"I did think of it, and then I got cold feet."

"Like hell you did!"

"Well, reasons against it were found for me. Reasons which I ought to have thought of for myself. Here's how."

"Santé!" said John. A moment later, "Going to Aiken?" he asked.

"Why, it depends."

There was an awkward silence.

"Lucy is very anxious," he then said, "to open our house again this winter."

"As a matter of fact," said I glibly, "I've more than half decided on Palm Beach."

A bell rang shrilly.

"Time to go back," he said.