Devlin hiccupped:

“Sittin’ on my—mistress’s—doorstep.”

“Why?”

“To cool the ferment of my imagination,” said the barber sadly.

Noll laughed:

“What’s the matter with your imagination?” he asked. “It looks all right.”

“It’s torrid——”

“Oho!”

His pale face nodded:

“Quite so—quite damned torrid,” said the hairdresser, and hiccupped fearsomely. “It ferments.”