about all that affair. Fully!"

It became clear to me as if for the first time, that I was really
parting from my aunt Susan. I went out on to the pavement and saw her
head craned forward, her wide-open blue eyes and her little face intent
on the shop that had combined for her all the charms of a big doll's
house and a little home of her very own. "Good-bye!" she said to it and
to me. Our eyes met for a moment--perplexed. My uncle bustled out and
gave a few totally unnecessary directions to the cabman and got in
beside her. "All right?" asked the driver. "Right," said I; and he woke
up the horse with a flick of his whip. My aunt's eyes surveyed me again.
"Stick to your old science and things, George, and write and tell me
when they make you a Professor," she said cheerfully.

She stared at me for a second longer with eyes growing wider and
brighter and a smile that had become fixed, glanced again at the bright
little shop still saying "Ponderevo" with all the emphasis of its
fascia, and then flopped back hastily out of sight of me into the
recesses of the cab. Then it had gone from before me and I beheld Mr.
Snape, the hairdresser, inside his store regarding its departure with a
quiet satisfaction and exchanging smiles and significant headshakes with
Mr. Marbel.

IV

I was left, I say, as part of the lock, stock, and barrel, at
Wimblehurst with my new master, a Mr. Mantell; who plays no part in the
progress of this story except in so far as he effaced my uncle's traces.
So soon as the freshness of this new personality faded, I began to find
Wimblehurst not only a dull but a lonely place, and to miss my aunt