"Ah, to be sure," says Merry, and puts his nose into the sparkles in
dead earnest.

Somehow the table chat livens up a lot soon after that. It was one of
the Miss Hibbs askin' him something about life abroad that starts Merry
off. He begins tellin' about Budapest and Vienna and a lot more of
them guidebook spots, and how comf'table you can live there, and the
music, and the cafes, and the sights, gettin' real enthusiastic over
it, until one of the sisters breaks in with:

"Think of that, Pansy! If we could only do such things!"

"But why not?" says Merry.

"Two women alone?" says a Miss Hibbs.

"True," says J. Meredith. "One needs an escort."

"Ah-h-h-h, yes!" sighs Violet.

"Ah-h-h, yes!" echoes Pansy.

"James," puts in Aunty just then, "fill Mr. Stidler's glass."

Merry wa'n't shyin' it any more. He insists on clickin' rims with the
Hibbs sisters, and they does it real kittenish. Merry stops in the
middle of his salad to unload that old one about the Irishman that the
doctor tried to throw a scare into by tellin' him if he didn't quit the
booze he'd go blind within three months. You know--when Mike comes