"Terrific explosion. Man-o'-war. Boiler empty. Engineer full. Funeral to-morrow.
Niblo."
It would be hard to beat that for brevity. I believe in brevity, even when a man is proposing to his best girl.
Now there has always been considerable curiosity manifested by my friends, who know my humorous instincts, to know just how I ever popped the question.
They declare, the chances are, I must have done it in a joke.
Of course this doesn't refer to any lack of estimable qualities in my wife, but simply that a fellow of my character could not possibly do anything seriously.
I have determined to relate the facts in the case, and they can judge for themselves.
You see, we had been down to the seashore together, and, for the life of me, I couldn't muster up courage enough to ask her the all-important question.
She gave me an opening at last, though perhaps no one but a born humorist could have seen it.
Out on the rocks stood a gay old lighthouse, which seemed to possess unusual interest in the eyes of the young woman.