THE COWARDLY COUGAR 



pictures; he had Roosevelt once. He owns 

 the best lion dogs in the country, and him and 

 I will give you a trip you'll remember." 



Looking Mr. Means squarely in the eye, I 

 said, significantly: 



"We want to remember the trip, but we 

 want to remember it pleasantly. What sort 

 of a trip will it be? " 



"Easy a perfect cinch." 



"Any danger?" 



"Not a bit. Why, you can take your wives 

 along." 



Now Mr. Means had never met our respective 

 families, which thus explains his inaccuracy. 



"There was a time," I cautioned him, 

 "when work didn't come hard enough to suit 

 me, when a certain sense of personal peril 

 gave me a pleasurable thrill, when I could 

 dance all night in rubber boots and a mack- 

 inaw coat and never turn a hair. But city 

 life softens a man. The time has come when 

 I shudder at a callous. I jump through a 

 plate-glass window when a car back-fires, and 

 a single fox trot leaves me panting like a 

 lizard. I have outlived hardships; I loathe 

 exposure; I love hammocks, rich food, and 

 debilitating luxuries " 



143 



