"Precisely," returned Mr. Whitechoker, with a sigh of relief. "Mrs.
Smithers, I think I'll have a dash of hot-water in my coffee this
morning." Then, with a nervous glance towards the Idiot, he added,
addressing the Bibliomaniac, "I think it looks like rain."
"Referring to the coffee, Mr. Whitechoker?" queried the Idiot, not
disposed to let go of his victim quite so easily.
"Ah--I don't quite follow you," replied the Minister, with some
annoyance.
"You said something looked like rain, and I asked you if the thing you
referred to was the coffee, for I was disposed to agree with you," said
the Idiot.
"I am sure," put in Mrs. Smithers, "that a gentleman of Mr.
Whitechoker's refinement would not make any such insinuation, sir. He is
not the man to quarrel with what is set before him."
[Illustration: "HOLDING HIS PLATE UP TO THE LIGHT"]
"I ask your pardon, madam," returned the Idiot, politely. "I hope that I
am not the man to quarrel with my food, either. Indeed, I make it a
rule to avoid unpleasantness of all sorts, particularly with the weak,
under which category we find your coffee. I simply wish to know to what
Mr. Whitechoker refers when he says 'it looks like rain.'"
"I mean, of course," said the Minister, with as much calmness as he
could command--and that was not much--"I mean the day. The day looks as
if it might be rainy."
"Any one with a modicum of brain knows what you meant, Mr. Whitechoker,"
volunteered the School-master.
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