kness.

"What of the night?" said I.

"Doth the blizzard yet blizz?" said Berry.

"It doth," said Jonah.

"Good," said Berry. Then he turned to Daphne. "Darling, you have my
warmest Yuletide greetings and heartiest good wishes for a bright New
Year. Remember the old saying:

"You may have move pretentious wishes,
But more sincere you can't than this is."

"Do you believe it's going on like this?" said his wife.

"Dear heart--two words--my love for you is imperishable. If it were
left at the goods station for a month during a tram strike, it would,
unlike the sausages, emerge fresh and sweet as of yore. I mean it."

"Fool," said Daphne. "I meant the weather, as you know."

"A rebuff," said her husband. "Do I care? Never. Strike me in the
wind, and I will offer you my second wind for another blow. I did not
forget everything when I married you. But to the weather. This
berlizzard--German--has its disadvantages. A little more, and we
shan't be able to bathe to-morrow. Never mind. Think of the Yule log.
Noel." Here he regarded his empty glass for a moment. "Woman, lo,
your lord's beaker requires replenishing. I ought not to have to tell
you, really. However."

Daphne selected one of the harder chocolates, took careful aim, and
discharged it in the direction of her husband's face. It struck him on
the nose.

"Good shot," said I. "That entitles you to a vase. If you like, you
can have another two shots instead." "I'll take the vase," said my
sister. "For all the area of the target, I mightn't hit it again."

"A few years ago," said Berry, "you would probably have been pressed to
death for this impious display. In consideration of your age, you
might instead have been sent to a turret."

"What's a turret?" said Jill.

"Old English for bathroom, dear, and kept there till you had worked the
murder of Becket in tapestry and four acts. I shall be more merciful.
When you can show me a representation of the man who drew Slipaway in
the Calcutta Sweep trying to believe that it wouldn't have won, even if
it hadn't been knocked down when it was leading by nineteen lengths--"

"Very brilliant," said Daphne, "but the point is, what are we going to
do about to-morrow night?"

"If it goes on like this, we can't go."

"Oh, but we must," said Jill.

"My dear, I'm not going out in this sort of weather without Sjvensen,
and he may be too busy to leave town. Besides, the blubber hasn'