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Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 1871-1958

"The Unspeakable Perk"

"
"Had you anything to do with that?" she inquired suspiciously.
"Oh, the official is a friend of mine," he answered carelessly.
"And you really believe that there is an epidemic of plague here?
Don't you think that I'd make a good Red Cross nurse?"
His voice was grave and rather stern.
"You've never seen bubonic plague," he said, "or you wouldn't joke
about it."
"I'm sorry. But it wasn't wholly a joke. If we were really cooped
up with an epidemic, I'd volunteer. What else would there be to
do?"
"Nothing of the sort," he cried vehemently. "You don't know what
you're talking about."
"Anyway, isn't the wonderful Luther Pruyn on his way to exorcise
the demon, or something of the sort?"
"What about Luther Pruyn? Who says he's coming here?"
"It's the gossip of the diplomatic set and the clubs. He's the
favorite mystery of the day."
"Well, if he does come, it won't improve matters any, for the
first case he verifies he'll clap on a quarantine that a mouse
couldn't creep through. I know something of the Pruyn method."
"And don't wholly approve it, I judge."
"It may be efficacious, but it's extremely inconvenient at times.


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