Vivian,
to-day being the seventeenth, and the old lady's birthday the twentieth,
you have three days, or rather nights, of steady work before you."
"Steady work?" murmured the Prophet.
"What should be his hours, Jupiter?" continued Madame. "At what time of
night is he to commence? Shall I say nine?"
The Prophet remembered feebly that, during the next three nights, he had
two important dinner-engagements, a party at the Russian Ambassador's,
and a reception at the Lord Chancellor's just opposite. However, he made
no remark. Somehow he felt that words were useless when confronted with
such an iron will as that of the lady in the pelisse.
"Nine would be too early, my dear," said Mr. Sagittarius. "Eleven p.m.
would be more to the purpose."
"Eleven let it be then, punctually. Will you dot down, Mr. Vivian, that
you have to be at the telescope to take observations at eleven p.m.
every night from now till the twentieth."
"But I have had the telesc--"
"Kindly dot it down."
The Prophet dotted it down with the wrong end of the pencil on the wrong
side of the account-book.
"And what are his hours to be exactly, Jupiter?" continued Madame.
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