She"d caught sight of our guests.

"Please don"t mind," says Vee. "We"re not very good cooks, Bertha and I.

We--we"ve spoiled everything, I guess."

She"s tryin" to be cheerful over it. And she sure is a picture, standin"

there with a big ap.r.o.n coverin" up most of her evenin" dress, and her upper lip a bit trembly.

"Buck up, Vee," says I. "Better luck next time. Chuck the whole shootin"

match into the discards, and we"ll all chase around to Roverti"s and----"

"Bother Roverti"s!" breaks in Vee. "Can"t we ever have a decent dinner in our own home? Am I too stupid for that? And there"s that perfectly gug-good l-l-l-leg of--of----"

"Pardon," says M. Battou, steppin" to the front; "but perhaps, if you would permit, I might a.s.sist with--with the lamb."

It"s a novel idea, I admit. No wonder Vee gasps a little.

"Why not?" says I. "Course it ain"t reg"lar, but if Mr. Battou wants to do some expert coachin", I expect you and Bertha could use it."

"Do, Leon," urges Madame Battou. "Lamb, is it? Oh, he is wonderful with lamb."

She hadn"t overstated the case, either. Inside of two minutes he has his coat off, a bath towel draped over his fancy vest, and has sent Bertha skirmishin" down the avenue for garlic, cloves, parsley, carrots, and a few other things that had been overlooked, it seems.

Well, we stands grouped around the kitchenette door for a while, watchin" him resuscitate that pale-lookin" leg of lamb, jab things into it, pour stuff over it, and mesmerize the gas oven into doin" its full duty.

Once he gets started, he ain"t satisfied with simply turnin" out the roast. He takes some string-beans and cuts "em into shoelaces; he carves rosettes out of beets and carrots; he produces a swell salad out of nothing at all; and with a little flour and whipped cream he throws together some kind of puffy dessert that looked like it would melt in your mouth.

And by seven-thirty we was sittin" down to a meal such as you don"t meet up with outside of some of them Fifth Avenue joints where you have to own a head waiter before they let you in.

"Whisper, Professor," says I, "did you work a spell on it, or what?"

"Ah-h-h!" says Battou, chucklin" and rubbin" his hands together. "It is cooked _a la Paysan_, after the manner of Peronne, and with it is the sauce chateau."

"That isn"t mere cookery," says Vee; "that"s art."

It was quite a cheery evenin". And after the Battous had gone, Vee and I asked each other, almost in chorus: "Do you suppose he"d do it again?"

"He will if I"m any persuader," says I. "Wouldn"t it be great to spring something like that on Mr. Robert?"

And while I"m shavin" next mornin" I connect with the big idea. Do you ever get "em that way? It cost me a nick under the ear, but I didn"t care. While I"m usin" the alum stick I sketches out the scheme for Vee.

"But, Torchy!" says she. "Do you think he would--really?"

Before I can answer there"s a ring at the door, and here is M. Leon Battou.

"The agent once more!" says he, producin" a paper. "In three days, it says. But you have found me the wall-painting, yes?"

"Professor," says I, "I hate to say it, but there"s nothin" doing in the free-hand fresco line--absolutely."

He slumps into a chair, and that pitiful, hunted look settles in his eyes.

"Then--then we must go," says he.

"Listen, Professor," says I, pattin" him soothin" on the shoulder. "Why not can this art stuff, that n.o.body wants, and switch to somethin"

you"re a wizard at?"

"You--you mean," says he, "that I should--should turn chef? I--Leon Battou--in a big noisy hotel kitchen? Oh, but I could not. No, I could not!"

"Professor," says I, "the only person in this town that I know of who"s nutty enough to want to hire a wall decorator reg"lar is me!"

"You!" gasps Battou, starin" around at our twelve by eighteen livin"-room.

I nods.

"What would you take it on for as a steady job?"

"Oh, anything that would provide for us," says he, eager. "But how----"

"That"s just the point," says I. "When you wasn"t paintin" could you cook a little on the side? Officially you"d be a decorator, but between times---- Eh?"

He"s a keen one, Mr. Battou.

"For so charming young people," says he, bowin" low, "it would be a great pleasure. And the little mother--ah, you should see what a manager she is! She can make a franc go farther. Could she a.s.sist also?"

"Could she!" exclaims Vee. "If she only would!"

Well, say, inside of half an hour we"d fixed up the whole deal, I"d armed Battou with a check to shove under the nose of that agent, and Vee had given Bertha her permanent release. And believe me, compared to what was put before Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ellins that evenin", the dress rehearsal dinner looked like Monday night at an actors" boardin"-house.

"I say," whispers Mr. Robert, "your cook must be a real artist."

"That"s how he"s carried on the family payroll," says I.

"Of course," says Vee afterwards, "while we can afford it, I suppose, it does seem scandalously extravagant for us to have cooking like that every day."

"Rather than have you worried with any more Bunglin" Berthas," says I, "I"d subsidize the whole of Peronne to come over. And just think of all I"ll save by not havin" to buy my hat back from the coat-room boys every night."

CHAPTER V

A RECRUIT FOR THE EIGHT-THREE

Have you a shiny little set of garden tools in your home? Have we? Well, I should seed catalogue. Honest to goodness! Here! I can show you a local time-table and my commuter"s ticket. How about that, eh, for me?

And I don"t know now just what it was worked the sudden shift for us--the Battous, or our visit to the Robert Ellinses", or meetin" up with MacGregor Shinn, the consistent grouch.

It begun with window-boxes. Professor Leon Battou, our official wall decorator and actin" cook, springs "em on me timid one day after lunch.