And he, clumsily: "Ahem!--the--er--celestial aspect of your journey has--er--doubtless been colored by--er--the prospect of your--er--approaching nuptials--" She, hastily: "Oh, I do not think so, professor." "Idiot!" I muttered, dragging the dog to the shore, where his yelps brought the professor hurrying. "Is _that_ the dog?" he inquired, adjusting his spectacles. "That's the dog," I said. "He's full of points, you see?" "Oh," mused the professor; "I thought he was full of--" He hesitated, inspecting the animal, who, nose to the ground, stood investigating a smell of some sort. "See," I said, with enthusiasm, "he's found a scent; he's trailing it already! Now he's rolling on it!" "He's rolling on one of our concentrated food lozenges," said the professor, dryly. "Tie him up, Mr. Gilland, and ask Mrs. Gilland to come up to camp. Your room is ready." "Rooms," I corrected; "she isn't Mrs. Gilland yet," I added, with a forced smile. "But you're practically married," observed the professor, "as you pointed out to me. And if she's practically Mrs. Gilland, why not say so?" "Don't, all the same," I snarled. "But marriages are made in--" I cast a desperate eye upon him. From that moment, whenever we were alone together, he made a target of me. I never had supposed him humorously vindictive; he was, and his apparently innocent mistakes almost turned my hair gray. But to Miss Barrison he was kind and courteous, and for a time over-serious. Observing him, I could never detect the slightest symptom of dislike for her sex--a failing which common rumor had always credited him with to the verge of absolute rudeness. On the contrary, it was perfectly plain to anybody that he liked her. There was in his manner towards her a mixture of business formality and the deferential attitude of a gentleman. We were seated, just before sunset, outside of the hut built of palmetto logs, when Professor Farrago, addressing us both, began the explanation of our future duties. Miss Barrison, it appeared, was to note everything said by himself, making several shorthand copies by evening. In other words, she was to report every scrap of conversation she heard while in the Everglades. And she nodded intelligently as he finished, and drew pad and pencil from the pocket of her walking-skirt, jotting down his instructions as a beginning. I could see that he was pleased. "The reason I do this," he said, "is because I do not wish to hide anything that transpires while we are on this expedition. Only the most scrupulously minute record can satisfy me; no details are too small to merit record; I demand and I court from my fellow-scientists and from the public the fullest investigation." He smiled slightly, turning towards me.