“Beg pardon,” smiled Calder. “Victor told me rather a joke. It appears there’s a young Merceron, and the usual rustic beauty, don’t you know—forget the name—but a fat girl, Victor said, and awfully gone on young Merceron. Well, there’s a pond or something——”
“How long will this story last?” asked Miss Glyn with a tragic air.
“It’s an uncommon amusing one,” protested Calder. “He upset her in the pond, and——”
“Do you mind finishing it some other time?”
“Oh, all right. Thought it’d interest you.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Never knew such a girl! No sense of humor!” commented Calder, with a shake of his head and a backward roll of his eye towards his companion.
But it makes such a difference whether a story is new to the hearer.