“You know I never taught a Sunday-school class!” protested Neil, his manhood as a duck-hunter insulted.

“I heard diff’rent.”

“What are you doing now, Belfreda?”

Belfreda and Borus glanced at each other as though this was a very funny question, but she took pity on the untutored white burgher, and condescended, “I sort of got my own beauty-parlor. Me and another girl are partners. We only got choosy customers—high-class ladies and preachers’ wives—and there ain’t a bit of use your trying to date ‘em up just because you know me. They already got sharp fellows, with real dough.”

She looked at Neil with defiance, she looked at Sophie with dislike, she looked at Borus and giggled.

Neil begged, “I hope you don’t remember us too badly, Belfreda.”

Airily, “Oh, that’s all right. You were dumb, but Mrs. Kingsblood, she was swell. She’s got savvy. Nobody can blame a white man like you for being slow, but her, she’s so smart she could almost be colored. Well, glad to seen you, Mister.”

“Uh—Belfreda—I’m sorry we didn’t get along better. Maybe a good deal of it was my fault.”

“Yes, it was! You always acted like you was expecting me to be mean, and so I’d get mean. Jesus! I wasn’t raised in no parlor! I was raised in a shoeshine dump, with all the white guys trying to make me when I was thirteen. First, at you folks’ house, I thought I had such a nice room, but you and Vestal used to sneak in there and laugh at my stuff and the way I kept it. Listen, Mister, when you make enough beds for other people, you’re so sick of it you ain’t got much pep left for making your own, and you figure there’s one place where you ought to be allowed to be just as God-damn sloppy as you want to. But even there I wasn’t safe. And whisper about me—whisper, whisper, whisper!”

“Belfreda, I’m extremely sorry.”

“Okay, forget it. Well, glad to seen you.”

* * * * *

Our Mr. Kingsblood had the sensation of having been dismissed, and he choked and meekly followed a muted Sophie, a smiling Phil Windeck, a derisive Ryan back to their table. But before they could voice the “Well?” that was arching their lips, he burst out, “She’s magnificent!”

Miss Sophie Concord did not tease him for having been snubbed by his ex-cook. Quite the contrary. She snapped matrimonially, “Just how intimate were your relations with Miss Belfreda Blackbird, my friend? Eh? That’s what I want to know!”

* * * * *