room. It was a brown boyish room;
disordered dresser, worn books, a high-school pennant, photographs of
basket-ball teams and baseball teams. Ted was decidedly not there.

Mrs. Babbitt, awakened, irritably observed that she certainly did not
know the name of Ted's host, that it was late, that Howard Littlefield
was but little better than a born fool, and that she was sleepy. But
she remained awake and worrying while Babbitt, on the sleeping-porch,
struggled back into sleep through the incessant soft rain of her
remarks. It was after dawn when he was aroused by her shaking him and
calling "George! George!" in something like horror.

"Wha--wha--what is it?"

"Come here quick and see. Be quiet!"

She led him down the hall to the door of Ted's room and pushed it gently
open. On the worn brown rug he saw a froth of rose-colored chiffon
lingerie; on the sedate Morris chair a girl's silver slipper. And on the
pillows were two sleepy heads--Ted's and Eunice's.

Ted woke to grin, and to mutter with unconvincing defiance, "Good
morning! Let me introduce my wife--Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt Eunice
Littlefield Babbitt, Esquiress."

"Good God!" from Babbitt, and from his wife a long wailing, "You've gone
and--"

"We got married last evening. Wife! Sit up and say a pretty good morning
to mother-in-law."

But Eunice hid her shoulders and her charming wild hair under the
pillow.

By nine o'clock the assembly which was gathered about Ted and Eunice
in the living-room included Mr. and Mrs. George Babbitt, Dr. and Mrs.
Howard Littlefield, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Escott, Mr. and Mrs. Henry
T. Thompson, and Tinka Babbitt, who was the only pleased member of the
inquisition.

A crackling shower of phrases filled the room:

"At their age--" "Ought to be annulled--" "Never heard of such a thing
in--" "Fault of both of them and--" "Keep it out of the papers--" "Ought
to be packed off to school--" "Do something about it at once, and what I
say is--" "Damn good old-fashioned spanking--"

Worst of them all was Verona. "TED! Some way MUST be found to make you
understand how dreadfully SERIOUS this is, instead of standing AROUND
with that silly foolish SMILE on your face!"

He began to revolt. "Gee whittakers, Rone, you got married yourself,
didn't you?"

"That's entirely different."

"You bet it is! They didn't have to work on Eu and me with a chain and
tackle to get us to hold hands!"

"Now, young man, we'll have no more flippancy,"