in a mountain sanitarium, under the care of a
doctor and two husky male nurses, was a gorgeous joke. Martha, who, to
tell the truth, had at first secretly shown a little of Primmie's awe,
was soon completely at ease. Even Galusha laughed, though not as often.
It was hard for him to forget the powder barrel sensation. Each time
his cousin opened his mouth to speak, he dreaded to hear reference to a
dangerous subject or to be asked a question which would set fire to the
fuse.
The clock struck seven. Martha glanced at it and suddenly uttered an
exclamation.
“My goodness gracious!” she exclaimed. “I declare, Mr. Bangs, you and
I have forgotten all about that blessed seance. And half past seven was
the time for it to begin. Good gracious me!”
Galusha started. “Dear me, dear me!” he cried. “So it was. I had
completely forgotten it, really I had.”
He put his hand to his forehead.
“I shall have to go to it,” declared Martha. “Lulie begged me to come
and the cap'n won't like it if I stay away. But I don't see that you
need to, Mr. Bangs. You and your cousin can stay right here and talk
and be comfortable. He is goin' to stay overnight. Oh, yes, you are, Mr.
Cabot. I wouldn't let a stray cat go to Elmer Roger's hotel if I could
help it, to say nothin' of Mr. Bangs' cousin. The spare room's all ready
and Primmie is up there now, airin' it. She took your bag up with her; I
had your chauffeur bring it in from the car.”
Her guest stared at her for a moment, laughed and shook his head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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