w!" ejaculated Noah, deprecating the unseemliness of the quarrel,
and putting his arm affectionately about Bonaparte's shoulder. "When you
come down to that, I was French--as French as one could be in those
days--and these Gallic subjects of my friend here were, every one of 'em,
my lineal descendants, and their hatred of rain was inherited directly
from me, their ancestor."

"Are not we English as much your descendants?" queried Wellington, arching
his eyebrows.

"You are," said Noah, "but you take after Mrs. Noah more than after me.
Water never fazes a woman, and your delight in tubs is an essentially
feminine trait. The first thing Mrs. Noah carried aboard was a laundry
outfit, and then she went back for rugs and coats and all sorts of
hand-baggage. Gad, it makes me laugh to this day when I think of it! She
looked for all the world like an Englishman travelling on the Continent as
she walked up the gang-plank behind the elephants, each elephant with a
Gladstone bag in his trunk and a hat-box tied to his tail." Here the
venerable old weather-prophet winked at Munchausen, and the little quarrel
which had been imminent passed off in a general laugh.

"Where's Boswell? He ought to get that anecdote," said Johnson.

"I've locked him up in the library," said Holmes. "He's in charge of the
log, and as I have a pretty good general idea as to what is about to
happen, I have mapped out a skeleton of the plot and set him to work
writing it up." Here the detective gave a sudden start, placed his hand to
his ear, listened intently for an instant, and, taking out his watch and
glancing at it, added, quietly, "In three minutes Shem will be in here to
announce a discovery, and one of great importance, I judge, from the
squeak."

The assemblage gazed earnestly at Holmes for a moment.

"The squeak?" queried Raleigh.

"Precisely," said Holmes. "The squeak is what I said, and as I always say
what I mean, it follows logically that I meant what I said."

"I heard no squeak," observed Dr. Johnson; "and, furthermore, I fail to
see how a squeak, if I had heard it, would have portended a discovery of
importance."

"It would not--to you," said Holmes; "but with me it is different. My
hearing is unusually acute. I can hear the dropping of a pin through a
stone wall ten feet thick; any sound within a mile of my eardrum vibrates
thereon with an intensity which would surprise you, and it is by the use
of cocaine that I have acquired this