"Just what you"ve done," says I. "He picks out an easy mark. I don"t pa.s.s out the coin reckless, though. Generally I tow "em to a hash house and watch "em eat. Are you hungry enough for that?"
"Truly, I have great hunger," says he.
So, five minutes later I"ve led him into a side street and parked him opposite me at a chop house table. "How about a slice of roast beef rare, with mashed potatoes and turnips and a cup of coffee?" says I.
"Pardon," says he, "but it is forbidden me to eat the flesh of animals."
So we compromised on a double order of boiled rice and milk with a hunk of pumpkin pie on the side. And in spite of the beard he went to it business-like and graceful.
"Excuse my askin"," says I, "but are you going or coming?"
He looks a bit blank at that. "I am Burmese gentleman," says he. "I am named Sarrou Mollik kuhn Balla Ben."
"That"s enough, such as it is," says I. "Suppose I use only the last of it, the Balla Ben part?"
"No," says he, "that is only my t.i.tle, as you say Honorable Sir."
"Oh, very well," says I, "Sour Milk it is. And maybe you"re willin" to tell how you get this way--great hunger and no rupees?"
He was willin". It seems he"d first gone wanderin" from home a year or so back with a sporty young Englishman who"d hired him as guide and interpreter on a trip into the middle of Burmah. Then they"d gone on into India and the Hon. Sour Milk had qualified so well as all round valet that the young Englishman signed him up for a two-year jaunt around the world. His boss was some hot sport, though, I take it, and after a big spree coming over on a Pacific steamer from j.a.pan he"d been taken sick with some kind of fever, typhoid probably, and was makin" a mad dash for home when he had to quit in New York and be carted to some hospital. Just what hospital Sour Milk didn"t know, and as the Hon.
Sahib was too sick to think about payin" his board in advance his valet had been turned loose by an unsympathizing hotel manager. And here he was.
"That sure is a hard luck tale," says I. "But it ought to be easy for a man of your size to land some kind of a job these days. What did you work at back in Burmah?"
"I was one of the attendants at the Temple," says he.
"Huh!" says I. "That does make it complicated. I"m afraid there ain"t much call for temple hands in this burg. Now if you could run a b.u.t.ton-holin" machine, or was a paper hanger, or could handle a delivery truck, or could make good as a floor walker in the men"s furnishin"
department, or had ever done any barberin"--Say! I"ve got it!" and I gazes fascinated at that crop of facial herbage.
"I ask pardon?" says he, starin" puzzled.
"They"re genuine, ain"t they?" I goes on. "Don"t hook over the ears with a wire? The whiskers, I mean."
He a.s.sures me they grow on him.
"And you"re game to tackle any light work with good pay?" I asks.
"I must not cause the death of dumb animals," says he, "or touch their dead bodies. And I may not serve at the altars of your people. But beyond that----"
"You"re on, then," says I. "Come along while I stack you up against Madame Zen.o.bia, the Mystic Queen."
We finds the old girl sittin" at a little table, her chin propped up in one hand and a cigarette danglin" despondent from her rouged lips. She"s a picture of gloomy days.
"Look what I picked up on Fifth Ave.," says I.
And the minute she spots him and takes in the chestnut whiskers, them weary old eyes of hers lights up. "By the kind stars and the jack of spades!" says she. "A wise one from the East! Who is he?"
"Allow me, Madame Zen.o.bia, to present the Hon. Sour Milk," says I.
"Pardon, Memsahib," he corrects. "I am Sarrou Mellik kuhn Balla Ben, from the Temple of Aj Wadda, in Burmah. I am far from home and without rupees."
"Allah be praised!" says Madame Zen.o.bia.
"Ah!" echoes Sour Milk, in a deep boomin" voice that sounds like it came from the sub-cellar. "Allah il Allah!"
"Enough!" says Madame Zen.o.bia. "The Sage of India is my favorite control and this one has the speech and bearing of him to the life. You may leave us, child of the sun, knowing that your wish shall come true. That is, provided the cook person appears."
"Oh, she"ll be here, all right," says I. "They never miss a date like that. There"ll be two of "em, understand. The thin one will be Maggie, that I ain"t got any dope on. You can stall her off with anything. The fat, waddly one with the two gold front teeth will be Stella. She"s the party with the wilful disposition and the late case of wanderl.u.s.t.
You"ll know her by the snapshot, and be sure and throw it into her strong if you want to collect that other ten."
"Trust Zen.o.bia," says she, wavin" me away.
Say, I"d like to have been behind the curtains that Thursday afternoon when Stella Flynn squandered four dollars to get a message from the spirit world direct. I"d like to know just how it was done. Oh, she got it, all right. And it must have been mighty convincin", for when Vee and I drives up to the Ellinses that night after dinner to see if they"d noticed any difference in the cook, or if she"d dropped any encouragin"
hints, I nearly got hugged by Mrs. Robert.
"Oh, you wonderful young person!" says she. "You did manage it, didn"t you?"
"Eh?" says I.
"Stella is going to stay with us," says Mrs. Robert. "She is unpacking her trunk! However did you do it? What is this marvelous recipe of yours?"
"Why," says I, "I took Madame Zen.o.bia and added Sour Milk."
Yes, I had more or less fun kiddin" "em along all the evenin". But I couldn"t tell "em the whole story because I didn"t have the details myself. As for Mr. Robert, he"s just as pleased as anybody, only he lets on how he was dead sure all along that I"d put it over. And before I left he tows me one side and tucks a check into my pocket.
"Geraldine paid up," says he, "and I rather think the stakes belong to you. But sometime, Torchy, I"d like to have you outline your process to me. It should be worth copyrighting."
That bright little idea seemed to have hit Madame Zen.o.bia, too, for when I drops around there next day to hand her the final instalment, she and the Hon. Sour Milk are just finishing a he-sized meal that had been sent in on a tray from a nearby restaurant. She"s actin" gay and mirthful.
"Ah, I"ve always known there was luck in red hair," says she. "And when it comes don"t think Zen.o.bia doesn"t know it by sight. Look!" and she hands me a mornin" paper unfolded to the "Help Wanted" page. The marked ad reads:
The domestic problem solved. If you would keep your servants consult Madame Zen.o.bia, the Mystic Queen. Try her and your cook will never leave.
"Uh-huh!" says I. "That ought to bring in business these times. I expect that inside of a week you"ll have the street lined with limousines and customers waitin" in line all up and down the stairs here."
"True words," says Madame Zen.o.bia. "Already I have made four appointments for this afternoon and I"ve raised my fee to $50."
"If you can cinch "em all the way you did Stella," says I, "it"ll be as good as ownin" a Texas gusher. But, by the way, just how did you feed it to her?"
"She wasn"t a bit interested," says Madame Zen.o.bia, "until I materialized Sarrou Mellik as the wise man of India. Give us that patter I worked up for you, Sarrou."
And in that boomin" voice of his the Hon. Sour Milk remarks: "Beware of change. Remain, woman, where thou art, for there and there only will some great good fortune come to you. The spirit of Ahmed the Wise hath spoken."
"Great stuff!" says I. "I don"t blame Stella for changin" her mind.
That"s enough to make anybody a fixture anywhere. She may be the only one in the country, but I"ll say she"s a permanent cook."
And I sure did get a chuckle out of Mr. Robert when I sketches out how we anch.o.r.ed Stella to his happy home.
"Then that"s why she looks at me in that peculiarly expectant way every time I see her," says he. "Some great good fortune, eh? Evidently she has decided that it will come through me."