'Try this. It's a drop of the best.'
The man of letters—ships' letters, sipped it with the air of a connoisseur.
'Splendid stuff, doctor, splendid,' he said.
'That poem has cost me many hours' deep thought,' said Dr Tom.
'No doubt. It is an elegant composition.'
'I wonder if the Morning Light would publish it,' mildly suggested the doctor. 'Here, try another; it will do you no harm.'
'I'll ask our sub; he's not a bad sort. He might cram it into the weekly,' said the reporter.
The doctor looked crestfallen.
'The weekly,' he said sorrowfully. 'Surely it is worthy of a place in the daily.'
'It is, doctor. Upon my word, it is; but you know what they are in the office. They're death on poems. It would be risking my place to suggest it for the daily.'