shoulder and eyeing me a little anxiously, "come back soon, boy--soon,
d'ye see--"

"He will, George, he will!" nodded uncle Jervas.

"He looks damnably solitary, somehow, Jervas."

"And small, George."

"Sirs," said I, "for my lack of size, blame nature. As to
loneliness--'my mind to me my kingdom is,' and one peopled by a
thousand loved friends, or of what avail the reading of books?"

"Books? M--yes, precisely!" quoth my uncle George, ruffling up his
thick curls and eyeing me askance. "But what are we to tell your aunt
Julia?"

"Nothing, sir. At the first inn I stop at I will write her fully
regarding my departure and future plans--"

"But--oh, curse it. Perry," exclaimed uncle George, fumbling for his
whisker, "she'll be sure to blame us, aye, she will so, b'gad d'ye
see--"

"Not when she reads my letter, sir. Indeed I feel--nay, I know that my
absence will but serve to draw you nearer together, all three, and I
look forward with assured hope to seeing her happily wedded to--to one
or other of you when--when I return--"

"Lord love me!"