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Page 13
"Well, are you pleased with me?" he asked of Madame, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes," she answered with a faint flush. "If you had worn long hair and a
velvet collar, I should never have forgiven you."
Colonel Kent laughed outright. "I should never have dared to bring him
back to you, Francesca, if he had fallen so low. We're Americans, and
please God, we'll stay Americans, won't we, lad?"
"You bet," answered Allison, boyishly, going over to salute Mr. Boffin.
"'But in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, I'm an Am-
er-i-can,'" he sang, under his breath. Through the mysterious workings
of some sixth sense, Mr. Boffin perceived approaching trouble and made a
hurried escape.
"Will you look at that?" asked Allison, with a hearty laugh. "I hadn't
even touched him and he became suspicious of me."
"As I remember," Madame said, "my cats never got on very well with you."
"I don't like them either," put in Isabel.
"I like 'em," Allison said. "I like 'em a whole lot, but it isn't
mutual, and I never could understand why."
At dinner, it seemed as though they all talked at once. Madame and the
Colonel had a separate conversation of their own, while Allison
"reminisced" with Isabel, as he said, and asked numerous questions of
Rose in regard to the neighbours.
"Please tell me," he said, "what has become of the Crosby twins?"
"They're flourishing," Rose answered.
"You don't mean it! What little devils they were!"
"Are," corrected Rose.
"Who are the Crosby twins?" inquired Isabel.
"They'll probably call on you," Rose replied, "so I won't spoil it by
endeavouring to describe them. The language fails to do them justice."
"What were their names?" mused Allison. "Let me see. Oh, yes, Romeo and
Juliet."
"'Romie' and 'Jule' by affectionate abbreviation, to each other," Rose
added. Did you know that an uncle died in Australia and left them a
small fortune ?"
"No, I didn't. What are they doing with it?"
"Do you remember, when you were a child, how you used to plan what you'd
do with unlimited wealth?"
Allison nodded.
"Well," Rose resumed, "that's just what they're doing with it. They have
only the income now, but this Fall, when they're twenty-one, they'll
come into possession of the principal. I prophesy bankruptcy in five
years."
"Even so," he smiled, "they'll doubtless have pleasant memories."
"What satisfaction do you think there will be in that?" queried Isabel.
"I can't answer just now," Allison replied, "but the minute I'm
bankrupt, I'll come and tell you. It's likely to happen to me at any
time."
Meanwhile Colonel Kent was expressing the pleasure he had found in his
well-appointed household. "Was it very much trouble, Francesca?"
"None at all--to me."
"You always were wonderful."
"You see," she smiled, "I didn't do it. Rose did everything. I merely
went over at the last to arrange the flowers, make the tea, and receive
the credit."
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