"What says culture?"
Brown produced from his cigar-case a letter addressed in a bold round
hand, and read as follows:
"What a curious coincidence! A few of us were discussing this very
subject last night in Millicent Hightopper's rooms, and I may tell you
at once that our decision was unanimous in favour of soldiers. You
see, my dear Selkirk, in human nature the attraction is towards the
opposite. To a milliner's apprentice a poet would no doubt be
satisfying; to a woman of intelligence he would he an unutterable
bore. What the intellectual woman requires in man is not something to
argue with, but something to look at. To an empty-headed woman I can
imagine the soldier type proving vapid and uninteresting; to the woman
of mind he represents her ideal of man--a creature strong, handsome,
well-dressed, and not too clever."
"That gives us two votes for the army," remarked MacShaughnassy, as Brown
tore his sister's letter in two, and threw the pieces into the
waste-paper basket. "What says the common-sensed girl?"
"First catch your common-sensed girl," muttered Jephson, a little
grumpily, as it seemed to me. "Where do you propose finding her?"
"Well," returned MacShaughnassy, "I looked to find her in Miss Medbury."
As a rule, the mention of Miss Medbury's name brings a flush of joy to
Jephson's face; but now his features wore an expression distinctly
approaching a scowl.
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