uncontrollable. He toyed with a chop and allowed his coffee to get cold.
Then he clapped on his hat and set off to Halibut's to know the worst.

"Well?" he inquired, as he followed the other into his dining-room.

"I went," said Halibut, waving him to a chair.

"Am I to congratulate you?"

"Well, I don't know," was the reply; "perhaps not just yet."

"What do you mean by that?" said the Major, irascibly.

"Well, as a matter of fact," said Halibut, "she refused me, but so nicely
and so gently that I scarcely minded it. In fact, at first I hardly
realized that she had refused me."

The Major rose, and regarding his poor friend kindly, shook and patted
him lightly on the shoulder.

"She's a splendid woman," said Halibut. "Ornament to her sex," remarked
the Major.

"So considerate," murmured the bereaved one.

"Good women always are," said the Major, decisively. "I don't think I'd
better worry her to-day, Halibut, do you?"

"No, I don't," said Halibut, stiffly.