"With pleasure," answered the Idiot, filling his glass with cream. "We'll change the subject, or the object, or anything you choose. We'll have another breakfast, or another variety of biscuits frappé—anything, in short, to keep peace at the table. Tell me, Mr. Pedagog," he added, "is the use of the word 'it,' in the sentence 'it looks like rain,' perfectly correct?"
"I don't know why it is not," returned the School-master, uneasily. He was not at all desirous of parleying with the Idiot.
"And is it correct to suppose that 'it' refers to the day—is the day supposed to look like rain?—or do we simply use 'it' to express a condition which confronts us?"
"It refers to the latter, of course."
"Then the full text of Mr. Whitechoker's remark is, I suppose, that 'the rainy condi[Pg 107]tion of the atmosphere which confronts us looks like rain?'"
"Oh, I suppose so," sighed the School-master, wearily.
"Rather an unnecessary sort of statement that!" continued the Idiot. "It's something like asserting that a man looks like himself, or, as in the case of a child's primer—
"'I BELIEVE YOU'D BLOW OUT THE GAS IN YOUR BED-ROOM'"