Unconsciously following the bus route, I emerged eventually on
Piccadilly, and was jostled and ogled and blessed and cursed with the
greatest heartiness. Somewhere near Bond Street I collided heavily with
a young man who was trying to negotiate the crowd and at the same time
lose nothing of the shop windows' display.
"A thousand devils!" I muttered, recoiling from the impact.
"A thousand pardons!" he said, raising his hat. The graceful lilt of
his voice was peculiarly reminiscent; his smooth brow and silky fair
hair were both familiar and elusive.
"One moment----" He gazed into my face with a searching look, keeping
his hat poised in the air as if the better to concentrate his thoughts.
"Not the Pest?" he said.
I nodded, and, if the truth be told, felt not a little pleased at the
sound of the old _nom d'école_ earned when I was at Westminster.
"And how," I said, "is the Blower of Bubbles?"
For answer he replaced his hat at a rakish angle and shook my hand with
both his for what seemed a full minute, the crowd parting
good-naturedly like a wave encircling a rock.
"My dear old Pest," he said, "we shall dine together."
"I'm sorry, but----"
"There is a perfectly vile restaurant half-a-mile from here, that has
the best violinist and the worst cook in London."
"My dear chap----"
"Of all the luck! Think of my running into you on Christmas Eve!"
And just then I noticed that we were no longer standing still, but
proceeding up a side street, arm-in-arm, while his disengaged hand
indicated the passing scene as if it were the most gorgeous bazaar of
the Orient. He spoke with extraordinary rapidity, except in uttering
certain words, when he would make a slurring pause, as a singer will
let a note melt into a pianissimo, then race on again with renewed
vigor. It was a fascinating trick of speech, and, added to the subtle
inflections of his voice, never failed to startle one into the closest
attention.
I turned to him once with some remark on my lips, and noticed that his
eyes were dancing with merriment.
"What is it, Pest?" he cried. "Out with it!"