“You have an uncle, have you not?”
Abel nodded.
“A very eminent merchant, I believe. His name is very well known, and he commands great respect. Ahem!”
Mr. Slugby cleared his throat; then continued:
“He will naturally be very much interested in the career and success of his nephew.”
“Oh, immensely!” replied Abel, in a thick voice, and with a look and tone which suggested to his friends that he was rapidly priming himself. “Immensely, enormously!”
“Ah, yes,” said Mr. Slugby, with an air of curious meditation. “I do not remember to have heard the character of his political proclivities mentioned. But, of course, as the brother of Boniface Newt and the uncle of the Honorable Abel Newt”—here Mr. Slugby bowed to that gentleman, who winked at him over the rim of his glass—“he is naturally a friend of the people.”
“Yes,” returned Abel.
“I think you said he was very fond of you?” added Mr. Slugby, while his friends looked expectantly on.
“Fond? It’s a clear case of apple of the eye,” answered Abel, chuckling.