"Come now, tell us, Veslovsky, how are the stones held together?" "By cement, of course.

" "Bravo! And what is cement?" "Oh, some sort of paste...no, putty," said Veslovsky, raising a general laugh.

The company at dinner, with the exception of the doctor, the architect, and the steward, who remained plunged in gloomy silence, kept up a conversation that never paused, glancing off one subject, fastening on another, and at times stinging one or the other to the quick.