So---"
"Do more than that!" decreed the Master, on quick inspiration.
"What I started to tell you is that there's blood on Lad's jaws;
as well as on the baby's blanket. If two men say they've been
bitten by dogs--"
"I get you!" yelled the other. "Good-by! I got no time to waste,
when a clew like that is shaken in front of me. See you later!"
Long before the Chief arrived at the Place with triumphant
tidings of his success in "sweating" the truth from the mangled
and nerve-racked Schwartzes, the two other actors in the
evening's drama were miles away among the sunflecked shadows of
Dreamland.
The baby, industriously and unsanitarily sucking one pudgy thumb,
was cuddled down to sleep in the Mistress's lap. And, in the
depths of his cave under the living-room piano, Lad was stretched
at perfect ease; his tiny white forepaws straight in front of
him.
But his deep breathing was interrupted, now and then, by a
muttered sigh. For, at last, one of his beautiful presents had
failed to cause happiness and praise from his gods. Instead, it
had apparently turned the whole household inside out; to judge by
the noisy excitement and the telephoning and all.
Pages:
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330