ith her own hand. The
guests were Lord and Lady Northlake; Maria and Zo; Miss Minerva and Mr.
Mool. Mr. Gallilee was present as one of the household. While he was in
London, he and his children lived under Ovid's roof. When they went to
Scotland, Mr. Gallilee had a cottage of his own (which he insisted on
buying) in Lord Northlake's park. He and Zo drank too much champagne at
dinner. The father made a speech; and the daughter sang, "We're gayly
yet."

In another quarter of London, there was a party which filled the street
with carriages, and which was reported in the newspapers the next
morning.

Mrs. Gallilee was At Home to Science. The Professors of the civilised
universe rallied round their fair friend. France, Italy, and Germany
bewildered the announcing servants with a perfect Babel of names--and
Great Britain was grandly represented. Those three superhuman men, who
had each had a peep behind the veil of creation, and discovered
the mystery of life, attended the party and became centres of three
circles--the circle that believed in "protoplasm," the circle that
believed in "bioplasm," and the circle that believed in "atomized
charges of electricity, conducted into the system by the oxygen of
respiration." Lectures and demonstrations went on all through the
evening, all over the magnificent room engaged for the occasion. In one
corner, a fair philosopher in blue velvet and point lace, took the Sun
in hand facetiously. "The sun's life, my friends, begins with a nebulous
infancy and a gaseous childhood." In another corner, a gentleman of
shy and retiring manners converted "radiant energy into sonorous
vibrations"--themselves converted into sonorous poppings by waiters and
champagne bottles at the supper table. In the centre of the room,
the hostess solved the serious problem of diet; viewed as a method of
assisting tadpoles to develop themselves into frogs--with such cheering
results that these last lively beings joined the guests on the carpet,
and gratified intelligent curiosity by explorations on the stairs.
Within the space of one remarkable evening, three hundred illustrious
people were charmed, surprised, instructed, and amused; and when Science
went home, it left a conversazione (for once) with its stomach well
filled. At two in the morning, Mrs. Gallilee sat down in the empty room,
and said to the learned friend who lived with her,

"At last, I'm a happy woman!"

THE END.

End of the Project G