The deaf man put on his glasses to read the note. Through the film which gathered on the lenses he saw only visions of youth and romance. No woman would be likely to come into the land of silence and elope with him! That would be but a clumsy and ridiculous performance, and he knew it well. These young people were probably all wrong. Yonder policeman would question them, find where they lived and notify the father of the girl. As a sober-minded citizen opposed to youthful folly and far removed from it, was it not his duty to stop such nonsense? And yet— He who hesitates is frequently spared the necessity for decision. He looked up to find that the young people had disappeared, they had slipped out of sight during his meditation. And in his lonely silence the deaf man could smile, for he was glad that they got away. Another deaf man was traveling through a Western State in a Pullman. This man noticed two men who seemed to be engaged in a most earnest discussion. They sat across the aisle from him and as they talked they glanced furtively about. They were a forbidding pair, one a great hulking brute with a broad red face—the other a little rat of a man with a low, receding forehead and a bright, restless eye. The wolf and the fox appeared to be hunting together. Frequently the big man became emphatic and struck the back of the seat with his great fist while the little man shook his head and bared his teeth in a smile which seemed like a menace. The deaf man wished to change his position so as to get a better view of the country, and he happened to drop into the seat which backed up against the one in which the wolf and the fox were laying their plans. At first they paid no attention to him, but continued to argue and gesticulate. Finally the fox realized that the head of the deaf man was within a foot of their conversation. How was he to know that the “listener” might as well have been a mile away in so far as successful eavesdropping was concerned? He instantly signalled to the wolf and the discussion stopped. They both soon moved to the smoking-room, where they whispered for a little time; then the fox came to sit beside the deaf man. He glanced about anxiously, but finally said: “Did you happen to hear what we were saying?” The “eavesdropper” read some of the words on the lips of the other, and vaguely nodded his head. Then the fox took a piece of paper and wrote: “It is a good joke. I made a bet with my friend that we could make you think we were in earnest in planning the job. Of course there is nothing to it. It was a fake talk.”