“Water!” and with a groan, “Oh, the Devil!”
He joined good naturedly in the laugh which followed and settled back in his leather chair.
“Oh, you laugh, you fellows. It’s no joke. Drank nothing but water for two months this summer. Doctors orders. Drove the water wagon, I did—two long months. Think of it!” The retrospect was so unpleasant that Mr. Van Duyn leaned forward immediately and laid his finger on the bell.
“Climb off, Coley?” asked Spencer.
“No, jumped,” he grinned. “Horse ran away.”
“You’re looking fit.”
“I am. Got a new doctor—sensible chap, young, ambitious, all that sort of thing. Believes in alcohol. Some people need it, you know. Can’t be too careful in choice of doctor. Wants me to drink Lithia water, though. What’s this Hippo—hippo——”
“Chondriac!” put in Percy.
“Hippocrene,” said Broadhurst severely.
“Sounds like a parlor car—or—er—a skin food. Any good, Colonel?”