Page:Jepson--Pollyooly.djvu/186

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168
POLLYOOLY

cocoa. After it, in a great peace, they took their way slowly to Trafalgar Square to see the fountains playing. There they stayed till the Lump grew sleepy, then took a 'bus to the Temple and bed.

The next morning after bringing in the Honorable John Ruffin's bacon Pollyooly did not at once proceed to the gathering up of his strewn garments. She looked at him with eager eyes and said:

"Please, sir, I met a gentleman who knows you in the park yesterday; and he told me to tell you he was going to borrow me. He gave me a whole half-crown for giving a lady a letter in a bunch of violets—at least, the Lump did. And she gave him a shilling. His name is Captain Croome, and he lives in Knightsbridge Barracks. He wants me to do it again."

The Honorable John Ruffin set down his knife and fork with a faint gasp, and gazed at her with bewildered eyes.

"My dear Mrs. Bride," he said faintly, "I am aware that the art of boiling down romances for popular consumption is highly esteemed and lucrative. But I'm not popular; and I do not suffer from consumption. Do you think you could narrate this