he sea. The scene was beautiful.

"I suppose," he said, rolling with the sea and his early studies of
Doctor Johnson, "that one would in the more superior manner show his
appreciation of all this by refraining from the obvious comment which
must needs be recognized as comparatively commonplace and vulgar; but
really this is so superb that I must express some of my emotion, even
at the risk of lowering your opinion of my good taste, provided, of
course, that you have any opinion on the one hand or any good taste on
the other."

"Without that undue depreciation of one's self which must ever be a
sign of self-conscious demerit," said the young girl lightly, "I may
say that I am not generally good at Johnsonese; but it may relieve your
mind to know that had you kept silence one instant longer, I should
have taken the risk of lowering your opinion of my taste, provided, of
course, that you have one to lower and are capable of that exertion--if
such indeed it may be termed--by remarking that this is perfectly
magnificent."

"Do you think," he said gloomily, still leaning on the rail, "that we
can keep this kind of thing up--perhaps I should say down--much longer?
For myself, I am feeling far from well; it may have been the
lobster--or that last sentence--but"--

They were both silent. "Yet," she said, after a pause, "you can at
least take Mr. Starling and his dyspepsia off my hands. You might be
equal to that exertion."

"I suppose that by this time I ought to be doing something for
somebody," he said thoughtfully. "Yes, I will."

That evening after dinner he took Mr. Starling into the smoking-room
and card-room. They had something hot. At 4 A. M., with the
assistance of the steward, he projected Mr. Starling into Mrs.
Starling's stateroom, delicately withdrawing to evade the lady's
thanks. At breakfast he saw Miss Bike. "Thank you so much," she said;
"Mrs. Starling found Starling greatly improved. He himself admitted he
was 'never berrer' and, far from worrying about what night-clothes he
should wear, went to bed AS HE WAS--even to his hat. Mrs. Starling
calls you 'her preserver,' and Mr. Starling distinctly stated that you
were a 'jolly-good-fler.'"

"And you?" asked John Lummox.

"In your present condition of abnormal self-consciousness and
apperceptive egotism, I really shouldn't like to say."

When the voyage was ended Mr. Lummox went to see Mary Bike at her
house, and his father--whom he had not se