"'Mr. and Mrs. Wrench,' says she, turning round to him and holding out
her hand. 'How will that suit you?'

"'That'll do me all right,' answers he. 'And I'll try and give
satisfaction,' adds he.

"'I believe you,' says she.

"And in that way they made a fresh start, as it were."




THE WOOING OF TOM SLEIGHT'S WIFE.


"It's competition," replied Henry, "that makes the world go round. You
never want a thing particularly until you see another fellow trying to
get it; then it strikes you all of a sudden that you've a better right to
it than he has. Take barmaids: what's the attraction about 'em? In
looks they're no better than the average girl in the street; while as for
their temper, well that's a bit above the average--leastways, so far as
my experience goes. Yet the thinnest of 'em has her dozen, making
sheep's-eyes at her across the counter. I've known girls that on the
level couldn't have got a policeman to look at 'em. Put 'em behind a row
of tumblers and a shilling's-worth of stale pastry, and nothing outside a
Lincoln and Bennett is good enough for 'em. It's the competition that's
the making of 'em.