"What shall I do with this one, sir?" asked the officer, undecided as to

Jimmy's exact standing in the household.

"Shoot him, for all I care," groaned Alfred, and he rocked to and fro.

"How ungrateful!" exclaimed Aggie, then she signalled to the officer to

go.

"No more of your funny business," said the officer with a parting nod at

Jimmy and a vindictive light in his eyes when he remembered the bruises

that Jimmy had left on his shins.

"Oh, Jimmy!" said Aggie sympathetically, and she pressed her hot face

against his round apoplectic cheek. "You poor dear! And after all you

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have done for us!"

"Yes," sneered Zoie, having regained sufficient strength to stagger to

her feet, "he's done a lot, hasn't he?" And then forgetting that her

original adventure with Jimmy which had brought about such disastrous

results was still unknown to Aggie and Alfred, she concluded bitterly,

"All this would never have happened, if it hadn't been for Jimmy and his

horrid old luncheon."

Jimmy was startled. This was too much, and just as he had seemed to be

well out of complications for the remainder of his no doubt short life.

He turned to bolt for the door but Aggie's eyes were upon him.

"Luncheon?" exclaimed Aggie and she regarded him with a puzzled frown.

Zoie's hand was already over her lips, but too late.

Recovering from his somewhat bewildering sense of loss, Alfred, too, was

now beginning to sit up and take notice.

"What luncheon?" he demanded.

Zoie gazed from Alfred to Aggie, then at Jimmy, then resolving to make

a clean breast of the matter, she sidled toward Alfred with her most

ingratiating manner.

"Now, Alfred," she purred, as she endeavoured to act one arm about

his unsuspecting neck, "if you'll only listen, I'll tell you the REAL

TRUTH."

A wild despairing cry from Alfred, a dash toward the door by Jimmy, and

a determined effort on Aggie's part to detain her spouse, temporarily

interrupted Zoie's narrative.

But in spite of these discouragements, Zoie did eventually tell Alfred

the real truth, and before the sun had risen on the beginning of another

day, she had added to her confession, promises whose happy fulfillment

was evidenced for many years after by the chatter of glad young voices,

up and down the stairway of Alfred's new suburban home, and the flutter

of golden curls in and out amongst the sunlight and shadows of his

ample, well kept grounds.



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