fortunate commuters, who had already started their fires, referred to
him as "the little brother of the iceberg." Mr. and Mrs. Chester came to
dinner on the 16th of November. Both the men loudly clamoured for
permission to remove their coats, and sat with blanched and chattering
jaws. Mr. Blackwell made a feeble pretence at mopping his brow, but when
the dessert proved to be ice-cream his nerve forsook him. "N-no,
Belinda," he said. "It's too warm for ice-cream to-night. I don't
w--want to get chilled. Bring me some hot coffee." As she brought his
cup he noticed that her honest brown brow was beaded with perspiration.
"By George," he thought, "this mental suggestion business certainly
works." Late that evening he lit the log fire and revelled by the blaze
in an ulster.

The next evening when Mr. Blackwell came home from business he met the
doctor in the hall.

"Hello, doc," he said, "what's up?"

"Mrs. Blackwell called me in to see your maid," said the doctor. "It's
the queerest thing I've met in twenty years' practice. Here it is the
17th of November, and cold enough for snow. That girl has all the
symptoms of sunstroke and prickly heat."




MY FRIEND


To-day we called each other by our given names for the first time.