"I wish Tom Seddon were here. He could assist me."
"Do you suppose he would abandon Ida?"
"Toney, my dear fellow, you can help me."
"By taking one of the respectable maiden ladies off your hands? I beg to be excused. There is but one woman in the world I would marry, and that I would do quickly enough if I had a hundred thousand dollars."
"I was not speaking of marriage."
"Did you not say that you had promised five respectable maiden ladies?"
"Not to conduct them to the altar."
"What, then?"
"To unravel the great mystery which is now agitating the minds of the entire population of this town, and more especially of the female portion."