"Warry's a gentleman, at any rate," said Mrs. Whipple.
"Which Wheaton isn't; is that the idea?" demanded the general; and then added: "This Wheaton strikes me as being a wooden kind of fellow. He acts as if he hadn't been used to things."
"Sh-h! be careful! That's no test of worth on the banks of the Missouri," said his wife warningly.
"Do you mean to say that Evelyn Porter's chances have been fully covered?" demanded the general. He liked gossip and hoped the subject would prove more fruitful.
"There's Mr. Saxton," said his wife. "He seems altogether possible."
"He's the new man, isn't he? He always lifts his hat to me in the street; an unusual attention in this ill-mannered age."
"Does he act as if he had been used to things?" asked the bishop. He was still seriously interested in canvassing Evelyn's case.
"He's very nice," Mrs. Whipple said; "but he's not desperately exciting, as the girls say."
"But then!" The bishop lifted his hands with a despairing gesture, "must young men be amusing or exciting in these days? Is he honest? Does he lead a clean life? Has he, as the saying is, an outlook on life?"