if he lifted his eyes by
accident and caught one of us staring at him, he looked down again as
if he'd been shot. His conduct was most unaccountable and reprehensible
as I pointed out to Jill afterwards, and she said, "Yes," and grinned. I
was greatly incensed with him for giving her so much bother, because
she worked hard at him and never got cross once, and she asked him about
the village and about the poor people and about abroad, and all those
grown-up things, and the Beast said "Yes" and "No" and "Certainly,"
till I wanted to kick him. I tried to help Jill once or twice by tossing
off one of my polite rejoinders, but he only behaved as if I wasn't there
and looked more like a poker than ever. That was what put Jill's monkey
up. She couldn't stand his indifference and acidity to me, so she began
to rag him and that shows that she is in reality a brick though
forced to maskerade as a girl. (That's another word you don't know
perhaps but it's in the dictionary.) She smiled at him as perky as you
please and she said in that soft-cotton-wolly voice of hers, "Is there
anything that _does_ interest you, Dr. Hurst?" And when the Beast was
so bowled over that he nearly dropped his knife and fork, she just went
on and explained how funny it was to sit all the evening with some one
who didn't want to talk, and didn't he think so too? I wanted to break
out into paeons of triumph in order to express my satisfaction at the
turn matters were taking, but I restrained my impetuosity in time and
waited for the Beast to speak. He stuttered rather and began chopping
up the pear on his plate as if it was for Christmas puddings, and then
he said he didn't suppose any young people were interested in what he was
interested in (which shows that all the while he lumped Jill and me
together as _kids_ and not fit to associate with him). Then Jill asked
him what he _was_ interested in, and he said "Bac--" (this is the longest
word of all and I'm afraid you won't find it in the dictionary, at
any rate not in the way I'm going to spell it) "Bacterioi--" oh hang!
here goes again--"Bacteriollodgy." Then Auntie Anna winked at Jill, and
we went upstairs and left the Beast with the Rector, which was a
punishment he more than deserved, as I told Jill. She said she was afraid
we boys were spoiling her manners, and Auntie said, "Of course they are!"
as if it was a good thing, which of course _we_ know it is. I had to
go to bed then, and Jill said it was