'Now wasn't I right?' I interrupted triumphantly.
'Poor old beggar,' said Joey, 'he looked frightfully sick.'
'And didn't you?'
'No,' said Joey grinning.
'Most young men would have.'
'But not this one. This one went off with him trippin' on the points of his toes, he felt so fit.'
'Well, what happened then?'
'Oh, I don't know. He said a lot of things. I couldn't understand 'em, and I don't think he could either, but he was very game and stuck to it once he'd begun, and went on makin' my head spin and I daresay his own too. Long and short of it was that in this precious Fatherland of yours the Vickis don't accept valuables except from those about to become their husbands.'
'I should say that the Vickis in your own or any other respectable Fatherland didn't either,' said I.
'Well, I'm not arguin', am I?'