ag of
lawlessness. But it has been ratified by a noble army of great writers.
They and the daily press have spread it over the world. Therefore we
must go slowly. We must do it right. Derivation----"

"Bless yore heart, suh," the impetuous youth interrupted me, "what's
derivation? Just conquest follo'd by mispronunciation. Julius Caesuh he
lambastes Gaul; and he talks Latin to 'em; he says '_honor_,' an' he
goes home; an' the Gauls retain Caesuh's _i_dea, as all puffeck gennlemen
should, but the nearest they kin git to the Latin is '_honneur_.' An'
then, whoop they come over to England, an' they lambaste the
Anglo-Saxons, an' talk to 'em about '_honneur_.' An' the Anglo-Saxons,
bein' also puffeck gennlemen, they ketches on to the _i_dea, but
be-Jeroosalemmed if they kin say it straight, either; an' so it gits to
be '_honour_.' An' then comes our glorious Revolution; an' we tell the
English, 'Good-by to yo', King Geawge. Good-by to yore iniquitous
parliament. Good-by to yore whole dog-goned outfit of tyrants and
helots. We-all don' keer how you-all spell anything whatsoever, an' the
language of Washington, an' Jeffuhson, an' Patrick Henry, an' all the
glorious fathuhs of libuhty, is goin' to spell it _honor_ without a u.'
An' there you are, back to yore original Latin."

"A noble sentiment, Professor," said Kibosh. "A truly noble sentiment.
Will you not join me in a chickle?"

The professor bounded to his full, long height, with all the agility of
the _felis catus_ of his own wild, native mountains.

"I'm with you, suh!" he exclaimed. "Be-Jeroosalemmed if I wasn't pow'ful
thirsty."

"Chickle is not liquid refreshment," said Kibosh, mildly; and he held
out the box to his tall guest.

[Illustration: "Chickle is not liquid refreshment."]

The professor glared at it for a moment. "You and yore chickle," he then
began, with alarming deliberation, "can go right----"

A quick, girlish cough sounded behind him.

"----to my private cabin in this cyah," the professor continued, with no
change in countenance or voice, "where I will join you, and where we
will find liquid refreshment."

Kibosh did not dare refuse him, and I came without being asked.

"It's a glorious exercise, suh," said the professor to me, in the
private cabin.

"In moderation, yes," I answered.

"May I inquiuh to what you-all are referrin'?" he asked haughtily.

"Why, to this," I answered, tapping my glass.

The professor grew more stiff. "I re