"She proved, however, but a poor substitute. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. She had neither that command of language nor of wind that had distinguished her rival. From his favourite seat at the bottom of the garden he could not hear her at all, so he had his chair brought up into the conservatory. It was all right for him there so long as she continued to abuse him; but every now and again, just as he was getting comfortably settled down with his pipe and his newspaper, she would suddenly stop. "He would drop his paper and sit listening, with a troubled, anxious expression. "'Are you there, dear?' he would call out after a while. "'Yes, I'm here. Where do you think I am you old fool?' she would gasp back in an exhausted voice. "His face would brighten at the sound of her words. 'Go on, dear,' he would answer. 'I'm listening. I like to hear you talk.' "But the poor woman was utterly pumped out, and had not so much as a snort left. "Then he would shake his head sadly. 'No, she hasn't poor dear Susan's flow,' he would say. 'Ah! what a woman that was!' "At night she would do her best, but it was a lame and halting performance by comparison. After rating him for little over three-quarters of an hour, she would sink back on the pillow, and want to go to sleep. But he would shake her gently by the shoulder. "'Yes, dear,' he would say, 'you were speaking about Jane, and the way I kept looking at her during lunch.' "It's extraordinary," concluded my friend, lighting a fresh cigar, "what creatures of habit we are." "Very," I replied. "I knew a man who told tall stories till when he told a true one nobody believed it." "Ah, that was a very sad case," said my friend. "Speaking of habit," said the unobtrusive man in the corner, "I can tell you a true story that I'll bet my bottom dollar you won't believe." "Haven't got a bottom dollar, but I'll bet you half a sovereign I do," replied my friend, who was of a sporting turn. "Who shall be judge?" "I'll take your word for it," said the unobtrusive man, and started straight away. * * * * *