19. THE FRUITFUL TREE
In the tense silence Maxy Minchin got slowly to his feet. He removed the Napoleonic hat from his head, and with a gesture of abdication, cast it aside.
“Well, you bimbos are certainly making some dinner out of this,” he remarked. “Sadie, I guess we never give one like it before, did we? Way I figure it, guys that put on the feed-bag together ought to act nice and friendly at the table, even if they do pull a gat on the stairs going out. Still, I ain’t one to tell my guests how to behave. Mr. Benbow, you spoke once, but it looks to me like you gotta speak again.”
Benbow leaped to his feet. The stricken look had faded, and he appeared grim and determined.
“Well,” he said, “I guess I made a mistake. When I was telling you that about the cablegram to my daughter, it f
