"I was told that I must on no account miss the view from the top of the hill—the grandest aspect on the East Coast," he said. "It is, indeed, a joy to look upon it.
"'This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle....
This precious stone set in the silver sea',
as Shakespeare truly says. Ah, what a rich and rare delight it is to be alive on such a day as this!"
Sam touched his forehead significantly as he looked at Bill.
"Barmy!" Bill's answering glance seemed to say.
"Ah! New life courses through my all-too-sluggish veins to-day. For ever have I done with the softening influence of the fireside.
"'Better to hunt in fields for health unbought
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught.'
What do you say, friends? Surely you realize the great boon that is yours in being able to spend so much of your lives in such an enchanted spot?"
This was rubbing it in with a vengeance, and Bill could keep silence no longer.
"You can cart the bloomin' landscape away with you, if you like, sir," he said. "We're dead sick of bein' anchored to it."