llables).

"And not being Mr. Gladstone," said Sir Joseph, "I do not propose to
dispossess the Brahmins without compensation. I am merely desirous
that the Brahmins should be bought out by the Indian Government at a
cost of a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand. If this were
done the number of pilgrims to this holy shrine would be doubled, and
the best results would follow."

"Oh, Mrs. Jellaby, where art thou?" thought Mike, and he boldly took
advantage of the elaborate preparations that were being made for Sir
Joseph to write his name on a fan, to move round the table and take a
seat by Lily.

But Frank's patience was exhausted, and he rose to leave.

"People wonder at the genius of Shakespeare! I must say the stupidity
of the ordinary man surprises me far more," said Mike.

"I'm a poor man to-day," said Frank, "but I would give L25 to have
had Dickens with us--fancy walking up Piccadilly with him afterwards!

"Now I must go," he said. "Lizzie is waiting for me. I'll see you
to-morrow," he cried, and drove away.

"Just fancy having to look after her, having to attend to her wants,
having to leave a friend and return home to dine with her in a small
room! How devilish pleasant it is to be free!--to say, 'Where shall I
dine?' and to be able to answer, 'Anywhere.' But it is too early to
dine, and too late to play whist. Damn it! I don't know what to do
with myself."

Mike watched the elegantly-dressed men who passed hurriedly to their
clubs, or drove west to dinner parties. Red clouds and dark clouds
collected and rolled overhead, and in a chill wintry breeze the
leaves of the tall trees shivered, fell, and were blown along the
pavement with sharp harsh sound. London shrouded like a widow in long
crape.

"What is there to do? Five o'clock! After that lunch I cannot dine
before eight--three hours! Whom shall I go and see?"

A vision of women passed through his mind, but he turned from them
all, and he said--

"I will go and see her."

He had met Miss Dudley in Brighton, in a house where he had been
asked to tea. She was a small, elderly spinster with sharp features
and gray curls. She had expected him to address to her a few
commonplace remarks for politeness' sake, and then to leave her for
some attractive girl. But he had showed no wish to leave her, and
when they met again he walked by her bath-chair the entire length of
the Cliff. Miss Dudley was a cripple. She had fallen from some rocks
when a c