The sarcasm was lost on Bobo. He exhibited a new preoccupation. He had a faraway gaze, and ever and anon he heaved a sigh. Even his appetite was affected. He ate nothing at all; not a thing except a couple of _vol au vents_ of chicken livers, a helping of lobster Newburgh, a handful of sandwiches, a cup of punch or two, and a plate of _petits fours_. "Come away," he said with his mouth full. "I want to talk to you." They found an unoccupied corner under the stairs, and lit cigarettes. "I'm in love!" announced Bobo. "No!" said Jack. "'S a fact! The real thing! Bowled me right over! Floored me! I feel--I feel all gone here!" He laid a plump hand on the pit of his stomach. "You need nourishment," said Jack. "Come on back!" "Don't josh me! This is serious. I'm completely changed. I feel as if I never wanted to eat again. Her name is Miriam Culbreth." "Um-yummie," said Jack. "She's the most beautiful girl in the whole world. The moment I laid eyes on her I knew it was all up with me. No other girl ever made me feel like that. And the wonderful part of it is she took to me right off the bat." "Hm!" said Jack cynically. Bobo never heeded. "We started right in talking as if we had known each other for years. We found out that we both like the same things. I never met a girl that understood me so well. She said she admired me." "Discriminating," murmured Jack. "Such eyes!" sighed Bobo. "When she looks at you like this, through her lashes, you feel--you feel as if you were going up in an airplane. And she has the nature of a child!" "What are your intentions towards this sweet child?" "Intentions! No man could have any but the most honorable intentions towards her!" "Sure! Then how are you going to support her in the style to which she has been accustomed?" "Oh, she's well fixed. You should see the way she dresses!" "Be careful! The best dressers are poor girls. It's a life and death matter with them. This girl is displaying her goods on the basis of a hundred million. You can't honestly accept it for less." "There isn't a mercenary thought in her head. If she ever marries it will be for love alone. She told me so herself. You don't understand her. She's as simple and natural as--as a wild-flower!" "I haven't noticed many wild-flowers around here." "She isn't like these people. She's different from other girls." "Did she tell you that, too?" "Why, yes, how did you know?" "They generally do." "You must come and meet her. I told her about you." "What!" asked Jack sharply. "I mean, I told her I had had the luck to secure a secretary, who was a very clever fellow, and could do everything for me." "Now that was nice of you!" "Come on up to the library and I'll introduce you." "But I'm not one of the distinguished guests." "That's all right. Mrs. Cleaver said I was to treat the house as if it was my own!"