"—but of the great world of Literature, where the rarest spirits assemble and meet together—
"That's out of the Prayer Book, and fits in rather well there—
"—spirits that live as gods, and take sweet counsel together.
"That last bit is King David, but she will probably think it is Ella Wheeler Wilcox—
"The busy life that you lead, as one of the protagonists of modern thought—
"She won't know what a protagonist is, but it will please her to be called one—
"—deprives me of the hope that you can possibly have found time to glance through my poor works. Yet, believe me, even I have had my little circle. I, too, have walked in the groves of the Academy with my cluster of disciples, striving to contribute my mite to the sum-total of our knowledge.
"Now we might come to the point, I think—
"But my course is run; my torch extinguished. Two years ago I was attacked by paralysis of the lower limbs—
"Always say 'lower limbs' when talking to a lady, Philip—