Bigsby breathlessly; "then he DID marry her?"
"Darned ef I know. He never said so straight out--but that's like
Lummox."
STORIES THREE
BY R--DY--D K--PL--G
I
FOR SIMLA REASONS
Some people say that improbable things don't necessarily happen in
India--but these people never find improbabilities anywhere. This
sounds clever, but you will at once perceive that it really means
the opposite of what I intended to say. So we'll drop it. What I
am trying to tell you is that after Sparkley had that affair with
Miss Millikens a singular change came over him. He grew abstracted
and solitary,--holding dark seances with himself,--which was odd,
as everybody knew he never cared a rap for the Millikens girl. It
was even said that he was off his head--which is rhyme. But his
reason was undoubtedly affected, for he had been heard to mutter
incoherently at the Club, and, strangest of all, to answer
questions THAT WERE NEVER ASKED! This was so awkward in that
Branch of the Civil Department of which he was a high official--
where the rule was exactly the reverse--that he was presently
invalided on full pay! Then he disappeared. Clever people said it
was because the Department was afraid he had still much to answer
for; stupid people simply envied him.
Mrs. Awksby, whom everybody knew had been the cause of breaking off
the match, was now wild to know the reason of Sparkley's
retirement.
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