In fact he looked distraught, now and then--just as a person looks who wants to uncover an ancestor purely by accident, and cannot think of a way that will seem accidental enough.
But at last, after dinner, he made a try.

He took us about his drawing-room, showing us the pictures, and finally stopped before a rude and ancient engraving.

It was a picture of the court that tried Charles I.There was a pyramid of judges in Puritan slouch hats, and below them three bare-headed secretaries seated at a table.

Mr.Phelps put his finger upon one of the three, and said with exulting indifference-- "An ancestor of mine." I put my finger on a judge, and retorted with scathing languidness-- "Ancestor of mine.

But it is a small matter.