“Come in, Captain, it is time for a reading lesson.”

He sat down beside her, took the book and read—almost a page.

[pg 66] “If you do not care for the book read this.” She handed him a card, marked in the upper left-hand corner, “Lesson No. 1,” and he read:

Chi si marita alla svelta si pente Adagio.

“Translate; I do not read Italian, or is it Spanish?”

“Teacher, I do not want to.”

“If you do not I will send you home.”

“Well, here goes: ‘Marry in haste and repent at leisure’.”

“Just such sentiment as I expected. May I ask if you are speaking from European experience?”

“No, merely quoting an absurd axiom.”