"S'pose so," mumbled Bentham, removing a small bone from his mouth.
"Rhoda says," continued his wife, "that Professor Hooker is going to start out in his flying machine and drive that asteroid off, so it won't hit the earth at all!"
"Ha—ha—ha!" laughed Mr. Tassifer, but without mirth.
"Ha—ha—ha!" she mocked him. "You are very irritating at times, Bentham!"
When she spoke that way, he took warning; that quiet evenness was not to be misinterpreted.
"That crazy lunatic that landed on our golf-course? Bosh!"
"They say he is a very wonderful man," she commented.
Bentham turned round and faced her, for he was now on safer ground.
"Look here," he said impressively: "Take it from me, there's nothing in it—even if Rhoda says so! I saw Seabury at the Cosmos Club last night, and he said none of the big fellows took any stock in this Hooker at all. Stands to reason, it's just—buncombe! Flying Ring! Oh, my!"
"You know Rhoda is awful thick with that fellow just the same," suggested his wife, a little nervously. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she tried to get him to take her along."