ON A PORCH 



&quot; I have not spoken a word to her.&quot; 



&quot; It was not necessary.&quot; 



&quot; If she had any suspicion of my serious in 

 tentions she would have shown it.&quot; 



&quot; Then she would not be a fresh, ingenuous 

 thing. You don t know them. They never tell 

 their secrets even to themselves. They keep 

 them locked up in a casket like jewels, and if 

 they ever take them out to look at them, they 

 lock the door and turn the gas down first.&quot; 



&quot; Try and be practical a moment to accommo 

 date me. I admire the young woman s qualities 

 of mind and heart, and I sometimes feel a desire 

 to rescue them. What are you laughing at ? &quot; 



&quot; I am laughing at the unexpected success of 

 my treatment. This exceeds anything that I 

 hoped for.&quot; 



&quot; What exceeds it ? &quot; 



&quot; The triumphant manner in which you have 

 adapted yourself to the infant and the yellow 

 dog, and renewed your youth. Say, if you can 

 do this every twenty-five years, you will live to 

 be a hundred.&quot; 



&quot; You are disposed to treat the matter flip 

 pantly. It isn t of vital importance, and I ll 

 say no more about it.&quot; 



&quot;Yes, it is. It is simply beautiful. It crowns 

 my theory with a new wreath.&quot; 



&quot; Oh, hang your theory.&quot; 



&quot; No, no. I expected to make a man of you 

 physically, and I ll be hanged if the treatment 

 hasn t made a youth of you. Talk about elixir! 



127 



