_Sir A. (reddening and removing his pipe thoughtfully, pressing down the tobacco in the bowl)._ Hullo, you can hit out when you like. _Jinny._ I am not 'hitting out'; I get on delightfully well with you because I have lots of leisure just now to devote to your case. Of course it would be a great economy of time and strength if you chose to meet people half-way, or perhaps an eighth! It's only the amenities of the public street, after all, that casual acquaintances need, in order to have a pleasant time along the way. The private path is quite another thing; even I put out the sign, 'No thoroughfare,' over that; but I don't see why you need build bramble hedges across the common roads of travel.--Do you know what a 'scare-cat' is? _Sir A._ Can't say I do. _Jinny._ It's a nice expressive word belonging to the infants' vocabulary of slang. I think you are regular 'scare-cats' over here, when it comes to the treatment of casual acquaintances. You must be clever enough to know a lady or a gentleman when you see one, and you don't take such frightful risks with ladies and gentlemen. During this entire colloquy Sir Archibald Maxwell Mackenzie, Baronet, of Kindarroch, eyed me precisely as if he had been a dignified mastiff observing the incomprehensible friskings of a playful, foolish puppy of quite another species. 'Good Heavens,' thinks the mastiff, raising his eyes in devout astonishment, 'can I ever at any age have disported myself like that? The creature seems to have positively none of my qualities; I wonder if it really _is_ a dog?' 'Do you approve of marriage,--go in for it?' queried Sir Archibald in a somewhat startling manner, after a long pause, and puffing steadily the while. 'I approve of it entirely,' I answered, 'especially for men; women are terribly hampered by it, to be sure.' 'I should have put that in exactly the opposite way,' he said thoughtfully. 'I know you would,' I retorted, 'and that's precisely the reason I phrased it as I did. One must keep your attention alive by some means or other, else it would go on strike and quit work altogether.' Sir Archibald threw back his head and broke into an unexpected peal of laughter at this. 'Come along out of doors, Miss Virginia Pomeroy,' he said, standing up and putting his pipe in his pocket. 'You're an awfully good chap, American or not!' MRS. MACGILL _Sunday evening_