Twi. O, yes—perfectly at liberty to guess.
Sir Luke. Well, I'll be shot if I could guess.
Twi. And again—when an impertinent pedant asks you a question that you know nothing about, and it may not be convenient to say so—you answer boldly, "why really, Sir, my opinion is, that the Greek poet—he-he-he-he—[mutters]—we-we-we-we—you see—if his idea was—and if the Latin translator—mis-mis-mis-mis—[shrugs]——that I shou'd think—in my humble opinion—but the Doctor may know better than I."——
Sir Luke. The Doctor must know very little else.
Twi. Or in case of a duel, where one does not care to say who was right, or who was wrong—you answer—"This, Sir, is the state of the matter—Mr. F— came first—te-te-te-te—on that—be-be-be-be—if the other—in short—[whispers]—whis-whis-whis-whis"——
Sir Luke. What?
Twi. "There, now you have it—there 'tis—but don't say a word about it—or, if you do—don't say it come from me."—
Lady. Why, you have not told a word of the story!
Twi. But that your auditor must not say to you—that's not the fashion—he never tells you that—he may say—"You have not made yourself perfectly clear;"—or he may say—"He must have the matter more particularly pointed out somewhere else;"—but that is all the auditor can say with good breeding.
Lady. A very pretty method indeed to satisfy one's curiosity!