'Very well,' the Hermit replied seriously, 'I will add a few things;
but, if you don't mind, not rats of any colour, nor in fact any live
stock.'

'Just as you like,' said the magnanimous Chimp. 'You wouldn't do for
Billy Lincolne though: he usually carries half a dozen frogs in his
trousers' pockets.'

When the cricket gear was complete, Chimp stepped out twenty-two yards
and pitched the stumps. 'You go in first,' he said.

The Hermit seized the bat.

'Now all you have to do at first,' Chimp continued, 'is to keep the ball
out of the wicket. Hit it any way you like, and hold your bat straight.'

The Hermit obeyed to the letter. To Chimp's intense astonishment he
punished the bowling all round, pulling off balls to square leg in a
shameless fashion.

Chimp was kept busy, and at last he grew almost vexed. 'Well, you mayn't
have much science,' he cried, as, nearly out of breath, he flung himself
down after some miles of running, 'but you've got a gorgeous eye. Why,
you hit everything. You've played before, haven't you?' he added
suspiciously.

The Hermit smiled again. 'A little,' he admitted. 'Yes, my late
instructor, the sage to whom I was confided by my parents many, many
years ago, he and I occasionally had a game together. It was our only
recreation. I thought it hardly worth while to mention it, expecting
that all skill had left me.'

'By jingo! though, it hasn't,' Chimp exclaimed. 'You're a regular W. G.
in your way. But, I say, another time you know how to do a thing you
might let a fellow know first.'

'This is too silly,' was Chimp's persistent thought during the next few
days, but he kept up the game of make-believe like a hero. As a matter
of fact, it was sound amusement to explore the island and plunge on
sudden impulses into a score of high-spirited enterprises, although the
presence of the old man panting at his side touched him rather sadly now
and then. The Hermit, however, endured stolidly and pluckily, and
neither of them ever let the time appear to drag.

Chimp and his apprentice bathed together, and hunted for anemones among
the rocks; they gave chase to butterflies and lizards; they told
stories; they even pretended to be Robinson Crusoe and Friday, the part
of Friday falling to the Hermit.

'You see, Billykins,' Chimp said, 'you are better suited to the part:
you can make such a whacking footprint.'

'I think I am progressing well, Simian,' remarked Chimp's apprentice at
breakfast o