"And Mrs. Webb, though an unusual woman (the general nodded), is still a woman."
The general nodded again, though less emphatically.
"On my soul, she's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Why, damme, sir, if I had that woman to brace me up I shouldn't need a julep."
And the judge, flinching from his friend's profanity, called Cæsar to bring in the decanters.
Some time later the general left and Mr. Burwell appeared, to be met and dispatched by the same arguments.
"Naturally my instincts prompt me to side with an unprotected widow," said Mr. Burwell.
"No Virginian could feel otherwise," admitted the judge in the slightly pompous tone in which he alluded to his native State.
"But as I said to my wife," continued Mr. Burwell with convincing earnestness, "these matters had best be left to men. There is no need for our wives and daughters to be troubled by them. It is for us, who are acquainted with the world and who have had wide experience, to settle all social barriers."
The judge agreed as before.
"I am glad to say that my wife takes my view of it," the other went on. "Indeed, I think she has expressed what I have said to Mrs. Webb."