“He asks me to have him here for a few days or weeks, and of course I have written to beg that he will come. I hope our air will set him right again, and that it is not so serious as he thinks.”
“Then you’d like me to get a room ready for him at once, sir?” said Mrs Fidler, with alacrity.
“If you please, Mrs F.”
“It shall be done, sir. I am so glad—I mean so sorry. I was afraid something was wrong here.”
“No, Mrs Fidler, there is nothing wrong here; but I’m afraid, Tom, that the visitor will put a stop to our telescopic work.”
Tom seized his opportunity, and blurted out—
“It is stopped, uncle: the speculum is broken in three pieces.”
“What!” cried Uncle Richard, turning pale.
“Completely spoiled, uncle.”
“How, in the name of all that’s unfortunate, did you do that, sir?”