ble one ... very admirable one, indeed ... for a member of the
working-class, it could hardly be described as a suitable occupation for
a gentleman. "I think," he said, "that engine-drivers get thirty-eight
shillings per week, or some such amount!" He adjusted his glasses and
beamed pleasantly at Ninian. "My dear boy," he said, "thirty-eight
shillings per week is hardly ... hardly an adequate income for a
Graham!"

Ninian did not like to ask his uncle George to "chuck it," nor did he
care to tell him that he was making a frightful ass of himself, and so
he did not answer, and the beaming old gentleman felt that he had
impressed the lad.... It was Mrs. Graham who reminded him of the larger
functions of an engineer.

"I think," she said, "that Ninian wishes to build bridges and railways
and ... and things like that!"

"Oh!" said the Dean, and his countenance altered swiftly. "Oh, yes, yes,
yes! I was forgetting about bridges. Dear me, yes! I remember meeting
Sir John Aird once. Remarkable man! Very remarkable man! He built the
Assouan Dam, of course. Well, that would be a very nice occupation,
Ninian. Rather different, of course, from the Diplomatic Service ... or
the Church ... but still, very nice, _very_ nice! And profitable, I'm
told!..."

2

"Anyhow," said Ninian, when he had related the story of his uncle's
views, "I'm going to be an engineer, no matter what Uncle George says,
and I'm not going to be a parson and I'm not going to be a blooming
ambassador, and I'm not going into parliament to make an ass of
myself!..."

Ninian's chief horror was of "making an ass" of himself. It seemed that
there was less likelihood of him doing this at engineering than at
anything else.

"And a very good engineer you'll be," Gilbert said encouragingly.
"You're always messing about with the insides of things, and I can't see
what good that habit would be to an ambassador, or a parson, and anyhow
you can't speak French for toffee, and that's the principal thing an
ambassador has to do! Well, Quinny," he continued, turning to Henry,
"what about you?"

"I used to think I'd like to be a clergyman," Henry answered.

"Oh, did you?..."

"And then," he went on rapidly, "I thought I'd like to be an actor!..."

They rose at him simultaneously. "A what?" they shouted.

"An actor," he repeated.

They gaped at him for a few moments without speaking. Then Ninian
expressed their views. "You're balmy!" he said.

"Clean off your