“I say, look here, you know!” said the Emperor, who was getting a little restless. “How many Axioms are you going to give us? At this rate, we sha’n’t get to the Experiments till to-morrow-week!”
“Oh, sooner than that, I assure you!” the Professor replied, looking up in alarm. “There are only,” (he referred to his notes again) “only two more, that are really necessary.”
“Read ’em out, and get on to the Specimens,” grumbled the Emperor.
“The First Axiom,” the Professor read out in a great hurry, “consists of these words, ‘Whatever is, is.’ And the Second consists of these words, ‘Whatever isn’t, isn’t.’ We will now go on to the Specimens. The first tray contains Crystals and other Things.” He drew it towards him, and again referred to his note-book. “Some of the labels—owing to insufficient adhesion——” Here he stopped again, and carefully examined the page with his eyeglass. “I ca’n’t quite read the rest of the sentence,” he said at last, “but it means that the labels have come loose, and the Things have got mixed——”
“Let me stick ’em on again!” cried Bruno eagerly, and began licking them, like postage-stamps, and dabbing them down upon the Crystals and the other Things. But the Professor hastily moved the tray out of his reach. “They might get fixed to the wrong Specimens, you know!” he said.
“Oo shouldn’t have any wrong peppermints in the tray!” Bruno boldly replied. “Should he, Sylvie?”
But Sylvie only shook her head.
The Professor heard him not. He had taken up one of the bottles, and was carefully reading the label through his eye-glass. “Our first Specimen——” he announced, as he placed the bottle in front of the other Things, “is—that is, it is called——” here he took it up, and examined the label again, as if he thought it might have changed since he last saw it, “is called Aqua Pura—common water—the fluid that cheers——”
“Hip! Hip! Hip!” the Head-Cook began enthusiastically.
“—but not inebriates!” the Professor went on quickly, but only just in time to check the “Hooroar!” which was beginning.