"Now then," said the Lion, sternly, "no emotion."
"No! no! Lal," faltered the Griffin, "but when I think of that lovely saying, 'Everybody's Loved by Some one'——"
"There are exceptions to every rule," snapped the Lion.
"Oh," sniggered the Griffin, "then it does apply even to me, for I myself am an exception. There is only one of me," ended the Griffin eagerly, "only one in all London."
"Some things don't bear repeating," said the Lion.
The Griffin's weak memory came to his aid at this awkward moment:
"That must particularly apply to your last remark," simpered the
Griffin.
"You have heard somebody else say that," objected the Lion.
"True," sniggered the Griffin, "and it will not be the first time that the remembrance of other people's sayings have passed for wit; and I have always so longed to be a wit," sighed the Griffin. "Don't you think, Lal, that I might one day be a wit?" inquired the Griffin anxiously.
"No," said the Lion, "I don't; you have none of the necessary qualifications."