“‘Him?’ says I.  ‘Who’s him?’

“‘Why, him!  The one the Seer said was comin’.  The handsome, dark-complected feller I’m goin’ to marry.  The Butler one.  That was him in the buggy this afternoon.’

“I looked at her.  I’d forgot all about the fool prophecy.

“‘Good land of love!’ I says.  ‘You don’t cal’late he’s comin’ to marry you, do you, just ’cause his name’s Butler?  There’s ten thousand Butlers in the world.  Besides, your particular one was slated to be high ranked and distinguished, and this specimen scrubs up the billiard-room floor and ain’t no more distinguished than a poorhouse pig.’

“‘Ain’t?’ she sings out.  ’Ain’t distinguished?  With all them beautiful curls, and rings on his fingers, and—­’

“‘Bells on his toes?  No!’ says I, emphatic.  ’Anyhow, he’s signed for the v’yage already.  He’s Susannah Debs’s steady, and they’re off buggy ridin’ together right now.  And if she catches you makin’ eyes at her best feller—­Whew!’

“Didn’t make no difference.  He was her Butler, sure.  ’Twas Fate—­that’s what ’twas—­Fate, just the same as in storybooks.  She was sorry for poor Susannah and she wouldn’t do nothin’ mean nor underhanded; but couldn’t I understand that ’twas all planned out for her by Providence and that everlastin’ Seer?  Just let me watch and see, that’s all.

“What can you do with an idiot like that?  I walked off disgusted and left her.  But I cal’lated to watch.  I judged ’twould be more fun than any ‘play-actin’ show ever I took in.

“And ’twas, in a way.  Don’t ask me how they got acquainted, ’cause I can’t tell you for sartin.  Nigh’s I can learn, Susannah and Sim had some sort of lover’s row durin’ their buggy ride, and when they got back to the hotel they was scurcely on speakin’ terms.  And Sim, who always had a watch out for’ard for pretty girls, see Effie standin’ on the servants’ porch all togged up regardless and gay as a tea-store chromo, and nothin’ to do but he must be introduced.  One of the stable hands done the introducin’, I b’lieve, and if he’d have been hung afterwards ’twould have sarved him right.

“Anyhow, inside of a week Butler come round again to take a lady friend drivin’, but this time ’twas Effie, not the housekeeper, that was passenger.  And Susannah glared after ’em like a cat after a sparrow, and the very next day she was for havin’ Effie discharged for incompetentiveness.  I give Jonadab the tip, though, so that didn’t go through.  But I cal’late there was a parrot and monkey time among the help from then on.

“They all sided with Susannah, of course.  She was their boss, for one thing, and ‘Lady Evelyn’s’ high-minded notions wa’n’t popular, for another.  But Effie didn’t care—­bless you, no!  She and that Butler sport was together more and more, and the next thing I heard was that they was engaged.  I snum, if it didn’t look as if the Oriental man knew his job after all.