244 DUCK-SHOOTING. 



"Another of my failings is inability to say no. A 

 moment's consideration would have told me it was 

 far from honorable to assume the place of another 

 person, and that person the husband of a pretty 

 woman ; but in my state of hesitancy or virtuous 

 indignation at being falsely accused of drinking, or 

 without really anticipating what would happen, I 

 obeyed; and bringing my face near hers, encoun- 

 tered the sweetest pair of lips in Christendom. 



" * I am not quite sure,' she said, ' let me see again.' 



" Now that was clearly her fault, and left me no 

 excuse for refusing her absolute satisfaction. 



" ' Make haste, Oscar,' she whispered, ' how cold 

 you are.'" ,f>< . 



The lucky man paused, while the chorus breath- 

 lessly broke in with : 



"Did you make haste?" 



" Gentlemen, man is a contemptible creature in 

 his treatment of woman ; she is infinitely his supe- 

 rior in every good quality, and he absolutely takes 

 advantage of his baser capacities to betray her supe- 

 rior nature. He matches his cunning against her 

 truthfulness, his selfishness against her disinterested- 

 ness, his deceitfulness against her affection. Wo- 

 man's nobleness of heart is a provision of nature 

 to prevent the degeneration of our species ; were 

 women as bad as men, our children would be brutes 

 or idiots. Traits of mind and heart are transmit- 

 ted" 



CHORUS " Never mind all that, did you make 

 haste ?" 



