THE TIPINBANOLA.
"There," I said, "you've interrupted me again."
"Tut tut," said Francesca.
"And the dogs are barking," I said, "and the guinea-hens are squawking."
"I daresay," she said; "but you can't hear the guinea-hens; they're much too far away."
"Yes, but I know they're squawking—they always are—and for a sensitive highly-strung man it's the same thing."
"Tut-t——"
"Tut me no more of your tuts, Francesca," I said, "for I am engaged in a most complicated and difficult arithmetical calculation."
"If," said Francesca deliberately, "two men in corduroys, with straps below their knees, and a boy in flannel shorts, all working seven hours and a half per day for a week, can plant five thousand potatoes on an acre of land, how many girls in knickerbockers will be required to——"