rs should contain or be contained by almond icing."

The head waiter asked for information about the size of the party.

"There are only two ladies," I said, "but they are bringing a young man
with them. We may, as he is not here, describe him as a boy. Therefore
there must be a large number of cakes, say four dozen."

The head waiter's eyebrows went up slightly. It was the first sign of
emotion he had shown.

"I sha'n't eat more than two myself," I said, "so four dozen ought to be
enough. I also want ices, twelve ices."

This time the head waiter gasped. It was a cold, a remarkably cold, day,
with an east wind and a feeling in the air as if snow was imminent.

"You mustn't understand from that," I said, "that the fire is to be
allowed to go out. Quite the contrary. I want a particularly good fire.
When the others are eating ices I shall feel the need of it."

The head waiter asked if I had a preference for any particular kind of
ice.

"Strawberry," I said, "vanilla, and coffee. Three of each, and three
neapolitan. That will make up the dozen. I shall want a whole box of
wafers. The ices can be brought in after tea, say at twenty minutes past
five. It wouldn't do to have them melting while we were at the cakes,
and I insist on a good fire."

The head waiter recapitulated my orders to make sure that he had got
them right and then left me.

At twenty minutes to five Lalage and Hilda arrived. They looked very
hot, which pleased me. I had been feeling a little nervous about the
ices. They explained breathlessly that they were sorry for being late. I
reassured them.

"So far from being late," I said "you're twenty minutes too early. I'm
delighted to see you, but it's only twenty minutes to five."

"There now, Hilda," said Lalage, "I told you that your old chronometer
had most likely darted on again. I should have had lots and lots of time
to do my hair. Hilda's watch," she explained to me, "was left to her in
her grandmother's will, so of course it goes too fast. It often gains as
much as two hours in the course of the morning."

"I wonder you trust it," I said.

"We don't. When we got your first 'gram in the Elizabethan we looked
at the clock and saw that we had heaps of time. When your second
came--Selby-Harrison sent it over from number 175--we began to think
that Hilda's watch might be right after all and that the college clock
had stopped. We went back _ventre a terre_ on the top of a tram to
Trinity Ha