him once I thought he must have been nice when he was a boy.
One day he astonished me by appearing at the dinner table with his hair brushed and a white collar on. We had a tiptop dinner that day, and I had made a pudding that was far too good for a woman hater. When Alexander Abraham had disposed of two large platefuls of it, he sighed and said,
"You can certainly cook. It's a pity you are such a detestable crank in other respects."
"It's kind of convenient being a crank," I said. "People are careful how they meddle with you. Haven't you found that out in your own experience?
"I am not a crank," growled Alexander Abraham resentfully. "All I ask is to be let alone."
"That's the very crankiest kind of a crank," I said. "A person who wants to be let alone flies in the face of Providence, who decreed that folks for their own good were not to be let alone. But cheer up, Mr. Bennett. The quarantine will be up on Tuesday and then you'll certainly be let alone for the rest of your natural life, as far as William Adolphus and I are concerned. You may then return to your wallowing in the mire and be as dirty and comfortable as of yore."
Alexander Abraham growled again. The pros-
