"He"s dead!" she sobbed. "He"s dead!"
"He is not," said Mr. Mills.
"Is he much hurt? Is he dying?" gasped Mrs. Simpson.
"Only his hair," said Mr. Mills, clutching at the opening. "He is not hurt at all."
Mrs. Simpson dabbed at her eyes-and sat regarding him in bewilderment.
Her twin chins were still quivering with emotion, but her eyes were beginning to harden. "What are you talking about?" she inquired, in a raspy voice.
"He"s been to a hairdresser"s," said Mr. Mills. "He"s "ad all his white whiskers cut off, and his hair cut short and dyed black. And, what with that and his new teeth, I thought-he thought-p"r"aps you mightn"t know him when he came home."
"Dyed?" cried Mrs. Simpson, starting to her feet.
Mr. Mills nodded. "He looks twenty years younger," he said, with a smile. "He"d pa.s.s for his own son anywhere."
Mrs. Simpson"s eyes snapped. "Perhaps he"d pa.s.s for my son," she remarked.
"Yes, easy," said the tactful Mr. Mills. "You can"t think what a difference it"s made to him. That"s why I came to see you-so you shouldn"t be startled."
"Thank you," said Mrs. Simpson. "I"m much obliged. But you might have spared yourself the trouble. I should know my husband anywhere."
"Ah, that"s what you think," retorted Mr. Mills, with a smile; "but the barmaid at the Plume didn"t. That"s what made me come to you."
Mrs. Simpson gazed at him.
"I says to myself," continued Mr. Mills, ""If she don"t know him, I"m certain his missis won"t, and I"d better--""
"You"d better go," interrupted his hostess.
Mr. Mills started, and then, with much dignity, stalked after her to the door.
"As to your story, I don"t believe a word of it," said Mrs. Simpson.
"Whatever else my husband is, he isn"t a fool, and he"d no more think of cutting off his whiskers and dyeing his hair than you would of telling the truth."
"Seeing is believing," said the offended Mr. Mills, darkly.
"I"ll wait till I do see, and then I sha"n"t believe," was the reply.
"It is a put-up job between you and some other precious idiot, I expect.
But you can"t deceive me. If your black-haired friend comes here, he"ll get it, I can tell you."
She slammed the door on his protests and, returning to the parlour, gazed fiercely into the gla.s.s on the mantelpiece. It reflected sixteen stone of honest English womanhood, a thin wisp of yellowish-grey hair, and a pair of faded eyes peering through clumsy spectacles.
"Son, indeed!" she said, her lips quivering. "You wait till you come home, my lord!"
Mr. Simpson, with some forebodings, returned home an hour later. To a man who loved peace and quietness the report of the indignant Mr. Mills was not of a rea.s.suring nature. He hesitated on the doorstep for a few seconds while he fumbled for his key, and then, humming unconcernedly, hung his hat in the pa.s.sage and walked into the parlour.
The astonished scream of his wife warned him that Mr. Mills had by no means exaggerated. She rose from her seat and, crouching by the fireplace, regarded him with a mixture of anger and dismay.
"It-it"s all right, Milly," said Mr. Simpson, with a smile that revealed a dazzling set of teeth.
"Who are you?" demanded Mrs. Simpson. "How dare you call me by my Christian name. It"s a good job for you my husband is not here."
"He wouldn"t hurt me," said Mr. Simpson, with an attempt at facetiousness. "He"s the best friend I ever had. Why, we slept in the same cradle."
"I don"t want any of your nonsense," said Mrs. Simpson. "You get out of my house before I send for the police. How dare you come into a respectable woman"s house in this fashion? Be off with you."
"Now, look here, Milly--" began Mr. Simpson.
His wife drew herself up to her full height of four feet eleven.
"I"ve had a hair-cut and a shave," pursued her husband; "also I"ve had my hair restored to its natural colour. But I"m the same man, and you know it."
"I know nothing of the kind," said his wife, doggedly. "I don"t know you from Adam. I"ve never seen you before, and I don"t want to see you again. You go away."
"I"m your husband, and my place is at home," replied Mr. Simpson. "A man can have a shave if he likes, can"t he? Where"s my supper?"
"Go on," said his wife. "Keep it up. But be careful my husband don"t come in and catch you, that"s all."
Mr. Simpson gazed at her fixedly, and then, with an impatient exclamation, walked into the small kitchen and began to set the supper.
A joint of cold beef, a jar of pickles, bread, b.u.t.ter, and cheese made an appetizing display. Then he took a jug from the dresser and descended to the cellar.
A musical trickling fell on the ear of Mrs. Simpson as she stood at the parlour door, and drew her stealthily to the cellar. The key was in the lock, and, with a sudden movement, she closed the door and locked it. A sharp cry from Mr. Simpson testified to his discomfiture.
"Now I"m off for the police," cried his wife.
"Don"t be a fool," shouted Mr. Simpson, tugging wildly at the door-handle. "Open the door."
Mrs. Simpson remained silent, and her husband resumed his efforts until the door-k.n.o.b, unused to such treatment, came off in his hand. A sudden scrambling noise on the cellar stairs satisfied the listener that he had not pulled it off intentionally.
She stood for a few moments, considering. It was a stout door and opened inwards. She took her bonnet from its nail in the kitchen and, walking softly to the street-door, set off to lay the case before a brother who lived a few doors away.
"Poor old Bill," said Mr. Cooper, when she had finished. "Still, it might be worse; he"s got the barrel o" beer with him."
"It"s not Bill," said Mrs. Simpson.
Mr. Cooper scratched his whiskers and looked at his wife.
"She ought to know," said the latter. "We"ll come and have a look at him," said Mr. Cooper.
Mrs. Simpson pondered, and eyed him dubiously.
"Come in and have a bit of supper," she said at last. "There"s a nice piece of beef and pickles."
"And Bill-I mean the stranger-sitting on the beer-barrel," said Mr.
Cooper, gloomily.
"You can bring your beer with you," said his sister, sharply. "Come along."