On leaving Jamrach's he said to me, 'Suppose we make a day of it and
go to the Zoo?'
I agreed, and we took a hansom as soon as we could get one and drove
across London towards Regent's Park.
Here the pleasure that he took in watching the movements of the
animals was so great that it seemed impossible but that he was
visiting the Zoo for the first time. I remembered, however, that he
had told me in the morning how frequently he went to these gardens.
But his interest in the animals was unlike my own, and I should
suppose unlike the interest of any other man. He had no knowledge
whatever of zoology, and appeared to wish for none. His pleasure
consisted in watching the curious expressions and movements of the
animals and in dramatising them.
On leaving the Zoo, I said, 'The cross you were just now looking at
is as remarkable for its history as for its beauty. It was stolen
from the tomb of a near relative of mine. I was under a solemn
promise to the person upon whose breast it lay to see that it should
never be disturbed. But, now that it has been disturbed, to replace
it in the tomb would, I fear, be to insure another sacrilege.
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