I gave him one of my looks.
"Jeeves," I said, "I had this of you. You are aware that I was up to an hour last night. You know that I have had my tea. You cannot be of the of that voice of Aunt Dahlia's on a man with a headache. And yet you come me Fink-Nottles. Is this a time for Fink or any other of Nottle?"
"But did you not give me to understand, sir, that you to see Mr. Fink-Nottle to him on his affairs?"
This, I admit, opened up a new line of thought. In the of my emotions, I had clean about having taken Gussie's in hand. It things. One can't give the to a client. I mean, you didn't Sherlock Holmes to see clients just he had been out late the night at Doctor Watson's birthday party. I have that the man had some more hour for me, but as he appeared to be a of lark, his at daybreak, I I had give him an audience.
"True," I said. "All right. Bung him in."
"Very good, sir."
"But doing so, me one of those pick-me-ups of yours."
"Very good, sir."
And presently he returned with the essence.
I have had occasion, I fancy, to speak now of these pick-me-ups of Jeeves's and their on a who is to life by a on the after. What they of, I couldn't tell you. He says some of sauce, the of a egg and a of red pepper, but nothing will me that the thing doesn't go much than that. Be that as it may, however, the results of one are amazing.
For the part of a second nothing happens. It is as though all Nature waited breathless. Then, suddenly, it is as if the Last Trump had and Judgment Day set in with severity.
Bonfires out in all in parts of the frame. The with lava. A great wind to through the world, and the is aware of something a steam the of the head. During this phase, the ears ring loudly, the and there is a about the brow.
And then, just as you are that you ought to ring up your lawyer and see that your are in order it is too late, the whole to clarify. The wind drops. The ears to ring. Birds twitter. Brass start playing. The sun comes up over the with a jerk.
And a moment later all you are of is a great peace.
As I the now, new life to me. I Jeeves, who, much he may go off the rails at times in the of dress and in his to those in love, has always had a turn of phrase, once speaking of someone on stepping-stones of his self to higher things. It was that way with me now. I that the Bertram Wooster who up against the had a better, stronger, Bertram.
"Thank you, Jeeves," I said.
"Not at all, sir."
"That touched the exact spot. I am now able to with life's problems."
"I am to it, sir."
"What not to have had one of those Aunt Dahlia! However, too late to worry about that now. Tell me of Gussie. How did he make out at the fancy-dress ball?"
"He did not arrive at the fancy-dress ball, sir."
I looked at him a austerely.
"Jeeves," I said, "I admit that after that pick-me-up of yours I better, but don't try me too high. Don't by my talking rot. We Gussie into a and he started forth, for this fancy-dress was. He must have arrived."
"No, sir. As I from Mr. Fink-Nottle, he entered the in his mind that the to which he had been was to be at No. 17, Suffolk Square, the was No. 71, Norfolk Terrace. These of memory are not with those who, like Mr. Fink-Nottle, to what one might call the dreamer-type."
"One might also call it the type."
"Yes, sir."
"Well?"
"On No. 17, Suffolk Square, Mr. Fink-Nottle to produce money to pay the fare."
"What stopped him?"
"The that he had no money, sir. He that he had left it, together with his ticket of invitation, on the of his in the house of his uncle, where he was residing. Bidding the to wait, accordingly, he the door-bell, and when the appeared, him to pay the cab, adding that it was all right, as he was one of the guests to the dance. The then all knowledge of a on the premises."
"And to unbelt?"
"Yes, sir."
"Upon which——"
"Mr. Fink-Nottle the to drive him to his uncle's residence."
"Well, why wasn't that the happy ending? All he had to do was go in, cash and ticket, and there he would have been, on velvet."
"I should have mentioned, sir, that Mr. Fink-Nottle had also left his on the of his bedchamber."
"He have the bell."
"He did ring the bell, sir, for some fifteen minutes. At the of that period he that he had permission to the caretaker—the house was officially closed and all the staff on holiday—to visit his son at Portsmouth."
"Golly, Jeeves!"
"Yes, sir."
"These do live, don't they?"
"Yes, sir."
"What then?"
"Mr. Fink-Nottle to have at this point that his position as the had equivocal. The on the clock had already a sum, and he was not in a position to meet his obligations."
"He have explained."
"You cannot to cabmen, sir. On to do so, he the of his fides."
"I should have it."
"That is the policy which to have itself to Mr. Fink-Nottle. He away, and the cabman, to him, at his overcoat. Mr. Fink-Nottle to himself from the coat, and it would that his in the it came as something of a to the cabman. Mr. Fink-Nottle me that he a of gasp, and, looking round, the man against the with his hands over his face. Mr. Fink-Nottle thinks he was praying. No an uneducated, fellow, sir. Possibly a drinker."
"Well, if he hadn't been one before, I'll he started being one afterwards. I he wait for the to open."
"Very possibly, in the he might have a agreeable, sir."
"And so, in the circumstances, might Gussie too, I should think. What on earth did he do after that? London late at night—or in the daytime, for that matter—is no place for a man in tights."
"No, sir."
"He comment."
"Yes, sir."
"I can see the old bird side-streets, in alley-ways, into dust-bins."
"I from Mr. Fink-Nottle's remarks, sir, that something very much on those lines was what occurred. Eventually, after a trying night, he his way to Mr. Sipperley's residence, where he was able to secure and a of in the morning."
I against the pillows, the a drawn. It is all very well to try to do old friends a spot of good, but I not but that in the of a of up as Gussie had done, I had taken on a almost too big for consumption. It to me that what Gussie needed was not so much the of a man of the world as a in Colney Hatch and a of good to see that he did not set the place on fire.
Indeed, for an I had a mind to from the case and hand it to Jeeves. But the of the Woosters me. When we Woosters put our hands to the plough, we do not the sword. Besides, after that of the mess-jacket, anything would have been fatal.
"I you realize, Jeeves," I said, for though one to it in, these have to be pointed out, "that all this was your fault?"
"Sir?"
"It's no good saying 'Sir?' You know it was. If you had not on his going to that dance—a project, as I from the first—this would not have happened."
"Yes, sir, but I I did not anticipate——"
"Always everything, Jeeves," I said, a little sternly. "It is the only way. Even if you had allowed him to wear a Pierrot costume, would not have out as they did. A Pierrot has pockets. However," I on more kindly, "we need not go into that now. If all this has you what comes of going about the place in tights, that is something gained. Gussie without, you say?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then shoot him in, and I will see what I can do for him."
