By the time we pulled into Grand Central I was eighteen dollars and
seventy cents ahead, thanks to a full-house just before we reached
125th Street.
Instead of joining my fellow-brokers in their Gadarene rush for the
downtown subway express, I strolled north along Park Avenue to the Pond
Club.
At the Pond Club I found Tammy engaged, as ever, in polishing the
glasses behind his gleaming little bar.
"My! Mr. Tompkins," he exclaimed. "You look as though you'd just made a
million dollars," he told me. "The usual, sir?"
"It was nearly three millions, Tammy, and accept no substitutes. What I
need is concentrated protein. How about a couple of dozen Cotuits and
some black coffee?"
The steward raised his eyebrows knowingly.
"I'll mix you one of my Second Day Specials, sir," he said. "Funny
thing about that drink. One night, young Mr. Ferguson--he's a new
member, sir--was feeling merry and felt a sudden sense of compassion
for the statue of Civic Virtue in front of the City Hall. Of course,
I've never seen it but they tell me that it's a very fine work of art,
by a person named Mac Monnies, I believe. He wasn't a member of the
club, of course, but that's what I understand the name to be. So Mr.
Ferguson would have nothing for it but to take one of my Second Day
Specials down to the Civic Virtue and give him a drink. It seemed that
Mr. Ferguson felt quite sorry for the statue down there in front of
LaGuardia without any company. So he took a cab downtown and poured the
drink down the mouth of the statue for a joke, like. But here's the odd
thing, sir. They had to throw a canvas over the statue and send for a
man with a hacksaw before the Mayor decided it was proper to expose it
to the citizens again."
"Then bring me a double Second Day Special, without cold chisels or
hacksaws, if you please," I ordered.
He smirked knowingly but had the tact of good club servants to say
nothing. I sipped his concoction, which tasted entirely unlike the
egg-nog it outwardly resembled. A moment later, I tried another sip. It
was not at all unpleasant, so I drained the glass. This, I decided, was
exactly what I needed, so I drank the second one without drawing breath.
"Ah-h-h!" I beamed. "That is much better. Now if anybody phones me, say
I'm not here, unless it's one of my friends."
"Would that be true of that Mrs. R., sir?" he inquired. "That lady with
the red hair you told me about, Mr. Tompkins?"
"If Mrs. Rutherford calls," I said, "let me know."
He smiled slyly. "Then I was to deliver a message to you from her, sir.
She wants you to call her at the apartment, she said. Circle 8-7326,
the number is. She said it was important."
I dialed the number. Virginia answered.
"Winnie?" Her voice was cool and amused. "You'd better come up here in
a hurry. It's urgent."
"Where is here?" I asked.
"At our place, the apartment," she said.
"Better give me the address," I suggested. "I can't seem to remember."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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