EUCLID. Delicate affair, indeed, to throw that great basket out of the window; a coal heaver would shine particularly in such a delicate affair! Oh, nonsense! FANNY. Please do, sir, I've a motive--heigho! EUCLID. Oh, well--what will they ask me to do next? Here, girl, ask me to do no more. It's confoundedly heavy! (_they lift the basket between them, rest it on the window ledge, and push it off._) Oh, my shoulder! FANNY. What a splash! Thank'ye, sir, thank'ye; it's gone to the bottom of the river. EUCLID. Yes, and nearly took my arm with it--oh! oh! oh! Let me impress one thing on your memory. Frances Pepper, next time you want a delicate affair managed, hire a ticket porter. FANNY. Thank'ye, sir, thank'ye, sir, for throwing my basket out of window. That faithless monster's present; I wish he had been here, I'd have asked Mr. Facile to throw him after it; I'm sure he'd have done it, he is so good-natured. [_Exit, L. H._ EUCLID. Ha! ha! a whimsical request enough. See what it is to be of an easy disposition. What the servants will ask next it is impossible to say. I have already written six letters for the footman, and read as many valentines for the women; and the other day the old nurse asked me to tell her fortune, because she said my books looked like conjuring books; but this basket-throwing-- _Enter MRS. FACILE, L. H._ is the strangest adventure I ever knew. MRS. F. Oh, my dear, have you seen a basket--a large basket? EUCLID. Yes. MRS. F. Like a hamper, big enough to put you in. EUCLID. Yes, yes, well--(_aside._) I had better not say I helped Fanny, or she'll blow up. MRS. F. Well, you'll promise not to say anything, give me your word. EUCLID. My love, not I; upon my word. MRS. F. What do you suppose is in that basket? EUCLID. Oh, I don't know--pickled salmon. He! he! (_aside._) I shall learn something. MRS. F. It is a man. EUCLID. Hey--what? MRS. F. A man! EUCLID. (_aside._) The devil it was. My sweetest, you must be mistaken. MRS. F. I heard him talk; he is De Mowbray, Julia's unknown lover. He wanted to get out of the basket, but I told him I would have him carried out of the house. You see I want to break off the connexion. EUCLID. Egad! the connexion is broke off with a vengeance. MRS. F. But how serious you look--quite uneasy. EUCLID. Uneasy, I? Ha! ha! quite a mistake! man in a basket--devilish droll! Ha! ha! ha! Oh! oh! oh! _Enter ROBERT, R._ ROBERT. Please, ma'am, we can't find any basket; we have looked everywhere. MRS. F. No! EUCLID. Not found it? How extraordinary! You could not have looked. MRS. F. Ah! Fanny must have seen it and taken it. You may go. [_Exit ROBERT, R._] I'm uneasy. EUCLID. So am I. Uneasy, my dear--how absurd! MRS. F. Why suppose that wild fellow has got out of the basket, Mr. Holdfast may meet him. EUCLID. My love, you need not give yourself the slightest uneasiness on that score. I dare say he has escaped with the basket, out of the window perhaps--oh! oh! oh!