Positively, thought Mr. Twist, his hat on the back of his head, staring, that was what it seemed to be doing.  How was that?  He studied it profoundly, his head on one side.  Was it that it was so very gay?  He hadn’t meant it to be gay like that.  He had intended a restrained and disciplined simplicity, a Puritan unpretentiousness, with those sweet maidens, the Twinkler twins, flitting like modest doves in and out among its tea-tables; but one small thing had been added to another small thing at their suggestion, each small thing taken separately apparently not mattering at all and here it was almost—­he hoped it was only his imagination—­winking at him.  It looked a familiar little house; jocular; very open indeed about the arms.

CHAPTER XXIII

Various things had happened, however, before this morning of the great day was reached, and Mr. Twist had had some harassing experiences.

One of the first things he had done after the visit to Los Angeles was to take steps in the matter of the guardianship.  He had written to Mrs. Bilton that he was the Miss Twinklers’ guardian, though it was not at that moment true.  It was clear, he thought, that it should be made true as quickly as possible, and he therefore sought out a lawyer in Acapulco the morning after the interview.  This was not the same lawyer who did his estate business for him; Mr. Twist thought it best to have a separate one for more personal affairs.

On hearing Mr. Twist’s name announced, the lawyer greeted him as an old friend.  He knew, of course, all about the teapot, for the Non-Trickler was as frequent in American families as the Bible and much more regularly used; but he also knew about the cottage at the foot of the hills, what it had cost—­which was little—­and what it would cost—­which was enormous—­before it was fit to live in.  The only thing he didn’t know was that it was to be used for anything except an ordinary pied-a-terre.  He had heard, too, of the presence at the Cosmopolitan of the twins, and on this point, like the rest of Acapulco, was a little curious.

The social column of the Acapulco daily paper hadn’t been able to give any accurate description of the relationship of the Twinklers to Mr. Twist.  Its paragraph announcing his arrival had been obliged merely to say, while awaiting more detailed information, that Mr. Edward A. Twist, the well-known Breakfast Table Benefactor and gifted inventor of the famous Non-Trickler Teapot, had arrived from New York and was staying at the Cosmopolitan Hotel with entourage; and the day after this the lawyer, who got about a bit, as everybody else did in that encouraging climate, happening to look in at the Cosmopolitan to have a talk with a friend, had seen the entourage.