"Beth doesn't like this much more than you do," he said.
"It's sinister," explained Beth. "All its beauty conceals a threat; its only purpose is to bring death."
"In the past, in the past!" protested her father. "It's only an ornament now."
"Perfectly horrid!" This from Beth, but Judith said: "It must have cost a good deal."
"Oh, well——" the Colonel responded, waving away the subject.
"Father," said Judith abruptly, "I want a hundred dollars."
"A hundred dollars!" he cried. "Where is a hundred dollars to come from in a jiffy?"
"Beth and I dislike the knife so," she suggested. "You might get the dealer to take it back."
Experienced women know how unwilling men are to return boughten articles. "I didn't get it on trial, like a wash-wringer," retorted the Colonel. "What do you want your hundred dollars for?"