at men in the past who
have done that, Lewes; there is no reason for us to doubt that still
greater men may succeed them."

"No; there is no reason for us to doubt that," said Lewes, and they
walked on in silence towards the Stotts' cottage.

III

Challis knocked and walked in. They found Ellen Mary and her son at the
tea-table.

The mother rose to her feet and dropped a respectful curtsy. The boy
glanced once at Gregory Lewes and then continued his meal as if he were
unaware of any strange presence in the room.

"I'm sorry. I am afraid we are interrupting you," Challis apologised.
"Pray sit down, Mrs. Stott, and go on with your tea."

"Thank you, sir. I'd just finished, sir," said Ellen Mary, and remained
standing with an air of quiet deference.

Challis took the celebrated armchair, and motioned Lewes to the
window-sill, the nearest available seat for him. "Please sit down, Mrs.
Stott," he said, and Ellen Mary sat, apologetically.

The boy pushed his cup towards his mother, and pointed to the teapot; he
made a grunting sound to attract her attention.

"You'll excuse me, sir," murmured Ellen Mary, and she refilled the cup
and passed it back to her son, who received it without any
acknowledgment. Challis and Lewes were observing the boy intently, but
he took not the least notice of their scrutiny. He discovered no trace
of self-consciousness; Henry Challis and Gregory Lewes appeared to have
no place in the world of his abstraction.

The figure the child presented to his two observers was worthy of
careful scrutiny.

At the age of four and a half years, the Wonder was bald, save for a few
straggling wisps of reddish hair above the ears and at the base of the
skull, and a weak, sparse down, of the same colour, on the top of his
head. The eyebrows, too, were not marked by any line of hair, but the
eyelashes were thick, though short, and several shades darker than the
hair on the skull.

The face is not so easily described. The mouth and chin were relatively
small, overshadowed by that broad cliff of forehead, but they were firm,
the chin well moulded, the lips thin and compressed. The nose was
unusual when seen in profile. There was no sign of a bony bridge, but it
was markedly curved and jutted out at a curious angle from the line of
the face. The nostrils were wide and open. None of these features
produced any effect of childishness; but this effect was partly achieved
by the contours of the cheeks, and