e. Ah--um--swab? Swab? It doesn't
sound agreeable. What is a--ah--swab, may I ask?"

"Oh, I believe it's a kind of mop that the sailors use aboard ship to
clean decks with. I believe that is what it is."

"Indeed? Yes, yes, of course. Now that is quite interesting, isn't it?
A mop--yes. But really, I don't see why Mr. Howard should be called
a--ah--mop. There is nothing about him which suggests a mop to me. Now
in my case--why, this very morning Miss Mar--Miss Phipps suggested that
my hair needed cutting very badly. I hadn't noticed it, myself, but when
she called my attention I looked in the mirror and--ah--really, I was
quite a sight. Ah--shaggy, you know, like a--like a yak."

"A what?"

"A yak. The--ah--Tibetan animal. I spent a season in Tibet a number
of years ago and they use them there for beasts of burden. They have a
great deal of hair, you know, and so did I--ah--this morning. Dear me,
yes; I was quite yaklike."

Lulie turned an amused glance at him. "So Martha tells you when--"
she began, and then stopped, having spoken without thinking. But her
companion was not offended.

"Oh, yes, yes," he said cheerfully. "She tells me many things for my own
good. She quite manages me. It is extremely good of her, for goodness
knows I need it. Dear me, yes!" He thoughtfully rubbed his shorn neck
and added, "I told that barber that my hair needed cutting badly.
I--ah--fear that is the way he cut it.... I read that joke in the paper,
Miss Lulie; it isn't original, really."

He smiled and she burst out laughing. But she did not laugh long. When
she next spoke she was serious enough.

"Mr. Bangs," she said, "you don't think it dishonorable, or mean to
father, for me to keep on seeing Nelson, do you? Father keeps ordering
me not to, but I never say I won't. If he asked me I should tell him
that I did."

Galusha's answer was promptly given.

"No, I don't think it dishonorable," he said. "Of course, you must see
him. It is too bad that you are obliged to see him in--ah--ah--dear me,
what is the word I want? Clan--clan--sounds Scottish, doesn't
it?--oh, yes, clandestine! It is too bad you are obliged to see him
clandestinely, but I suppose your father's attitude makes anything else
impossible. I am very sorry that my claiming to be the evil influence
has had so little effect. That was a mistake, I fear."

"Don't say that, Mr. Bangs. You saved us all from a dreadful scene, and
father himself from--I hate to think wh