much chance of their findin' anything
in common to talk about.

Anyway, I was too busy for the next hour to give 'em a thought, and by
the time I'd got Pyramid breathin' like a leaky air valve and glowin'
like a circus poster all over, I'd clean forgot both of 'em. So, when I
fin'lly strolls out absent minded, it's something of a shock to find 'em
gettin' acquainted, Marmaduke tiltin' back careless in his chair, and
Gridley eyin' him curious.

It appears that Pyramid's friend has got restless, discovered Marmaduke,
and proceeded to try to tell him how near he comes to bein' a nervous
wreck.

"Ever get so you couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't think of but one
thing over and over?" he was just sayin'.

"To every coat of arms, the raveled sleeve of care," observes Marmaduke
sort of casual.

"Hey?" says Gridley, facin' round on him sharp.

"As the poet puts it," Marmaduke rattles on,--

"You cannot gild the lily,
Nor can you wet the sea;
Pray tell me of my Bonnie,
But bring her not to me!"

"Say, what the howling hyenas are you spouting about?" snorts Gridley,
growin' purple back of the ears. "Who in thunder are you?"

"Don't!" says I, holdin' up a warnin' hand. But I'm too late. Marmaduke
has bobbed up smilin'.

"A chip on the current," says he. "I'm Marmaduke, you know. No offense
meant. And you were saying----"

"Huh!" grunts Gridley, calmin' down. "Can't wet the sea, eh? Not so bad,
young man. You can't keep it still, either. It's the only thing that puts
me to sleep when I get this way."

"Break, break, break--I know," says Marmaduke.

"That's it," says Gridley, "hearing the surf roar. I'd open up my
seashore cottage just for the sake of a good night's rest, if it wasn't
for the blasted seagulls. You've heard 'em in winter, haven't you, how
they squeak around?"

"It's their wing hinges," says Marmaduke, solemn and serious.

"Eh?" says Gridley, gawpin' at him.

"Squeaky wing hinges," says Marmaduke. "You should oil them."

And, say, for a minute there, after Gridley had got the drift of that
tomfool remark, I didn't know whether he was goin' to throw Marmaduke
through the window, or have another fit. All of a sudden, though, he
begins poundin' his knee.

"By George! but that's rich, young man!" says he. "Squeaky gulls' wing
hinges! Haw-haw! Oil 'em! Haw-haw! How did you ever happen to think of
it, eh?"

"One sweetly foolish thought," says Marmaduke. "I'm blessed with