"Doubtless," remarked Philip, "--for a Political who comes with the swallows and summer. You should have seen it in January,--shouldn't he, boys?" "Bah! the usual 'last Toosday' of 'Punch!' The hardships of campaigning indeed! _Perdrix aux choux_ and cold gooseberry tart for dinner; an idyllic mess-house in a peach-garden; coffee and iced pegs to follow." "Well, sir," cried a youngster cheerfully, "if you had favoured us in winter we would have given you stewed Tom in addition. It was an excellent cat; we all enjoyed it, except Samuel. You see it was his favourite _miaow_, so he is going to give the stuffed skin to an aged aunt, from whom he expects money, in order to show that he belongs to the Anti-Vivisection League." "A certain faint regard for the verities is essential to a jest," began Samuel, affecting the style of his illustrious namesake. "I wish some one would remove the mess-dictionary," interrupted the other. "The child will hurt himself with those long words some day." "Bad for you, if they did," grinned a third. "D'ye know he actually asked me last mail-day if there were two f's in affection. _Whoo hoop!_" Closely pursued by the avenger he leapt the low balustrade, and the garden resounded to much boyish laughter, as one by one the youngsters joined the chase. "Remarkably high spirits," yawned John Raby, "but a trifle reminiscent of a young gentleman's academy. They jar on the _dolce far niente_ of the surroundings." "We were glad enough of the spirits a few months ago," replied Philip significantly. "The _dolce far niente_ of semi-starvation requires some stimulant." "That was very nearly a _fiasco_, sending you over the Pass so late. Lucky for you the Politicals put the drag on the Military in time." "Lucky, you mean, that poor Dick Smith managed to send that telegram. I've often wondered how he did it. The story would be worth hearing; he was one in a thousand." "You always had a leaning towards that red-headed boy; now I thought him most offensive. He--" "_De mortuis_," quoted the Major with a frown. "Those are the ethics of eternity combined with a sneaking belief in ghosts. But I mean nothing personal. He was simply a disconcerting sport, as the biologists say, from the neutral-tinted Eurasian, and I distrust a man who doesn't look his parentage; he is generally a fraud or a monstrosity." "That theory of yours is rather hard on development, isn't it?" said Philip with a smile.