to take her to the bazaar instead of letting another chap get in ahead of you?
You miss all your chances, Joe.'

Then a thought struck me. I ought to have known Jack well enough
to have thought of it before.

`Look here, Jack,' I said. `What have you been saying to that girl about me?'

`Oh, not much,' said Jack. `There isn't much to say about you.'

`What did you tell her?'

`Oh, nothing in particular. She'd heard all about you before.'

`She hadn't heard much good, I suppose,' I said.

`Well, that's true, as far as I could make out. But you've only got
yourself to blame. I didn't have the breeding and rearing of you.
I smoothed over matters with her as much as I could.'

`What did you tell her?' I said. `That's what I want to know.'

`Well, to tell the truth, I didn't tell her anything much.
I only answered questions.'

`And what questions did she ask?'

`Well, in the first place, she asked if your name wasn't Joe Wilson;
and I said it was, as far as I knew. Then she said she heard
that you wrote poetry, and I had to admit that that was true.'