'Jeeves,' I said, 'you are certainly a life-saver.'
'Thank you, sir.'
'Nothing would have convinced my Aunt Agatha, that I hadn't lured that
blighter into riotous living.'
'I fancy you are right, sir.'
I champed my egg for a bit. I was most awfully moved, don't you know,
by the way Jeeves had rallied round. Something seemed to tell me that
this was an occasion that called for rich rewards. For a moment I
hesitated. Then I made up my mind.
'Jeeves!'
'Sir?'
'That pink tie.'
'Yes, sir?'
'Burn it.'
'Thank you, sir.'
'And, Jeeves.'
'Yes, sir?'
'Take a taxi and get me that White House Wonder hat, as worn by
President Coolidge.'
'Thank you very much, sir.'
I felt most awfully braced. I felt as if the clouds had rolled away
and all was as it used to be. I felt like one of those chappies in the
novels who calls off the fight with his wife in the last chapter and
decides to forget and forgive. I felt I wanted to do all sorts of other
things to show Jeeves that I appreciated him.
'Jeeves,' I said, 'it isn't enough. Is there anything else you would
like?'
'Yes, sir. If I may make the suggestion--fifty dollars.'
'Fifty dollars?'
'It will enable me to pay a debt of honour, sir. I owe it to his
lordship.'
'You owe Lord Pershore fifty dollars?'
'Yes, sir. I happened to meet him in the street the night his lordship
was arrested. I had been thinking a good deal about the most suitable
method of inducing him to abandon his mode of living, sir. His lordship
was a little over-excited at the time, and I fancy that he mistook me
for a friend of his. At any rate, when I took the liberty of wagering
him fifty dollars that he would not punch a passing policeman in the
eye, he accepted the bet very cordially and won it.'