rpet and expensive rugs. Sumptuously upholstered couches and easy
chairs added to the comfort of the apartment, which was warmed by the
immense fire of coal and oak logs that blazed and crackled in the grate.

The conversation now became general and at times highly philosophical
in character, although Mr Bosher did not take much part, being too
busily engaged gobbling up the biscuits and tea, and only occasionally
spluttering out a reply when a remark or question was directly
addressed to him.

This was Mr Grinder's first visit at the house, and he expressed his
admiration of the manner in which the ceiling and the walls were
decorated, remarking that he had always liked this 'ere Japanese style.

Mr Bosher, with his mouth full of biscuit, mumbled that it was sweetly
pretty--charming--beautifully done--must have cost a lot of money.

'Hardly wot you'd call Japanese, though, is it?' observed Didlum,
looking round with the air of a connoisseur. 'I should be inclined to
say it was rather more of the--er--Chinese or Egyptian.'

'Moorish,' explained Mr Sweater with a smile. 'I got the idear at the
Paris Exhibition. It's simler to the decorations in the "Halambara",
the palace of the Sultan of Morocco. That clock there is in the same
style.'

The case of the clock referred to--which stood on a table in a corner
of the room--was of fretwork, in the form of an Indian Mosque, with a
pointed dome and pinnacles. This was the case that Mary Linden had
sold to Didlum; the latter had had it stained a dark colour and
polished and further improved it by substituting a clock of more
suitable design than the one it originally held. Mr Sweater had
noticed it in Didlum's window and, seeing that the design was similar
in character to the painted decorations on the ceiling and walls of his
drawing-room, had purchased it.

'I went to the Paris Exhibition meself,' said Grinder, when everyone
had admired the exquisite workmanship of the clock-case. 'I remember
'avin' a look at the moon through that big telescope. I was never so
surprised in me life: you can see it quite plain, and it's round!'

'Round?' said Didlum with a puzzled look. 'Round? Of course it's
round! You didn't used to think it was square, did yer?'

'No, of course not, but I always used to think it was flat--like a
plate, but it's round like a football.'

'Certainly: the moon is a very simler body to the earth,' explained
Didlum, describing an aerial circl