He was
still almost quite a bit dotty when I was obliged to leave him for an
appointment with the raccoon and his wife to discuss the menu of my
opening dinner, but Cousin Egbert, who had rejoined us, was listening
sympathetically. As I left, the two were pegging it from a bottle of
hunting sherry which the Honourable George had carried in his
dispatch-case. I was about to warn him that he would come out spotted,
but instantly I saw that there must be an end to such surveillance. I
could not manage an enterprise of the magnitude of the United States
Grill and yet have an eye to his meat and drink. I resolved to let
spots come as they would.
On all hands I was now congratulated by members of the North Side set
upon the master-stroke I had played in adding the Honourable George to
their number. Not only did it promise to reunite certain warring
factions in the North Side set itself, but it truly bade fair to
disintegrate the Bohemian set. Belknap-Jackson wrung my hand that
afternoon, begging me to inform the Honourable George that he would
call on the morrow to pay his respects. Mrs. Judge Ballard besought me
to engage him for an early dinner, and Mrs. Effie, it is needless to
say, after recovering from the shock of his arrival, which she
attributed to Cousin Egbert's want of taste, thanked me with a wealth
of genuine emotion.
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