"In short, I am obliged to carry my arm in a sling for three months after."
"Is that not rather long?"
"No; because your arm, in some sort, supplies, meantime, the place of mine."
"Your picture has, at least, the merit of being poetic. Is it finished?"
"Not till next New Year's Day, when you present me with an embroidered scarf, as the ladies of yore used to do to the knights that defended them from dragons and that sort of thing."
"What a pity all this should be only a dream!"
"Well, I am not particularly extravagant, at all events; others dream of fortune, honor, and glory."
"Whilst you confine your aspirations to a bear, a bite, and a scarf."
"You see nothing was wanted but the opportunity."
"And foresight."