Diplomatic
Colonel:—“I do not see, Lieutenant, what there is to laugh at, in the serious words I am addressing to you.”
Lieutenant (who has noticed that all the other officers present are watching him):—“If the Colonel will pardon me I will tell him. If I make a sober face, my comrades present will think I am being hauled over the coals; but seeing me smile, they will think you are inviting me to your dinner-party to-night.”