“I should just think you were” laughed his cousin “You’ve been stuffing incessantly for over half an hour” Alan rang the bell for the table to be cleared and then they lit their pipes.
“How do you feel?” asked Desmond.
“Very tired—very sore—and very bruised”
“So am I. I think I shall like the life of a miner, though”
“Rather! What a ripping set of chaps they are!”
So they chattered on until it was time for them to retire. At peace with each other, at peace with the world, they slept until a knock at their bedroom door awakened them.
“Yes” sleepily answered Desmond.
“It’s four o’clock, young gentlemen, you’d better get up”
Alan woke up lazily to hear Desmond cry out in amazement.
“Surely not yet, Slater?”