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AN INTERVIEW' WITH AN EMPEROR.

“Aye, aye,” he replied, nodding his head thoughtfully, “ye’ll be frae yin o’ they expedeetions, are ye no?”

“Yes,”I said boldly, seeing that the cat must come out of the bag. “We are from the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907.”

“Mphm! are ye though? Ye’re queer folk, man! I often wonder what brings ye here. I mind the last yin that was here, somewhere about seven years syne.”

“A pack o’ them cam’ ower tae the rookery, after the maist o’ us was gane. We thought they were sea-leopards at first, and some o’ the weans was gey scared.”

“But as far as I ken, they ta’en naething but a wheen auld rotten eggs. What in a’ the world they were gaun tae dae wi’ them is a pairfect meestery tae me.”

“The Maister was no at hame at the time, but he was awfu’ vexed when he heard tell o’ it. He said he would ha’e the law o’ them if they ever came again.”

“Well! I hope we will get on better with you,” I said. “We’ll try not to annoy you in any way.”

I wondered at the time if he would object to