The School-master's reply was not audible.
"I say," said the genial gentleman to the Idiot, as they passed out into the hall, "they didn't get much the best of you in that matter. But, tell me, who was Clink, anyhow?"
"Never heard of him before," returned the Idiot.
"And Burrows?"
"Same as Clink."
"Know anything about Elsmere?" chuckled the genial gentleman.
"Nothing—except that it and 'Pigs in Clover' came out at the same time, and I stuck to the Pigs."
And the genial gentleman who occasionally imbibed was so pleased at the plight of the School-master and of the Bibliomaniac that he invited the Idiot up to his room, where the private stock was kept for just such occasions, and they put in a very pleasant morning together.[Pg 37]