"Well, Doctor, I didn't mean you at all."

"The d——l you didn't! I wonder who you meant, if not me."

I then said:

"I see you are having a nice time. Nice girl, you have taken a fancy to; but I was introduced to her before you were."

"Well, it doesn't make any difference about that," he answered. "She will have nothing to do with you."

"Why not?"

"Because I told her you were a married man, and that settled it."

"Oh, ho! I see, Doctor. I see you were afraid I would out-shine you, weren't you?"

"Not much, sir; not much. I know what she thinks of me, and just how well I stand in her estimation. She is a rich man's daugh——".

"Yes," I interrupted, "and she will never speak to you, after to-night."