150 ARDENMOHR. 



these books ; yet I should wish to have met poor 

 Charlotte Bronte." 



"And you do not admire such fine-drawn 

 characters Adam Bede, &c., or Jane Eyre ? Eccen- 

 tric a bit ! " 



"It may be so," I said; "yet these people seem 

 to me like anatomical transparencies which show 

 blood, brain, and nerve : clever and instructive, no 

 doubt ; but neither living beings, nor sweet to con- 

 template." 



" So you would make recluses of the sensitive 

 and self-absorbed ? " 



" Certainly, yes hermit, saints, or sinners ; any- 

 thing, anywhere, out of the world. I detest animals 

 with feelers." 



Here the Major (who, I thought, was asleep) 

 laughed heartily. 



" What's the row, Major ? " inquired Ward. 



"Abbott's term, 'animals with feelers.' I know 

 several ; nasty people to meet." 



" Then, Major, you agree so far ? " 



" So far as I heard ; but I must have been dozing." 



" Time for everybody to doze, I suspect. Whew ! 

 past one o'clock." 



