“This is divine.  Go on—­it is not possible that you forgot to inquire into her politics?”

“No, I thought of that.  She is a democrat, her husband is a republican, and both of them are Baptists.”

“Her husband?  Is that child married?”

“She is not a child.  She is married, and that is her husband who is there with her.”

“Has she any children.”

“Yes—­seven and a half.”

“That is impossible.”

“No, she has them.  She told me herself.”

“Well, but seven and a half?  How do you make out the half?  Where does the half come in?”

“There is a child which she had by another husband —­not this one but another one—­so it is a stepchild, and they do not count in full measure.”

“Another husband?  Has she another husband?”

“Yes, four.  This one is number four.”

“I don’t believe a word of it.  It is impossible, upon its face.  Is that boy there her brother?”

“No, that is her son.  He is her youngest.  He is not as old as he looked; he is only eleven and a half.”

“These things are all manifestly impossible.  This is a wretched business.  It is a plain case:  they simply took your measure, and concluded to fill you up.  They seem to have succeeded.  I am glad I am not in the mess; they may at least be charitable enough to think there ain’t a pair of us.  Are they going to stay here long?”

“No, they leave before noon.”

“There is one man who is deeply grateful for that. 
How did you find out?  You asked, I suppose?”

“No, along at first I inquired into their plans, in a general way, and they said they were going to be here a week, and make trips round about; but toward the end of the interview, when I said you and I would tour around with them with pleasure, and offered to bring you over and introduce you, they hesitated a little, and asked if you were from the same establishment that I was.  I said you were, and then they said they had changed their mind and considered it necessary to start at once and visit a sick relative in Siberia.”

“Ah, me, you struck the summit!  You struck the loftiest altitude of stupidity that human effort has ever reached.  You shall have a monument of jackasses’ skulls as high as the Strasburg spire if you die before I do.  They wanted to know I was from the same ‘establishment’ that you hailed from, did they?  What did they mean by ’establishment’?”

“I don’t know; it never occurred to me to ask.”

“Well I know—­ they meant an asylum—­ an idiot asylum, do you understand?  So they do think there’s a pair of us, after all.  Now what do you think of yourself?”

“Well, I don’t know.  I didn’t know I was doing any harm; I didn’t mean to do any harm.  They were very nice people, and they seemed to like me.”

Harris made some rude remarks and left for his bedroom —­to break some furniture, he said.  He was a singularly irascible man; any little thing would disturb his temper.