PROFESSOR. Yes, yes, I read that.
MISS TUCKEY. “I am coming back to-morrow--I have had a lovely time. So
did Benjy: we went everywhere together, but he always would go into the
water, and I had to stay out----”
PROFESSOR. Benjy is the dog, I believe.
MISS TUCKEY. “That was wrong of him, wasn’t it?-- To-day in the wood I
saw a tree full of fairies, it was wonderful. But when I came they all
climbed up and hid behind the leaves, so I wasn’t able to catch one.
But I send you a leaf off the tree, so as to show it was a real one,
and not what you call my ‘magination’----”
PROFESSOR. Oh, so that’s what the botanical specimen is for, is
it?--Yes?----
MISS TUCKEY. “Please keep it till I come, then I will tell you all
about it----”
PROFESSOR. Miss Tuckey, I wish you would not leave that door open!
There’s a dreadful draught at my back.
MISS TUCKEY. It isn’t open sir.
PROFESSOR. Well, there’s a draught somewhere--Quite a wind! It seemed
to come all of a sudden; and there! it has blown away Miss Elfrida’s
leaf that was here a moment ago. (HE _friggles and moves his head
uneasily, as though the draught still afflicted him_) You had better
rearrange that screen. Well, is that all the letter?
MISS TUCKEY. Yes, sir, except she sends her love. (SHE _goes and
re-arranges the screen_)
PROFESSOR. Very well. That is all, thank you, for the present. Just
draw down those blinds before you go. The light is too strong, it tries
my eyes. (MISS TUCKEY _lowers the blinds_) I should be glad to have
that article for Hibbered’s copied before post-time.
MISS TUCKEY. Certainly, sir.
PROFESSOR. And when Miss Elfrida comes will you send her up to me?
MISS TUCKEY. Yes, sir.
(_She collects her papers and goes out, and the_ PROFESSOR
_settles to his writing. Putting aside_ ELFRIDA’S _letter,
conspicuous by reason of its being written on pink paper,
reminds him of the vanished leaf. He gives a momentary look
for it to right and left: but the thing is unimportant, and
dismissing it, he gets to work. This so entirely absorbs him
that he is unaware of being looked at. Above the top of the
writing-table a pair of strange eyes gradually emerge. Dark
and insect-like, they stare at him out of a small green face,
sharp, queer, and suggestive of a brain with a vivacious
but detached standpoint. Out of the head sprout long horns
or antennae; the creature is a curious mixture of beetle,
bird, and grasshopper. Its color from head to foot is bright
green. Fixing on the_ PROFESSOR _a stare of uninformed and
quite unintelligent interrogation, it moves slowly round the
writing-table till it stands opposite to him. Presently it
smacks its lips, and begins a soft jabber to itself, not much
louder than the whip of leaves on a window-pane._)
BIRD-IN-HAND. Quit-a-quit! Quit-a-quit! Quit-a-quit!
(_The_ PROFESSOR, _thinking he hears something, looks up
through his reading-glasses, and cannot believe his eyes. At
once his grievance is against the optician._)
PROFESSOR. Really!--these glasses!--How they do strain one’s eyes! (HE
_takes them off, and puts on his distance-glasses; but the apparition
remains, vibrating up and down on its toes as though rather pleased
with itself. The_ PROFESSOR _considers it from a variety of attitudes,
and with a growing apprehension that he really is seeing something_)
Dear me, now! This is most extraordinary!--It almost makes me believe
my eyes. (_He endeavors to reconstruct his thoughts on scientific
lines_)--Now, let me think, let me think! How many cups of green tea
did I have this morning?
BIRD-IN-HAND. Sik-silk-silk-silk-silk-silk-silk!