"O, indeed!" said the young lady.
"You see, ladies and gentleman," said Blinks, enjoying his triumph, "you can't get along without me. If I'd been here in the beginning, you'd have had the ass."
"We certainly should," said the young lady, winking to her companions, who could hardly suppress their laughter.
"And I move we repeat this charade to-morrow night," said Blinks—"and mind, I'm the ass."
"Of course."
"I'll get a costume and disguise myself."
"Disguise yourself!" echoed his tormentor—"for Heaven's sake, don't do that—they'd never guess it."
The next night the charade was ass-ass-in, and Blinks went on for the first two syllables. He was perfectly at home—"Richard himself again!" and the wicked young lady, in complimenting his performance, declared it was "perfectly natural."