"
"Do you do Swedish exercises?"
"I go through a series of evolutions every morning, with the utmost
loathing. I started them as a boy, and they have become a habit like
dram-drinking. I would leave them off if I could, but I can't."
"Do nothing of the kind. They are invaluable."
"But undignified."
"Let me feel your biceps, Mr. Winfield," said Mrs. Porter. She nodded
approvingly. "Like iron." She poised a finger and ran a meditative
glance over his form. Kirk eyed her apprehensively. The finger darted
forward and struck home in the region of the third waistcoat button.
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Ruth!"
"Yes, aunt."
"Prod Mr. Winfield where my finger is pointing. He is extraordinarily
muscular."
"I say, really!" protested Kirk. He was a modest young man, and this
exploration of his more intimate anatomy by the finger-tips of the girl
he loved was not to be contemplated.
"Just as you please," said Mrs. Porter. "If I were a man of your
physique, I should be proud of it."
"Wouldn't you like to go up and see George?" asked Kirk. It was hard on
George, but it was imperative that this woman be removed somehow.
"Very well. I have brought him a little book to read, which will do him
good. It is called 'Elementary Rules for the Preservation of the
Body'."
"He has learned one of them, all right, since yesterday," said Kirk.
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