"I'm going out with Leslie," said Peter. "We're going to call on the
prince and see the goblet and begin the haggling. We must haggle, though
as a matter of fact Leslie means to have it at any price. It must be a
perfectly ripping thing.... Now let me have a number of 'The Gem' to
read. I've not seen it yet, you know."

"It's very dull, my dear," Peggy murmured, rinsing water over the place
on the table-cloth where Silvio's feet had been.

Hilary was gazing into the frog-like countenance of his youngest son. It
gave him a disappointment ever new, that Illuminato should be so plain.
"But your mother's handsome, frog," he murmured, "and I'm not worse than
my neighbours to look at." (But he knew he was better than most of them).
"Let's hope you have intellect to make up. Now crawl to your uncle Peter,
since you want to."

Illuminato did want to. He adored his uncle Peter.

"The Gem, Peter?" said Hilary. "Bother the Gem. As Peggy remarks, it's
very dull, and you won't like it. I don't know that I want you to read
it, to say the truth."

Peter was in the act of doing so. He had found three torn pages of it on
the floor. He was reading an article called "Osele." Hilary glanced at
it, with the slight nervous frown frequent with him.

"What have you got hold of?... Oh, that." His frown seemed to relax
a little. "I really don't recommend the thing for your entertainment,
Peter. It'll bore you. I have to provide two things--food for the