THE WATCH-TOWER OF KOAT-VEN. 359 



Rumphius at last appeared ; his brother trembled, for he appeared 

 more absorbed in thought and fatigued than usual. Sulpice anti- 

 cipated a storm of contradiction. 



" Good evening, dear brother," said Sulpice, shaking Rumphius 

 by the hand. " Good evening, brother," answered the astronomer, 

 affectedly. " Will you dine, dear brother ? you have been studying 

 since the morning and must find your head fatigued ; you require 

 rest." If Rumphius had finished his dinner, he would certainly have 

 found in this simple phrase at least three subjects for dispute. He 

 noted them without uttering a syllable, and continued eating. "I 

 have prepared these mullets as our father was wont to like them ; 

 dost thou remember, brother ?" Rumphius gave a nod of assent. " It 

 would afford me great gratification if they be agreeable to thee." 

 Rumphius answered by stretching out his plate. The countenance of 

 poor Sulpice beamed with unmingled joy, delighted to see his bro- 

 ther's appetite improved. 



" Do you know, brother,'' said Sulpice, with an expression of dig- 

 nity, stopping in the middle of his dinner to fetch some sheets of pa- 

 per covered with a grayish-blue wrapper, " 1 have here the Mercure 

 de France, which says some very flattering things of you, and" 

 " Pshaw ! nonsense !" grumbled Rumphius, as he cleared the last 

 remnants from a fish-bone. "Have you any thing else to eat?'' 

 " Yes, brother, a nice hot cake, which 1 have kept well warmed for 

 you." In rising, the chair creaked. "What a dreadful disturbance 1" 

 cried Rumphius; for having eaten in excess he began to feel a want 

 of contradiction. *' I beg your pardon, brother," said Sulpice, trem- 

 bling. "Were you, not, however, so abominably obstinate, 5 ' answered 

 the astronomer, " we should have a servant to wait upon us, and 

 thereby escape this eternal creaking of chairs, which continually an- 

 noys me." "But, brother, you yourself commanded me not to take 

 a servant, lest he might disturb your papers, or meddle with your in- 

 struments." "Ah ! that is, " interrupted Rumphius, delighted with 

 the turn which the conversation took, " that is, I want one thing to- 

 day, and to-morrow another ; I am a maniac, an idiot ; I contradict 

 myself continually ; I am fit for confinement ; they ought to admi- 

 nister douches to my head ! Very fine, truly, douches to my head !" 

 continued the astronomer, already most agreeably excited. " But 

 no one says or even thinks so, my dear brother. You wish to have a 

 servant, and you shall have one ; I was wrong; pray pardon me." 

 Submissiveness was not consistent with the astronomer's wants. Dri- 

 ven from the field in one attack, he now turned to another. " Sul- 

 pice," said he, " you said just now that I looked fatigued ; do I in- 

 deed look as though I suffered pain?" "You bore the marks of 

 weariness when you entered ; they are now gone, brother." " That 

 is to say," replied Rumphius, " I put on an appearance of fatigue 

 that I might be pitied. And what can have removed my weariness ? 

 It must have been the table, and you would infer that the table is the 

 charm to chase my ennui pretty brutish this that I make a deity 

 of my appetite ; do say at once that I get drunk, that I destroy my- 

 self by excess ; call me Tiberius, swinish epicure, Vitellius, Sarda- 

 napalus !" " I do not say so, my dear brother." " Ah, a fine answer, 



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