“Is tha-a-at so-o-o?” she asked.  “I’ll have you know, Smarty, my name ain’t Kit.  So There!”

“Well, make it Genevieve,” said the Advance Agent.  “Come close and hold my Hand while I give you this Order.  And merely as one Friend speaking to another, I want to tell you that the Blending under the Left Ear is very poor, and if you are not careful somebody will Sign you as a Spotted Girl.”

“My Mother was a Lady,” she said.

“That being the Case, I would like to have you go out and Engage a nice piece of Liver for me.  And if you show yourself to be real Winsome and Chic I may be able to use you with the Troupe.”

“Tea or Coffee?”

“Don’t tell me which one you bring and see if I can Guess.  And I would like some Actual Potatoes.”

“I suppose, Sir, you think I have no Feelings.”

“That is none of my Business,” he replied.  “I am merely passing through your Beautiful Little City.”

“I wish Edmund was here,” said she.

“So do I,” assented the Advance Agent, promptly.  “If he can wait on the Table I wish he was here.  Now see if you can make the Kitchen in two Jumps.”

[Illustration:  ADVANCE AGENT]

“He’d show you if you could get Flossy with a Lady, even though she Works.”

“You are about to lose your Tip, standing around here trying to shoot it back at the Handsome Guest,” remarked the Advance Agent.  “Has Edmund about finished his Fall Plowing?”

“He don’t do no Fall Plowing,” was the Bitter Reply.  “He Fires on Number Six.”

At that Moment there entered a Railroad Boy with Braid on his Clothes and Coal-Dust on his Neck.  He removed the Cap that had rested on his flanging Ears and sat at the Table with the Advance Agent and the English Tourist.

“Feed me Everything, with One in the Light to come along,” he said.  “If any of the Cockroaches ask for me, tell them I’m for all Night with the Yellow Rattlers, and laid out at Winona.”

The English Tourist was holding his Head.

“I guess you won’t carry on so Gay since he’s come,” said the Sensitive Waitress, addressing the Advance Agent.

“Did he Call you Down?” asked Edmund, the Loving Fireman, glancing at the Advance Agent.

“He used me like I was the Dirt under his Feet,” she replied, placing her Hand on her Breast and biting her Lower Lip.

“Well, it’s a Good Thing,” said Edmund.  “You’ve needed a few of them Jolts ever since you had your Hand read by the Gypsy and started to read that Bertha Clay Book.  It’s a good thing to have a Strong Josher come along now and then, just to show you Proud Dolls how to take a Joke.  Do I Eat?”

The Sensitive Waitress hurried Away, feeling hurt.

“Overlook all the Phoney Acting by the Little Lady, Bud,” said the Fireman to the Advance Agent.  “She’s only twenty-seven.”

Producing a small Note-Book, the English Traveler said:  “Gentlemen, I regard this Incident as Most Extraordinary and somewhat Mystifying.  I fear that I am not sufficiently acquainted with your Vernacular to grasp the full Purport of what has occurred here.  Will you Explain it to me?”