#gruffle

Clarence had just finished this when there came to his ear the faint note of a tarantula singing to its young. He looked up. Opposite him, at the next table, was seated a youth of fifteen, of a slightly grubby aspect. He was eyeing Clarence closely. Clarence took off his spectacles, polished them, and replaced them on his nose. As he did so, the thin gruffle of the tarantula sounded once more. Without changing his expression, Clarence cautiously uttered the deep snarl of a sand-eel surprised while bathing. It was sufficient. The other rose to his feet, holding his right hand on a line with his shoulder, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the little finger, and the other three fingers upright. Clarence seized his hat by the brim at the back, and moved it swiftly twice up and down. The other, hesitating no longer, came over to his table. "Pip-pip!" he said, in an undertone. "Toodleoo and God save the King!" whispered Clarence. The mystic ceremony which always takes place when two Boy Scouts meet in public was complete.