\"Ishouldn’tthinkyouwouldbe。Hauledinbodily，asyoumightsay，andshutupinaroomtofightwasps！Andbyfolksyouneversawaforeanddon’tknowfromAdam！Youneedn’tapologize。I’dforgiveyouifyousaidsomethin’agooddealworse’nthat。I’mlongpasttheagewhereI’msensitiveaboutmyweight，thankgoodness。\"
\"AndweAREsomuchobligedtoyou。\"Thegirlwasfacinghimoncemore，andshewasserious，thoughthecornersofhermouthstilltwitched。\"Thewholeaffairisperfectlyridiculous，\"shesaid，\"butMrs。BascomwasfrightenedandsowasI——whenIhadtimetorealizeit。Thankyouagain。\"
\"You’requitewelcome，I’msure。Notroubleatall。\"
Theassistantturnedtogo。Hisbrainwasbeginningtoregainalittleofitsnormalpoise，andhewasdimlyconsciousthathehadbeenabsentfromdutyquitelongenough。
\"Maybeyou’dliketoknowwho’tisyou’vehelped，\"observedthestoutwoman。\"And，considerin’thatwe’relikelytobenext-doorneighborsforaspell，Ical’lateintroductionsaretheproperthing。Myname’sBascom。I’mhousekeeperforMissRuthGraham。