d two torpid rodents from a
congeries of their kith and, holding them by their pink tails, dropped them
into a paper bag with the air of a Marchese depositing alms in the palm of
a lazzarone.

Not lightly indeed did I again enter into the Presence. But on this
occasion duty called. The troubadour with lady's glove in helm never showed
a bolder front than the journalist in search of copy. And boldness, it
seemed, was to be rewarded. As I approached the Pontifical Personage it
appeared certain that he did not remember me. And why, I asked myself,
should he? Had I been the Duke of BEDFORD or the President of the Ladies'
Kennel Club I might have expected a place in his august memory. But an
insignificant uncle buying white rats--it was absurd, of course, to fear
recognition.

I plunged straightway _in medias res_. "I have here," I said, "a journal of
unimpeachable veracity which declares that the Pasteur Institute in Paris
is suffering from a guinea-pig shortage. Please oblige me with your expert
opinion on this momentous matter."

The P.P. smiled slightly, cleared his throat and, waving me to the further
end of the menagerie, proceeded to answer my question. "The common or
Sicilian guinea-pig," he began, "the _Porculus Auriferus Excubitor_ of
BUFFON, is still fairly common, though I may say that it is many a day
since they could be purchased for a guinea. An allied species, the Chinese
or edible guinea-pig, the Sing Fat Soo of the Cantonese restaurateur, is
indeed quite plentiful, but for some reason or other has never found favour
with the leading English fanciers. The fact is that since the War our
customers have become more discerning, and the common guinea-pig, being no
longer called for, is not bred and has therefore ceased to be available for
scientific purposes. A few of the art shades, notably _tete-negre_ and
_beige_ pigs, are still in request by the furriers; but the public demand
is for something more select.

"Now here"--and reaching into an adjoining cage the Pontifical Personage
extracted between finger and thumb a pinch of twitching fluff--"is the most
highly-prized of the race, the blue Himalayan pig. Only five specimens have
so far reached this country. The first pair were presented to the Duchess
of Snoblands by the Maharajah of Khidmutgar about three years ago, but the
sow met with an unfortunate accident in her ladyship's absence, being
dipped into a box of face-powder by a thoughtless maidservant. T