see Algy, the livin' peppermint lossenger, before he melts away with his own sweetness." Obeying the summons with promptness a flight of the Lawrence P. McGillicuddy's, accompanied for the[Pg 36] most part by lady friends, cascaded down the stairs and erupted forth upon the sidewalk. [Pg 36] "Here y'are—right here!" clarioned Mr. Cassidy as the first skylarkish pair showed in the doorway. His manner was drolly that of a showman exhibiting a rare freak, newly captured. "Come a-runnin'!" They came a-running and there were a dozen of them or possibly fifteen; blithesome spirits, all, and they fenced in the shrinking shape of Mr. Leary with a close and curious ring of themselves, and the combined volume of their glad, amazed outbursts might be heard for a distance of furlongs. On prankish impulse then they locked hands and with skippings and prancings and impromptu jig steps they circled about him; and he, had he sought to speak, could not well have been heard; and, anyway, he was for the moment past speech, because of being entirely engaged in giving vent to one vehement sneeze after another. And next, above the chorus of joyous whooping might be heard individual comments, each shrieked out shrilly and each punctuated by a sneeze from Mr. Leary's convulsed frame; or lacking that by a simulated sneeze from one of the revellers—one with a fine humorous flare for mimicry. And these comments were, for example, such as: "Git onto the socks!" "Ker-chew!" "And the slippers!" "Ker-chew!" "And them lovely pink garters!" "Ker-chew!" "Oh, you cutey! Oh, you cut-up!" "Ker-chew!" [Pg 37]
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