Page:The Plutocrat (1927).pdf/85

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"What on earth do you mean, talking about their being in a 'body'?"

"Me?" His voice grew more plaintive in explanation, and at times he seemed to be distrustful of the pronunciation of a word, pausing and then enunciating with a carefulness that was almost pedantry. "Me? What do I mean by a 'body'? I mean a matter of perfect simplicity. I mean the list of passengers. All you got to do's to read over that passenger list, Mamma, and you'll see."

"I did, and so did Libby. There wasn't a soul on it either of us ever heard of in our lives."

Ogle had recognized her voice for that of a provincial the first time he heard it, and he expected nothing better of her; but her husband was both shocked and reproachful.

"Mamma, I hate to hear you say that; it sounds like you never read a newspaper or took any interest in your own country. You mean to tell me you never heard o' Weatheright's Worsteds?"

"What if I have?"

"Well, it's the very Weatheright that's on this boat. I haven't met him yet; but the gentlemen I've been sittin' with are as fine a small body of men as