“Certainly I shall not! Good evening, sir!”
As Achilles passed out through the hall he encountered Major Dunwoody, who was just placing his hat upon the rack. Achilles looked back at him for a second, scowling with rage and mortification, and then as he rushed into the open air, he said to himself,—
“Never mind, you hopping, mud-headed, military humbug. I’ll settle your case before you’re many days older.”
And then Mr. Smith went home to bed.
Pandora greeted the Major with a joyful smile.
“Darling,” said the Major, “who was that person I passed in the hall as I came in?”
“That was Achilles Smith, the man of whom I told you. He proposed to me a few moments before you came in.”
“He did, did he?” exclaimed the Major savagely. “I wish I had known it. I would have kicked him down the steps.”
“But how could you, dearest, with only one leg?”
“True!” said the Major. “But I could have thrashed him with my cane. So he wants to marry you, does he?”