"I'm afraid I've disturbed you," sneered Alfred.

"Oh, no, not at all," answered Jimmy, affecting a careless
indifference that he did not feel and unconsciously shaking hands
with the waiting secretary.

Reminded of the secretary's presence in such a distinctly family
scene, Alfred turned to him with annoyance.

"Go into my study," he said. "I'll be with you presently.
Here's your list," he added and he thrust a long memorandum into
the secretary's hand. Johnson retired as unobtrusively as
possible and the two old friends were left alone. There was
another embarrassed silence which Jimmy, at least, seemed
powerless to break.

"Well?" questioned Alfred in a threatening tone.

"Tolerably well," answered Jimmy in his most pleasant but
slightly nervous manner. Then followed another pause in which
Alfred continued to eye his old friend with grave suspicion.

"The fact is," stammered Jimmy, "I just came over to bring
Aggie----" he corrected himself-- "that is, to bring Zoie a
little message from Aggie."

"It seemed to be a SAD one," answered Alfred, with a sarcastic
smile, as he recalled the picture of Zoie weeping upon his
friend's sleeve.