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BOX AND COX.
| Box. | I say, sir! |
| Cox. | Well, sir? |
| Box. | What's your opinion of duelling, sir? |
| Cox. | I think it's a barbarous practice, sir. |
| Box. | So do I, sir. To be sure, I don't so much object to it when the pistols are not loaded. |
| Cox. | No: I dare say that does make some difference. |
| Box. | And yet, sir—on the other hand—doesn't it strike you as rather a waste of time, for two people to keep firing pistols at one another, with nothing in 'em? |
| Cox. | No, sir—not more than any other harmless recreation. |
| Box. | Hark ye! Why do you object to marry Penelope Ann? |
| Cox. | Because, as I've observed already, I can't abide her. You'll be very happy with her. |
| Box. | Happy! Me! With the consciousness that I have deprived you of such a treasure? No, no, Cox! |
| Cox. | Don't think of me, Box—I shall be sufficiently rewarded by the knowledge of my Box's happiness. |
| Box. | Don't be absurd, sir! |
| Cox. | Then don't you be ridiculous, sir! |
| Box. | I won't have her! |
| Cox. | I won't have her! |
| Box. | I have it! Suppose we draw lots for the lady—eh, Mr. Cox? |
| Cox. | That's fair enough, Mr. Box. |
| Box. | Or, what say you to dice? |
| Cox. | With all my heart! Dice, by all means—[Eagerly.] |
| Box. | [Aside.] That's lucky! Mrs. Bouncer's nephew left a pair here yesterday. He sometimes persuades me to have a throw for a trifle, and as he always throws sixes, I suspect they are good ones. [Goes to the cupboard at r., and brings out the dice-box. |
| Cox. | [Aside.] I've no objection at all to dice. I lost one pound, seventeen and sixpence, at last Barnet Races, to a very gentlemanly looking man, who had a most peculiar knack of throwing sixes; I suspected they were loaded, so I gave him another half-crown, and he gave me the dice. [Takes dice out of his pocket—uses lucifer box as substitute for dice-box, which is on table. |
| Box. | Now then, sir! |
