"I don't think," said Morris. "She doesn't excite me one way or the
other, except when she is late with my breakfast."

Then, as he expected, after the cook came the crisis.

"You will remember, my dear boy," began the Colonel, affectionately, "a
little talk we had a while ago."

"Which one, father?"

"The last of any importance, I believe. I refer to the occasion when you
stopped out all night contemplating the sea; an incident which impressed
it upon my memory."

Morris looked at him. Why was the old gentleman so inconveniently
observant?

"And doubtless you remember the subject?"

"There were a good many subjects, father; they ranged from mortgages to
matrimony."

"Quite so, to matrimony. Well, have you thought any more about it?"

"Not particularly, father. Why should I?"

"Confound it, Morris," exclaimed the Colonel, losing patience; "don't
chop logic like a petty sessions lawyer. Let's come to the point."