Mr. Mole stepped forward, looking just a little sheepish.
"Mr. Mole!"
"Mr. Mole!" exclaimed a dozen voices in chorus.
"Yes, my friends," said the old gentleman, stepping forward with his well-known modesty, "it is even so; your much-wronged Mole."
"Tell us how it occurred," said Harkaway.
"I was down in the dancing garden, seated in a species of small summer house, taking a glass of—I mean a cup of tea—ahem!—when I fell asleep—I dozed, in fact."
"You would," said Harvey. "I've often noticed that you doze after a glass of—I mean a cup of tea."
Mole glared at the speaker.
"The heat of the day quite overcame me."
"It would," said Dick, in the same compassionate manner.