Families -- Fiction; Humorous stories; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Older people -- Fiction
“So’m I,” said a voice at the door. A weak voice—but one that showed
decision in its tone.
They looked up and saw Burnett, dressed in a pink silk negligée with
flowing sleeves.
“I’m ravenous,” he exclaimed explanatorily. “I haven’t had anything
since day before yesterday at breakfast. I didn’t know I wanted
anything till I smelt it,—then I dressed and came down.”
“How sweet you look,” said Clover. “The effect of your pajama cuffs and
collar where one greedily expects curves and contour is lovely. Where
did you find that bath-robe?”
“In the bureau drawer,” said Burnett. “It appeared to have been hastily
shoved in there some time. I would have thought that it was a woman’s
something-or-other, only I found one of Jack’s cards in the pocket.”
They all began to laugh—Clover and Mitchell more heartily than the
owner of the card.
“Sit down,” said Mitchell finally with great cordiality. “You may as
well sit down while they mess you up some weak tea and wet toast.”
“Tea and toast?” cried the one in pink. “I’m good for dinner. _Um
Gotteswillen_, what do you suppose I came down for?”
“I wasn’t sure,” said his friend mildly; “you must admit yourself that
your attire is misleading. My book on social etiquette says nothing as
to when it is correct to wear a pink silk robe over blue and white
striped pajamas. However, there’s no denying your presence, and what
can’t be denied must be supplied, so what will you have?”
“Everything.”
Mitchell dived into the edibles generally and Burnett’s void was
provided with fulfillment.
“We were talking about Aunt Mary,” Clover said presently. “We were
saying that neither you nor she would be up to a coach or down to a
picnic for one while.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Burnett. “I feel up to pretty nearly anything
now that I can eat again. Pass over the horseradish, will you?”
“You’re one thing, my sweet pink friend,” said Clover gently, “but Aunt
Mary’s another. I’m not saying that New York has not had a wonderfully
Brown-Sequardesque effect on her, but I am saying that if she is to be
raised and lowered frequently, I want to travel with a portable crane.”
“Hum, hum, hum!” cried Jack. “May I just ask who did most of the heavy
labor of Aunt Mary yesterday?—As the man in the opera sings twenty
times with the whole chorus to back him—‘’Twas I, ’twas I, ’twas I,
’twas I—’”
“Hand over the toast, Clover,” said Burnett. “I don’t care who it
was—it was a success anyhow, for she’s upstairs and still alive, and I
say she’d enjoy coaching out Riverside way, and—” he choked.
“Slap him anywhere,” said Mitchell. “On his mouth would be the proper
place. Such poor manners,—coming down to a company lunch in another
man’s bath-robe and then trying to preach and eat dry toast at once.”
Burnett gasped and recovered.
“There,” said Clover, who had risen to administer the proposed slap,
“he’s off our minds and we may again pick up Aunt Mary and put her back
on.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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