"Oh, you couldn't know he'd be such a brute. Good-night, Nellie."
The two men returned to the smoking room. Philip, looking for a piece of paper wherewith to light his pipe, happened to notice a little bundle of proof-sheets lying on the table.
"Ah, the spring bubbling again?" he asked.
Dale nodded.
"My dear fellow, how are the rest of us to get our masterpieces noticed? You are a monopolist."
"It's only a little volume."
"What's it about? May I look?"
"Oh, if you like," answered Dale carelessly; but he kept his eye on his friend.
Philip took up the first sheet, and read the title-page; he smiled, and, turning over, came to the dedication.
"You call it 'Amor Patriæ?'"