If the professor heard, he heeded not. Still staring with vacant
gaze into the fire, his face bearing a rapt expression curious to
see, he broke into almost unconscious speech:

"An enormous inland sea! Where float the mighty ichthyosaurus,
the megalosaurus, in company with the gigantic plesiosaurus! Upon
whose sloping shores disport the enormous mastodon, the
stately megatherium, the tremendous--eh?"

For Waldo was now afoot, brandishing a great branch broken from a
dead tree, uttering valiant war-whoops, and dealing tremendous
blows upon an imaginary enemy, spouting at the top of his voice a
frenzied jargon, which neither his auditors nor himself could
possibly make sense out of.

Bruno, ever sensitive through his affectionate reverence for
their uncle, caught the youngster, and cast him to earth,
whereupon Waldo pantingly cried:

"Go on, please, uncle Phaeton. It's next thing to a museum and
menagerie combined, just to hear--"

"Will you hush, boy?" demanded Bruno, yet unable to wholly
smother a laugh, so ridiculous did it all sound and seem.

But Professor Featherwit declined, his foxy face wrinkling in a
bashful laugh. Whether so intended or not, he had been brought
down to earth from that dizzy flight, and now was fairly himself
again.