I allowed that their conduct was bad, but I urged him to take into consideration their heedlessness, their youth; then, too, the young men had only just been lunching together.

'You understand.

They regret it deeply, and beg you to overlook their misbehavior.

' The government clerk was softened once more.

'I consent, count, and am ready to overlook it; but you perceive that my wife--my wife's a respectable woman --has been exposed to the persecution, and insults, and effrontery of young upstarts, scoundrels....