"Presently I came to a bit of a pond, with flowers a-floatin' on it."
"Ah!" suddenly cried Mr. Rodney, in an illuminated manner. "And a cottage on the farther side?"
"Aye; where he fires from."
"The Bun Emperor!" exclaimed Mr. Rodney, as if the matter was settled.
"Very unsportsmanlike behaviour," said Miss Bindler, "to shoot from such cover as that. The game haven't a ghost of a chance."
"You're right, mum," said Mr. Bush, "they haven't—not unless they're as quick at droppin' on all fours as I am."
"But I can't understand it even yet," pursued Mr. Rodney. "The Emperor's really not a bad sort of man, as a general rule. Did you do anything in particular by the pond, Mr. Bush?"
"Not I. I only stood a-lookin' at the little house. I saw a fattish, smallish feller, with a fattish, smallish woman by his side, starin' out——"
"The Empress, too!" said Mr. Rodney. "Well, Mr. Bush?"