what sort of a man I was going to marry."

"A very good sort of a man," he said. "You've got a jolly sailor--an
officer and a gentleman. Come now, what have you got to say to this?
Can't you be satisfied with an officer and a gentleman?"

He drew himself up to his full height. Well, he was a handsome fellow:
there was no denying it.

"Good looks and fine words," his wife went on. "Well, and now I've got
to keep you, and if you could make me sing in a dozen halls every
night, you would, and spend the money on yourself--joyfully you
would."

"We would spend it together, my dear. Don't turn rusty, Lotty."

He was not a bad-tempered man, and this kind of talk did not anger him
at all. So long as his wife worked hard and brought in the coin for
him to spend, what mattered for a few words now and then? Besides, he
wanted her assistance.

"What are you driving at?" he went on. "I show you a bit of my hand,
and you begin talking round and round. Look here, Lotty. Here's a
splendid chance for us. I must have a woman's help. I would rather
have your help than any other woman's--yes, than any other woman's in
the world. I would indeed. If you won't help me, why, then, of course,
I must go to some other woman."

His wife gasped and choked. She knew already, after only five weeks'
experience, how bad a man he was--how unscrupulous, false, and