"Don't you keep a maid?" he inquired.

"Where would I keep her--in the ice-box?" Lorelei smiled faintly.

His glance brightened with admiration. "Well, you look stunning in
that get-up, and I'd hate to see you change it. Do you mean to say
you can COOK?"

"Not well, but I can fry almost anything. Mother has a maid. I
couldn't afford two."

"I love fried things," he assured her, with a twinkle. "And to
think you're going to cook for ME! That's an experience for both
of us. Let's have some fried roast beef and fried corn on the cob
with fried salad and cheese--"

"Don't tease," she begged, uncertainly. "I hardly know what I'm
doing, and I thought this would keep me busy until theater-time."

He extended a hand timidly and patted her arm, saying with
unexpected gentleness:

"Please don't worry. I supposed we'd dine in public, but if you
like this better, so do I. When we pull ourselves together and get
settled a bit we'll make our plans for the future. At present I'm
still in a daze. It was a terrible night for all of us. When I
think of it I'm sure it must have been a dream. I saw Merkle; he's
perfectly cold and matter-of-fact about it all. He got back to
Hammon's house ahead of the doctor, and nobody suspects the truth.
But the Street is in chaos, and all of Hammon's companies are