the vaguest notion, having long since condemned the whole
subject, with insular prejudice, as "rot."

"Now, please," said Herr Stohwasser, "where we left off last term. Third
act, first scene--Court before Tell's house. Tell is vid the carpenter
axe, Hedwig vid a domestig labour occupied. Walter and Wilhelm in the
depth sport with a liddle gross-bow. Biddlegom, you begin. Walter
(sings)."

But Biddlecomb was in a conversational mood, and willing to postpone the
task of translation, so he merely inquired, with an air of extreme
interest, how Herr Stohwasser's German Grammar was getting on.

This was a subject on which (as he perhaps knew) the German never could
resist enlarging, for in common with most German masters, he was giving
birth to a new Grammar, which, from the daring originality of its plan,
and its extreme simplicity, was destined to supersede all other similar
works.

"Ach," he said, "it is brogressing. I haf just gompleted a gomprehensive
table of ze irregular virps, vith ze eggserzizes upon zem. And zere is
further an appendeeks which in itself gontains a goncise view of all ze
vort-blays possible in the Charman tong. But, come, let us gontinue vith
our Tell!"

"What are vort-blays?" persisted Biddlecomb insidiously, having no idea
of continuing with his Tell just yet.

"A vort-blay," exclaimed Herr Stohwasser; "it is English, nicht so? A
sporting vid vorts--a 'galembour'--a--Gott pless me, vat you call a
'pon.'"

"Like the one you made when you were a young man?" Jolland called out
from the lower end of the table.

"Yes; tell us the one you made when you were a young man," the class
entreated, with flattering eagerness.

Herr Stohwasser began to laugh with slow, deep satisfaction; the
satisfaction of a successful achievement. "Hah, you remember dat!" he
said, "ah, yes, I make him when a yong man; but, mind you, he was not a
pon--he was a '_choke_.' I haf told you all about him before."

"We've forgotten it," said Biddlecomb: "tell it us again."

As a matter of fact this joke, in all its lights, was tolerably familiar
to most of them by this time, but, either on its individual merits, or
perhaps because it compared favourably with the sterner alternative of
translating, it was periodically in request, and always met with
evergreen appreciation.

Herr Stohwasser beamed with the pride of authorship. Like the celebrated
Scotchman, he "jocked wi' deeficulty," and the outcome of so much
labour