'Make the next one in Greek,' said Margaret to Lushington, with a smile.
'There are some very bad puns in Aristophanes,' observed the archæologist thoughtfully. 'Why don't you go to Crete?' he inquired very suddenly of Mrs. Rushmore.
Mrs. Rushmore, who did not happen to have heard of the recent discoveries yet, felt a little as if the young man had asked her why she did not go to Jericho. But she concealed her feelings, being quite sure that no offence to her dignity was meant.
'It is so far,' she answered with a vague smile.
'It's a beastly hole,' observed the soldier. 'I was there when that row was going on.'
'The discoveries have all been made since then,' answered the archæologist, who could think of nothing else. 'You have no idea what those paintings are,' he continued, talking to the table. 'I have been there several weeks and I'm going back next month. Logotheti is going to take a party of us in his big yacht.'
'Who is Logotheti?' inquired Margaret, with great calm.
'A financier,' put in Lushington.
'A millionaire,' said the artist. 'I have painted his portrait.'
'He seems to be interested in discoveries,' Margaret said to the archæologist. 'I suppose you know him very well?'