At that moment she was more concerned by a fascinating
necessity which Barney's flamboyant enterprise entailed.
"But to do anything like that, won't I need clothes?"
"You'll need 'em, and you'll have 'em! You're going to have one of the
swellest outfits that ever happened. You'll make Paris ashamed of
itself!"
"No use blowing the whole roll on Maggie's clothes," put in Old
Jimmie, speaking for the first time.
Barney turned on him caustically, almost savagely. "You're a hell of a
father, you are--counting the pennies on his own daughter! I told you
this was no piker's game, and you agreed to it--so cut out the idea
you're in any nickel-in-the-slot business!"
Old Jimmie felt physical pain at the thought of parting from money on
such a scale. His earlier plans concerning Maggie had never
contemplated any such extravagance. But he was silenced by the
dominant force behind Barney's sarcasm.
"Miss Grierson--she's your companion--knows what's what about
clothes," continued Barney to Maggie. "Here's the dope as I've handed
it to her. You're an orphan from the West, with some dough, who's come
to New York as my ward and Jimmie's and we want you to learn a few
things. To her and to any new people we meet I'm your cousin and
Jimmie is your uncle. You've got that all straight?"
"Yes," said Maggie.
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