Years ago his father had brought him on a public holiday to the
Museum, and his interest was chiefly excited by the collection of
the Royal Seals. To that quarter he first led his companion, and
thence directed her towards objects more likely to supply her with
amusement; he talked freely, and was himself surprised at the show
of information his memory allowed him to make--desperately vague
and often ludicrously wide of the mark, but still a something of
knowledge, retained from all sorts of chance encounters by his
capable mind. Had the British Museum been open to visitors in the
hours of the evening, or on Sundays, Bob Hewitt would possibly have
been employing his leisure nowadays in more profitable pursuits.
Possibly; one cannot say more than that; for the world to which he
belonged is above all a world of frustration, and only the one man
in half a million has fate for his friend.
Much Clem cared for antiquities; when she had wearied herself in
pretending interest, a seat in an unvisited corner gave her an
opportunity for more congenial dialogue.
'How's Mrs. Pennyloaf?' she asked, with a smile of malice.
'How's Mr. What's-his-name Snowdon?' was the reply.
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