; so next week they will be at
daggers drawn. My turn came, and the auctioneer did me the honor to
describe me as 'the lot of the evening.' He told the bidders to mind
what they were about, they might never again be able to secure a live
baronet at a moderate price, owing to the tightness of the money
market. Well, sir, I was honored with bids from several ladies; but
they were too timid and too honest to go beyond their means; my less
scrupulous sex soared above these considerations, and I was knocked
down for seventy-nine pounds fifteen shillings, amid loud applause at
the spirited result. My purchaser is a shop-keeper mad after gardening.
Dr. Suaby has given him a plot to cultivate, and he whispered in my
ear, 'The reason I went to a fancy price was, I can kill two birds with
one stone with you. You'll make a very good statee stuck up among my
flowers; and you can hallo, and keep those plaguy sparrows off.'"
"Oh, what creatures for my darling to live among!" cried Lady Bassett
piteously.
Mr. Rolfe stared, and said, "What, then, you are like all your sex--no
sense of humor?"
"Humor! when my husband is in misery and degradation!"
"And don't you see that the brave writer of these letters is steeled
against misery, and above degradation? Such men are not the mere sport
of circumstances.
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