"Whe-ee-uh!" whistled my Buzz as he looked at me from the top of my
head to the toe of my shoe.

"It would give me a much greater pleasure to be startled by you, my
Buzz, but this is a promise I did make the last evening," I pleaded to
him.

"Go ahead, sport, but accept it from me that Madam Pat is the genuine
and original pump; so don't let her empty you. Do you want me to come
by and extract you at about fifteen to five? I'm sorry, but I really
must have a business interview with you before six." And my Buzz's
eyes twinkled with something that was of a great pleasure to him I
could observe.

"It would be of more pleasure to me if you came at the half of five,
my Buzz," I made a hurry to assure him, for I had a great dread of all
of the falsehoods I was to say to that Madam Whitworth that afternoon
for the purpose of extracting perhaps a little wicked truth from her
to help in the defense of my Gouverneur Faulkner.

"I'm on," answered my Buzz promptly. "Beat it! I hear the old boy
growling." And he disappeared behind the door of my Uncle, the General
Robert. I went to the duty of assuring the nice gentleman in very
rough clothing that the Gouverneur would in the morning read the paper
on the subject of making a long road past his property in good
condition by a vote, and I was of a very great success in my efforts,
the good Cato assured me.

"You's got a fine oiled tongue tied in the middle and loose at both
ends, honey. Yo' father had the same," he assured me as he handed me
my hat and walking cane at the hour of four, which ended my duties for
the day. Roberta, Marquise of Grez and Bye, did so long to go into
that room of the Gouverneur Faulkner and receive upon her hand one
nice kiss of good night from him, but Mr. Robert Carruthers walked
down from the Capitol and only paused to lift for a little second his
very handsome hat towards the window of His Excellency's room high up
above.

And the encounter with the beautiful Madam Whitworth was much worse
than I had thought that it would be, though also it was of a very
interesting excitement. She had made armaments for the encounter in
the shape of a very lovely tea apparel of an increditable thinness to
be used for covering, a little low fire in the golden grate, and
curtains of rose to throw somewhat of glow over the situation.
Immediately I was seated beside her on a small divan upon which there
was room for only one and a half persons, and my stupidity