Quite distraught he
was.
The moments passed. Again several guests exchanged seats with other
guests. It seemed to be a device for relieving the strain. Once more
there were scattering efforts at normal talk. "Myrtle is a strange
girl--a creature of moods, I call her. She wanted to act in the moving
pictures until papa bought the car. And she knows every one of the new
tango steps, but I tell her a few lessons in cooking wouldn't--Beryl
Mae is just the same puzzling child; one thing one day, and another
thing the next; a mere bundle of nerves, and so sensitive if you say
the least little thing to her ... If we could only get Ling Wong
back--this Jap boy is always threatening to leave if the men don't get
up to breakfast on time, or if Gertie makes fudge in his kitchen of an
afternoon ... Our boy sends all his wages to his uncle in China, but I
simply can't get him to say, 'Dinner is served.' He just slides in and
says, 'All right, you come!' It's very annoying, but I always tell the
family, 'Remember what a time we had with the Swede----'"
I mean to say, things were becoming rapidly impossible. The moments
passed. Belknap-Jackson again telephoned: "You did send a man after
them? Send some one after him, then. Yes, at once!" He poured himself
another peg of the vodka.
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