seized me rather roughly by the collar, and addressing the sheriff,
said: "Let me introduce my neighbour, Pooter." He did not even
say "Mister." The sheriff handed me a glass of champagne. I felt,
after all, it was a great honour to drink a glass of wine with him,
and I told him so. We stood chatting for some time, and at last I
said: "You must excuse me now if I join Mrs. Pooter." When I
approached her, she said: "Don't let me take you away from
friends. I am quite happy standing here alone in a crowd, knowing
nobody!"

As it takes two to make a quarrel, and as it was neither the time
nor the place for it, I gave my arm to Carrie, and said: "I hope
my darling little wife will dance with me, if only for the sake of
saying we had danced at the Mansion House as guests of the Lord
Mayor." Finding the dancing after supper was less formal, and
knowing how much Carrie used to admire my dancing in the days gone
by, I put my arm round her waist and we commenced a waltz.

A most unfortunate accident occurred. I had got on a new pair of
boots. Foolishly, I had omitted to take Carrie's advice; namely,
to scratch the soles of them with the points of the scissors or to
put a little wet on them. I had scarcely started when, like
lightning, my left foot slipped away and I came down, the side of
my head striking the floor with such violence that for a second or
two I did not know what had happened. I needly hardly say that
Carrie fell with me with equal violence, breaking the comb in her
hair and grazing her elbow.

There was a roar of laughter, which was immediately checked when
people found that we had really hurt ourselves. A gentleman