"You did not kiss her, of course?" she continued, with the utmost
gravity.
"Yes, I did," he answered promptly. "Do you think--do you think--"
"Yes I do," she said, decidedly, adding to herself: "I think you are a
fool!" To him she continued: "I'll tell you what to do. Grandma is
afraid, like you, so I know all the preventives. Let me burn a match or
two under your nose so that the fumes will saturate your face; that will
counteract any bad effects from the kiss, and to prevent contagion
hereafter, get a good sized leek. You can find one at any grocer's: put
it in a bit of cloth, with a piece of camphor-gum, and wear it over the
pit of your stomach. You may even brave the small-pox with that about
your person."
"But won't it smell awfully?" Neil asked, with a shudder, as he thought
of wearing about his person an obnoxious leek, whose odor he abominated.
"It will smell some, but what of that? You can endure a great deal in
order to feel safe," Flossie replied.
Neil could endure a great deal where his personal safety was concerned,
and wholly deceived by Flossie's manner, he submitted to the burnt
matches, which nearly strangled him, and brought on so violent a fit of
coughing as made him fear lest he should burst a blood-vessel.
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