THE NATURALIST DEVELOPING. 71 



transferred to our pockets ; or else to throw a crust of bread 

 across the table and hit a neighbor on the nose, or pull the 

 ears of the servant girls in waiting, or indeed perform any 

 other ingenious antics which did not require too much time, 

 or cause too great a noise ! 



No sooner did the good man close his eyes than there 

 was so general a movement of heads and hands, such loud 

 whispering and noisy attempts to choke down laughter, that 

 with all his Sunday morning solemnity he could not help 

 hearing, and accordingly cut short the grace in time to open 

 his eyes upon the most vivid, interesting tableaux conceivable 

 of grins, grimaces, hob-nobbing heads and pointing fingers ; 

 following the direction of which, involuntarily his eye rested 

 first upon my unlucky self, and then upon the monster trout 

 against the pillar, as the cause of this ill-timed hubbub. He 

 started somewhat as his eye took in its size, and the severe 

 frown gathering upon his brow was contradicted by a slight 

 nervous twitch of relaxation at the corner of his mouth ; our 

 watchful eyes detected instantly this favorable sign, and there 

 was one general burst of the smothered laughter from all sides, 

 above which rose the stern command, — 



" Silence ! what does this mean, young gentlemen ?" 



But it was too late now for authority to be regained at once, 

 and peal after peal of unrestrainable laughter set order at de- 

 fiance. But, fortunately for the delinquents, the good man's 

 eyes seemed to wander abstractedly, drawn by some irre- 

 sistible attraction towards the trout. Suddenly he muttered, 

 as if to himself, — 



"Why, as I live, that fish must weigh more than ten 

 pounds !" and forgetting all our outrageous conduct for the 

 moment, he strode across the passage, took down his little 

 spring balance, which he always used for such purposes, and, 

 to our increased amusement and delight, proceeded immedi 

 ately to satisfy himself as to the weight. 



" Twelve pounds !" he exclaimed, drawing a long breath. 



