BARBARY SHEEP SIR CLAUDE WYVERNE was a simple and rather heavy young Englishman, who had married a very frivolous wife, and who adored her. Adoration leads to abnegation, and Sir Claude, as soon as he was a mar- K ried man, began to give way to Lady Wyverne. She was a very pretty ffc and changeable blonde. Any perma- nence seemed to her dull and this gs trait secretly agitated her husband, ..who desired to be permanent in her life and not to be thought dull by her. In order to achieve this result, she decided to present himself as often as possible to Lady Wyverne in the seductive guise of change-giver. He was perpetually occupied in devising novelties to keep up her butterfly spirits and in anticipating her every whim. One spring, just as Sir Claude thought they were going at last to settle down in a pretty country place they had in Leicestershire, Lady Wyverne expressed a sudden wish to run over to Algiers. Caroline Barchester and her bear Ihave gone there, Crumpet, she said. Lets go, too. Ill get an introduc- tion to the ex-Queen of Madagascar land the Prince of Annam theyre in exile there, you know and well .have some fun and see something new. Im tired of ordinary people. Lets start on Tuesday. Well stay in Paris en route. Of course Sir Claude assented. They started for Algiers on the Tuesday, and they stayed in Paris en route. While they were in Paris they went, against Sir Claudes will, to visit a famous astrologer called Dr. Melie Etoile, about whom everybody Lady Wyverne s everybody hap- pened to be raving at that moment. LadyWyvernewent into thisworthys presence first, leaving her husbandlooking unusually English even for him seated in the waiting-room, a small chamber all cane chairs, arti- ficial flowers, and signs of the zo- diac, heated by steam, and carefully shrouded, at the tiny windows, by bead blinds. After perhaps half an hour Lady Wyverne came out in a state of violent excitement. Hes extraordinary she ex- claimed. Hes a genius A little bearded thing like a mouse, who Go in, Crumpet --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.