Page:Ballinger Price--Fortune of the Indies.djvu/82

 it was held in the mouth, but not swallowed. It must have required a person of the most delicate perceptions thus to judge of countless little whiffs of tea. Such a person, apparently, was Mr. Bolliver, however, and the odd business of his early days certainly set him apart with a magical difference from any one Jane had ever before known. Besides tasting tea, however, he had had time for numberless interesting and exciting experiences, had nearly lost his life during the Boxer troubles, and, incidentally, had amassed a large and well-invested private fortune. This fact he did not directly mention, but from his occasional references to the interests he still held in China and also the ease with which he purchased eight-hundred-dollar ship models, Jane drew her own conclusions.

The entrance of the boys, rather muddy and decidedly ravenous, somewhat confused the aunts, who tried to herd them out by the back passage. But Mr. Bolliver haled them in, pressed on them all the remaining sugar-cakes, and plied them with questions of all kinds. Alan, before long, was eagerly outlining his latest project of working his way around the world on a tramp steamer, thereby gaining