“Excuse me, I should not have quoted Latin. They were found to contain five different kinds of delicate jellies. Of course, every one was puzzled, first of all, to find how the jelly got in; and giving up that as a conundrum too difficult to be solved, he found himself in a worse quandary over the problem as to how the pulpy part of the orange got out. Colored eggs were served up, and inside of them were found nuts, jellies, meats, and confectionery.”
“Wonderful men those Celestials!” I exclaimed. “They must have got such notions from the banqueting table of Jove himself.”
“I thought they indulged in nothing nicer than cats or dogs, rats or mice, with an occasional dash of bird’s-nest soup,” said Mrs. De Gex.
“Altogether a mistaken notion,” returned her husband.
Tea was the beverage. I nearly upset the table as I reached over for the teapot, whereupon my comrade exclaimed in the words of Cibber’s rhapsody:
“Tea, thou soft, thou sober, sage and venerable liquid; thou female tongue-running, smile-smoothing, heart-opening, wink-tipping cordial, to whose glorious insipidity we owe the happiest moments of our lives, let me fall prostrate.”
“Time’s up,” I said, as straightening myself I swallowed another cupful.
* * * * * *
When we were again fairly under way and the ladies were quietly talking some scandal, sotto voce, I said to De Gex: “Referring again to the innkeeper’s lien——”
“Let us have no more about it,” he replied promptly. “Honestly, I must say that you are not a Paganini and cannot please by always playing upon one string.”