inst the
railings, through which they glared like caged beasts. He set them
free, and they ran out, for his paradise was too big.

Now, facing west, they tramped for two days on the Bath road, leaving
the fog behind them, and drew near Reading. It was a clear night as
they approached it, and the sky studded with stars that twinkled
frostily. Eleven o'clock sounded from a tower ahead. On the
outskirts of the town they were passing an ugly modern villa with a
large garden before it, when an old gentleman came briskly up the
road and turned in at the gate.

Adam swung round on his heel and followed him up the path, begging.
Eve hung by the gate.

"No," said the old gentleman, fitting his latchkey into the door,
"I have no work to offer. Eh?--Is that your wife by the gate?
Hungry?"

Adam whispered a lie in his ear.

"Poor woman, and to be on the road, in such a state, at this hour!
Well, you shall share my supper before you search for a lodging.
Come inside," he called out to Eve, "and be careful of the step.
It's a high one."

He led them in, past the ground-floor rooms and up a flight of
stairs. After pausing on the landing and waiting a long time for Eve
to take breath, he began to ascend another flight.

"Are we going to have supper on the leads?" Adam wondered.

They followed the old gentleman up to the attics and into a kind of
tower, where was a small room with two tables spread, the one with a
supper, the other with papers, charts, and mathematical instruments.

"Here," said their guide, "is bread, a cold chicken, and a bottle of
whisky. I beg you to excuse me while you eat. The fact is, I dabble
in astronomy. My telescope is on the roof above, and to-night every
moment is precious."

There was a ladder fixed in the room, leading to a trap-door in the
ceiling. Up this ladder the old gentleman trotted, and in half a
minute had disappeared, shutting the trap behind him.

It was half an hour or more before Adam climbed after him, with Eve,
as usual, at his heels.

"My dear madam!" cried the astronomer, "and in your state!"

"I told you a lie," Adam said. "I've come to beg your pardon.
May we look at the stars before we go?"

In two minutes the old gentleman was pointing out the
constellations--the Great Bear hanging low in the north-east,
pointing to the Pole star, and across it to Cassiopeia's bright
zigzag high in the heavens; the barren square of Pegasus, with its
long tail stretchin