Page:Christopher Wren--the wages of virtue.djvu/244

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THE WAGES OF VIRTUE

mendous items of most thrilling and exciting news, to wit, that there was among them a sheep in wolf's clothing—a girl in uniform—and, secondly, that there was a duel toward, a duel in which no less a person than the great Luigi Rivoli was involved.

Cherchez la femme was the game of the evening; and the catch-word of the wits on encountering any bearded and grisled ancien in corridor chambrée, canteen, or staircase, was—

"Art thou the girl, petite?"

The wrinkled old grey-beard, Tant-de-Soif, was christened Bébé Fifinette, provided with a skirt improvised from a blanket, and subjected to indignities.