twopence a minute for a quarter of an hour appealed so strongly
that they did not wait to finish the ale I had ordered for them,
and the feats of strength they performed in persuading Pomfret to
return to the path from which he had strayed made me ache all
over. The result was that the car was in the yard before the
duck had left the oven, and I was able to have a wash at the pump
before luncheon was served. Pomfret had come off very lightly,
on the whole. Except for the broken wing, a fair complement of
scratches, and the total wreck of one of the lamps, he seemed to
have taken no hurt.

So it happened that Alice and I lunched together. I think we
were both glad of the food. When it was over, I lighted her
cigarette, and drew her attention to the oleograph, which
pictured Gideon's astonishment at the condition of what, on
examination, proved to be a large fleece. Out of perspective in
the background a youth staggered under a pile of first-fruits.

"No wayside inn parlour is complete without one such picture,"
said I. "As a rule, we are misled about Moses. This, however,
is of a later school. Besides, this is really something out of
the common."

"Why?"

"Well, that's not Gideon really, but Garrick as Gideon. Very
rare. And that with the first-fruits is Kean as-

"Yes?"