At the
further end of the room the diners were still spasmodically
applauding in view of an encore.
``Whether the leader of the orchestra died from drowning
by soup, or from the shock to his professional vanity, or
was scalded to death, the doctors were never wholly able to
agree. Monsieur Aristide Saucourt, who now lives in
complete retirement, always inclined to the drowning
theory.''
THE QUEST
An unwonted peace hung over the Villa Elsinore, broken,
however, at frequent intervals, by clamorous lamentations
suggestive of bewildered bereavement. The Momebys had lost
their infant child; hence the peace which its absence
entailed; they were looking for it in wild, undisciplined
fashion, giving tongue the whole time, which accounted for
the outcry which swept through house and garden whenever
they returned to try the home coverts anew. Clovis, who was
temporarily and unwillingly a paying guest at the villa, had
been dozing in a hammock at the far end of the garden when
Mrs. Momeby had broken the news to him.
``We've lost Baby,'' she screamed.
``Do you mean that it's dead, or stampeded, or that you
staked it at cards and lost it that way?'' asked Clovis
lazily.
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