"Not I, she would not open her mouth, but she is a deuced fine girl."
"Why, madman, that girl is your own wife; they are both here."
The only plan was to bribe more than the opposition, and, reluctantly enough, I went and made terms with my pleasant debtor. "What he knew did not amount to much; the enemy had said it was a lark to see what we were about, and by making him a present got him to assist them." He kindly found out for them where we were stopping, and the hideous dresses in which we were to disfigure ourselves.
Peter was o£ no assistance to me in the dilemma; the startling intelligence had quite upset his equilibrium. No more jokes now about the nicest girl he had danced with that night. I made use of the tall man, however, as he had been paid by both sides. He obtained for me a blank telegram for a message received, and on it I had written a request from the proprietor of the Clarion asking me to be certain to forward my carnival article on the following day, so that it would appear in that week's issue. This was for my wife—she was so partial to things being proved. A private letter would ensure the insertion of an article which I must write.
The only way out of the difficulty was to state that I was obeying instructions from the office, and to own that a harmless piece of deception was used in case our darling wives would not approve of foreign doings and masked balls.
The ladies were brought to us by our drinking friend, there was a stormy five minutes, and a good many tears, but all unpleasantness was forgotten before the supper was finished.
But as I said before, Peter Dodd's ideas have a tendency to lead one into mischief.