Mr. T. Well now, that’s so.  I didn’t just reckon I’d meet him again all this way above the sea-level though, but I’m just as pleased to see him.  Rode up on the cars, I presume, Sir?  Tolerable hilly road all the way, ain’t it now?  There cann’t anybody say we hain’ made the most of our time since you left us.  Took a run over to Berlin; had two hours and a haff in that city, and I dunno as I keered about making a more pro-tracted visit.  Went right through to Vi-enna, saw round Vi-enna.  I did want, being so near, to just waltz into Turkey and see that.  But I guess Turkey’ll have to keep till next time.  Then back again into Switzerland, for I do seem to have kinder taken a fancy to Switzerland.  I’d like to have put in more time there, and we stayed best part of a week too!  But Italy’s an interesting place.  Yes, I’m getting considerable interested in Italy, so far as I’ve got.  There’s Geneva now—­

Miss T. You do beat anything for mixing up places, Father.  And you don’t want to be letting yourself loose on Mr. CULCHARD this way.  You’d better go and bring Mr. VAN BOODELER along; he’s round somewhere.

Mr. T. I do like slinging off when I meet a friend; but I’ll shut down, MAUD, I’ll shut down.

Miss T. Oh, there you are, CHARLEY!  Come right here, and be introduced to Mr. CULCHARD.  He’s a vurry intelligent man.  My cousin, Mr. CHARLES VAN BOODELER,—­Mr. CULCHARD.  Mr. VAN BOODELER’s intelligent too.  He’s going to write our great National Amurrcan novel, soon as ever he has time for it.  That’s so, isn’t it?

Mr. V.B. (a slim, pale young man, with a cosmopolitan air and a languid drawl).  It’s our most pressing national need, Sir, and I have long cherished the intention of supplying it.  I am collecting material, and, when the psychological moment arrives, I shall write that novel.  And I believe it will be a big thing, a very big thing; I mean to make it a complete compendium of every phase of our great and complicated civilisation from State to State and from shore to shore. [CULCHARD bows vaguely.

Miss T. Yes, and the great Amurrcan public are going to rise up in their millions and boom it.  Only I don’t believe they’d better start booming just yet, till there’s something more than covers to that novel.  And how you’re going to collect material for an Amurrcan novel, flying round Europe, just beats me!

Mr. V.B. (with superiority).  Because you don’t realise that it’s precisely in Europe that I find my best American types.  Our citizens show up better against a European background,—­it excites and stimulates their nationality, so to speak.  And again, with a big subject like mine, you want to step back to get the proper focus.  Now I’m stepping back.

Miss T. I guess it’s more like skipping, CHARLEY.  But so long as you’re having a good time!  And here’s Mr. CULCHARD will fix you up some sonnets for headings to the chapters.  You needn’t begin right away, Mr. CULCHARD; I guess there’s no hurry.  But we get talking and talking, and never look at anything.  I don’t call it encouraging the scenery, and that’s a fact!