“Read that, Brand!” he exclaimed. “These papers are the drollest in the world.”
Ughtred looked up puzzled, but took the paper held out insistently towards him. At the bottom of an illustration were a few pencilled words.
“Be careful! Remember! You are W. B. The priest has been asking questions about us!”
Ughtred read, and smiled. The priest leaned forward.
“It is a joke, eh? Monsieur will permit me also? It is good to laugh.”
Brand was equal to the occasion. He took the paper quickly away from Ughtred.
“Monsieur,” he said, removing his cap, “the joke which I pointed out to my friend has, without doubt, humour, but the journal, as you see, is for the students. Monsieur will excuse me if I refrain from offering it to him.”
The priest acquiesced with a graver face, and some show of dignity.
“But I fear, monsieur,” he said to Brand, “that I am occupying your seat. You wish to return here, beyond a doubt?”