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XX]
GAMMON AND SPINACH.
317
He opened the door of the cupboard wide: and there he was, the Other Professor, sitting in a chair, with a book on his knee, and in the act of helping himself to a nut from a dish, which he had taken down off a shelf just within his reach. He looked round at us, but said nothing till he had cracked and eaten the nut. Then he asked the old question. "Is the Lecture all ready?"
"It’ll begin in an hour," the Professor said, evading the question. "First, we must have something to surprise the Empress. And then comes the Banquet"
"The Banquet!" cried the Other Professor, springing up, and filling the room with a cloud
