"Now, don't let me disturb you," she said. "Lie where you are.
"I shall do splendidly right here."
She sat down on the top step of the veranda and turned half round to me.
"Do you ever feel lonely, Mr. Bremner?"
"Yes!—sometimes," I answered.
"What do you do with yourself on such occasions?"
"Oh!—smoke and read chiefly."
"But,—do you ever feel as if you had to speak to a member of the opposite sex near your own age,—or die?"
She was quite solemn about this, and seemed to wait anxiously as if the whole world's welfare depended on my answer.
"Sometimes!" I replied again, with a laugh.