Answer:
The writer described Mr Knoppert’s enthusiasm in the excerpt as rising to a "higher pitch" and being "as happy as the father of a new child"
Step-by-step explanation:
In this passage, Mr Knoppert is excited about the eggs that he would check up on them everyday and think of them before he slept.
He kept on counting the days and finally on the eighteenth morning after the laying of the eggs, he could see one was hatching and his joy knew no bound as he was described as being as happy as the father of a new born.