He looked at me sharply, then shook his head. "I'll tell you all
about it to-morrow, Chuck. It's the kind of joke that has to boil a
long time before it gets tender enough to serve."

"I'd give a good deal to know what is going on behind those eyes of
yours, Bob." Nancy's eyes searched him ruthlessly, but she might just
as well have tried to pierce a stone wall. "You have been laughing
all day about something, and I'd like to know what about. It's
mischief. I haven't known you all these years for nothing. Now, don't
do anything silly, Bob."

"Nancy,"--reproachfully--"I am a man almost thirty; I have passed the
Rubicon of cutting up tricks. Go to the ball, you beauty, dance and
revel to your heart's content; your brother Robert will manage to
pass away the evening. Don't forget the key to that private case,
Jack,"--as the women left the table to put the finishing touches to
their toilets.

"Here you are," said Jack. "But mind, you must put those books back
just as you found them, and lock the case. They are rare editions."

"With the accent on the _rare_, no doubt."

"I am a student, pure and simple," said Jack, lowering his eyes.

"I wouldn't swear to those adjectives," returned the scalawag. "If I
remember, you had the reputation of being a high-jinks man in your
class at Princeton."

"Sh! Don't you dare to drag forth any of those fool corpses of