Certain odd minutes every day went to learning things by heart; he never took a ticket without noting the number; he devoted January to Petronius, February to Catullus, March to the Etruscan vases perhaps; anyhow he had done good work in India, and there was nothing to regret in his life except the fundamental defects which no wise man regrets, when the present is still his.

So concluding he looked up suddenly and smiled.

Rachel caught his eye.
"And now you've chewed something thirty-seven times, I suppose ?" she thought, but said politely aloud, "Are your legs troubling you to-day, Mr.Pepper ?" "My shoulder blades ?" he asked, shifting them painfully.

"Beauty has no effect upon uric acid that I'm aware of," he sighed, contemplating the round pane opposite, through which the sky and sea showed blue.

At the same time he took a little parchment volume from his pocket and laid it on the table.