venture of writing to Lady Margaret asking her if she would sell or
exchange that snake.

He kept thinking of the matter all the morning, wondering what had
become of Marcus. In the afternoon, he was to drive with his Aunt
Nora. While he was dressing, Celeste, the maid, brought him his
overcoat. Madame desired him to wear it, as he had a cold. "Very
well," said Edmund, obliging as usual. Approaching to put the coat
on, a little later, he stopped short. Surely the wind didn't cause
that singular flutter in the cloth! Then the flap moved. "Come
out!" cried Edmund.

As though in response to his invitation a small head erected itself
from the pocket, a small green head with glittering eyes, a head
which had an indescribably droll and Waggish air--the head, in
short, of the lost Marcus Aurelius. The intelligent reptile
immediately crawled out. He wound himself about the hand Edmund
held to him, curled under the boy's sleeve, nestled under his
sleeve with manifest pleasure at renewing the acquaintance.

It was plain enough to Edmund how it had happened. The intelligent
Marcus crawling into the hall had spied the pocket of Edmund's coat
and coolly entered. Once there, he had gone to sleep and the
unsuspecting Celeste had rolled the coat up in a strap not to undo
it until now. "So here you are, you beauty," said Edmund, "and I'll
take good care of you while you are mine; I only wish you could be
mine forever!"

There was a candy-box on the table with a glass cover. Of this he
hastily made a prison, then sallied out to find his captive some