The Studio Crime (34 page)

“Oh, Lion!” protested Nora. “You aren't really going to look at this silly old quarry? You are the most restless kid. Do sit down and be peaceful for half an hour.”

“No, thanks,” said her young brother with a grin. “I'll leave that to you elderly creatures. I want to put the quarry and tram-lines on my map, to show how this inn got its ridiculous name.”

“Can't you put them in the map without seeing them?”

“Certainly not,” replied Lion, scandalized, and departed.

“That young man'll sure go far,” remarked Sir Charles, producing a gold cigarette-case and offering it to Isabel. “He wastes neither words nor time.”

“Could I have another cup of tea, my dear?” asked Dr. Browning. “The schoolboy in pursuit of his hobby is the most earnest and hard-working creature in existence, and an example to us all.”

“At his age,” said Charles, “there was nothing hardworking or earnest about me. My only hobby was to avoid anything that looked like work, and have a good time. What do you say, Felix?”

Filling his pipe, Felix answered thoughtfully:

“At fifteen? Oh, I think I took life fairly seriously. But I wasn't as practical as young Lion, nor as original. I was a bit of a day-dreamer, and saw myself as a second Michael Angelo. Now I'm a photographer, and haven't time for day-dreams. There's a moral, I'm sure. Have you any matches?”

“The moral,” said Isabel, smiling at him, “is obvious. If you hadn't wasted your young years in idle dreams you might have been—”

“A second Michael Angelo?”

“A better photographer,” said Isabel gravely.

“Bravo,” remarked Dr. Browning. “Isabel, you're a girl of sense. No, thank you, Sir Charles. I prefer Egyptian.”