“Quick, drag me past!” I cried. “Oh, Lord, lead us not into temptation!”

“Haven’t you joined yet?” she asked.

“No, I don’t dare. I shan’t join till the farm is in running order. The game is like Brand’s conscience, it demands all or nothing.”

“You men are dreadful babies about your sports,” she said.

“Yes’m,” I replied, “quite so. We haven’t the firm-mindedness of your sex, about bridge, for instance.”

“I never played a game of bridge in my life,” said she indignantly.

“I wasn’t thinking of you, but your sex,” I answered.

“You find a difference?”

“Decidedly.”

“That is just what Sentimental Tommy told every woman he met.”