NORA—"Sure, ma'am, no policeman would ever think iv kissin' yer baby whin I'm around."
See also Gratitude; Recommendations.
SHOPPING
CLERK—"Can you let me off to-morrow afternoon? My wife wants me to go shopping with her."
EMPLOYER—"Certainly not. We are much too busy."
CLERK—"Thank you very much, sir. You are very kind!"
SHYNESS
The late "lan Maclaren" (Dr. John Watson) once told this story on himself to some friends:
"I was coming over on the steamer to America, when one day I went into the library to do some literary work. I was very busy and looked so, I suppose. I had no sooner started to write than a diffident-looking young man plumped into the chair opposite me, began twirling his cap and stared at me. I let him sit there. An hour or more passed, and he was still there, returning my occasional and discouraging glances at him with a foolish, ingratiating smile. I was inclined to be annoyed. I had a suspicion that he was a reader of my books, perhaps an admirer—or an autograph-hunter. He could wait. But at last he rose, and still twirling his cap, he spoke:
"'Excuse me, Doctor Watson; I'm getting deathly sick in here and I'm real sorry to disturb you, but I thought you'd like to know that just as soon as you left her Mrs. Watson fell down the companionway stairs, and I guess she hurt herself pretty badly.'"