half a flight-shot from the king's oak

...being of prudent years to undertake the charge of his motherless and mistressless family...

I started to give Lucky a digest of the Perugia affair, but we were interrupted by a group of German alpenstockers who clumped into the chamber under the guide of a female ramrod.

He won't have a pleasant morning, I can tell you! I shall snap his head off every time he speaks to me.