le parlour window, and as Uncle Paul took what
his irreverent nephew called a good long sniff, he slowly and
ostentatiously, moved thereto by the sight of the clean white cloth and
the breakfast things, hauled up his great gold watch and examined its
face.

"Twenty-five minutes, thirty-seven seconds, past six, Pickle. Rather
early for breakfast. Well, I suppose we must take things as they are;
but I am very, very sorry that they took away my old coat; it was a
great favourite. And those things of yours, sir, are much too good to
go climbing about tors and wading in streams. I wish that Count had
knocked at my door like a gentleman and asked me, as he should. He
should have had this suit instead. I'd a deal rather he had it than my
old shooting jacket."

"Ha, ha!"

"What are you laughing at, sir?"

"Uncle Paul eating his words."

"What, sir?"

"You mean, uncle, that if Count de Saix had come and knocked at the door
and asked you to help him, you'd have called me up and sent me to the
prison for the soldiers."

"Now look here, Rodney, that's impudence, sir, and--Ah! There's the
microscope, and the slides and the glasses. Have they been disturbed?"

"No, uncle. Just as we left them. I almost wonder they didn't carry
off all those hydras."

"_Hydrae_. Be careful about your Latin plurals. But look here, do you
want me to box your ears?"

"No, uncle."

"Then don't give me any more of your impertinent allusions. Hum--hum--
hum! Half-past six. Very early for breakfast. But I begin to feel a
little _appetitlich_, as the Germans call it; don't you?"

"Oh no, uncle," said Rodd, very mildly. "You said last night that we
had eaten enough to last twenty-four hours."

"Now, look here, Rodney, you had the impudence to tell me a short time
ago that I'd got out of bed the wrong way. I am afraid it's you, sir,
that have done that, and if you don't take care we shall be having a
very serious quarrel.--There! Run, quick! That kettle's boiling over."

But Rodd was half-way to the kitchen, and had snatched the kettle off
before his uncle had finished speaking, warned of what was happening as
he had been by the first angry hiss.

"It's all right, uncle," he cried. "No harm done!"

"But what's become of that old woman? She ought to be here now, seeing
about our breakfast."

"Here she comes, uncle," and through the window they could see their
hostess hurrying back with a big basket from the direction