Prev | Current Page 256 | Next

McCutcheon, George Barr, 1866-1928

"Mr. Bingle"

Miss
Fairweather was called in to corroborate all that they had to say
about the gorgeousness of that southern fairyland, and as a group they
did very well when one stops to consider that not one of them had ever
been south of Washington, D. C. The child cheered up a bit. She began
to take some interest in the matter of dress. Following that, she
revealed considerable enthusiasm over the prospect of going south in a
private car with a personal maid of her own, and could have a change
of frock twice a day for a week at a stretch, to say nothing of being
allowed to eat in the public dining-car if it pleased her to do so.
That thing of eating in the dining-car was a master-stroke on the part
of Bingle. It was the greatest inducement he could have offered to the
child in support of the claim that she ought to be the happiest
creature on earth, going away with Mr. and Mrs. Force like this.
Frederick and Wilberforce openly declared--in the presence of Mr. and
Mrs. Bingle--that you bet they'd go in a minute if they had the chance
to see the land where Melissa's pirates and smugglers did most of
their plundering--an attitude that created an unhappy half-hour for
Melissa later on in the day.


Pages:
244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268