that W.'s, and now, whenever they want someone to go and talk Rockefeller or someone into lending them a million or so, they send for Samuel. Only now they call him Sammy the Spell-Binder and fawn upon him pretty copiously and all that. How about it, old son? How do we go?"
"What perfect nonsense," said Lucille.
"I don't know," said Bill, plainly impressed. "There might be something in it."
"Absolutely!" said Archie. "I remember it said, 'Talk convincingly, and no man will ever treat you with cold, unresponsive indifference.' Well, cold, unresponsive indifference is just what you don't want the pater to treat you with, isn't it, or is it, or isn't it, what? I mean, what?"
"It sounds all right," said Bill.
"It is all right," said Archie. "It's a scheme! I'll go farther. It's an egg!"
"The idea I had," said Bill, "was to see if I couldn't get Mabel a job in some straight comedy. That would take the curse off the thing a bit. Then I wouldn't have to dwell on the chorus end of the business, you see."
"Much more sensible," said Lucille.
"But what a deuce of a sweat," argued Archie. "I mean to say, having to pop round and nose about and all that."
"Aren't you willing to take a little trouble for your stricken brother-in-law, worm?" said Lucille severely.
"Oh, absolutely! My idea was to get this book and coach the dear old chap. Rehearse him, don't you know. He could bone up the early chapters a bit and then drift round and try his convincing talk on me."
