“‘Hell!’ I exclaimed, presently.

“‘And that reminds me that I feel like the king of the Flub Dubs,’ said Harry.

“‘Which indicates that you are likely to decline the office,’ I remarked.

“‘It’s serious business––this matter of finding a wife,’ he declared.

“‘What’s the matter with Marie Benson?’ I asked. ‘There’s a real woman and the best-looking girl in Connecticut.’

“‘Charming girl!’ he exclaimed. ‘But, dear boy! she talks too much.’

“‘That is a fault that could be remedied; and, after all, it’s a kind of generosity. It’s the very opposite of concentration.’

“‘Ah––if she would only reform!’ he said.

“‘Leave that to me,’ I answered, as he dropped me at my door.”