"They have not met with the opposition they deserve," she replied. "Uncle Fenelon's ideas of life are not those of other men,--yours, for instance. And his affairs, mental and material, are, happily for him, such that he can generally carry out his notions with small inconvenience. He is no doubt convinced that he is acting generously in attempting to rescue the Celebrity from a term in prison; what he does not realize is that he is acting ungenerously to other guests who have infinitely more at stake." "But our friend from Ohio has done his best to impress this upon him," I replied, failing to perceive her drift; "and if his words are wasted, surely the thing is hopeless." "I am not joking," said she. "I was not thinking of Mr. Trevor, but of you. I like you, Mr. Crocker. You may not believe it, but I do." For the life of me I could think of no fitting reply to this declaration. Why was that abominable word "like" ever put into the English language? "Yes, I like you," she continued meditatively, "in the face of the fact that you persist in disliking me." "Nothing of the kind." "Oh, I know. You mustn't think me so stupid as all that. It is a mortifying truth that I like you, and that you have no use for me." I have never known how to take a jest from a woman. I suppose I should have laughed this off. Instead, I made a fool of myself. "I shall be as frank with you," I said, "and declare that I like you, though I should be much happier if I didn't." She blushed at this, if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was unlooked for. "At any rate," she went on, "I should deem it my duty to warn you of the consequences of this joke of yours. They may not be all that you have anticipated. The consequences for you, I mean, which you do not seem to have taken into account." "Consequences for me!" I exclaimed. "I fear that you will think what I am going to say uncalled for, and that I am meddling with something that does not concern me. But it seems to me that you are undervaluing the thing you have worked so hard to attain. They say that you have ability, that you have acquired a practice and a position which at your age give the highest promise for the future. That you are to be counsel for the railroad. In short, that you are the coming man in this section of the state. I have found this out," said she, cutting short my objections, "in spite of the short time I have been here." "Nonsense!" I said, reddening in my turn.