glance of inquiry --'Don't mind saying so. Philip and I often agree
that it is a pity spend so much time in laughing at nothing--at such
nonsense.'

'It is nonsense?'

'Listen--no don't, it is too silly.'

'Nonsense must be an excellent thing if it makes people so happy,' said
Guy thoughtfully. 'Look at them; they are like--not a picture--that
has no life--but a dream--or, perhaps a scene in a play.'

'Did you never see anything like it?'

'Oh, no! All the morning calls I ever saw were formal, every one
stiff, and speaking by rote, or talking politics. How glad I used to
be to get on horseback again! But to see these--why, it is like the
shepherd's glimpse at the pixies!--as one reads a new book, or watches
what one only half understands--a rook's parliament, or a gathering of
sea-fowl on the Shag Rock.'

'A rook's parliament?'

'The people at home call it a rook's parliament when a whole cloud of
rooks settle on some bare, wide common, and sit there as if they were
consulting, not feeding, only stalking about, with drooping wings, and
solemn, black cloaks.'

'You have found a flattering simile,' said Laura, 'as you know that
rooks never open their mouths without cause.'