thering her
legs up into a little bunch. He seats himself beside her.]

Now! Tell me everything you know about the Bishop of Benares!

MANSON. What--Uncle Josh?

MARY. Ssh--ssh--ssh! That's naughty, you know! You heard what
Uncle William said! . . . Do you think he'd very much mind if I
called him Uncle Josh?

MANSON. You may take it from _me_, that you may call him whatever
you like.

MARY. That's all very well; but you're not Uncle Joshua!

MANSON. No? . . .

MARY [hotly]. No, you're not!

MANSON. Well, since you're so certain . . .

MARY [with conviction]. I'm perfectly certain he'll never stand a
kid like me cheeking him and calling him names! Uncle William's
quite right! . . . And that's why I've made up my mind that I
sha'n't like him, after all!

MANSON. Indeed, I hope you will!

MARY. Do you believe in liking people simply because they're
uncles?

MANSON. Perhaps I'm a prejudiced person.

MARY. I know exactly what he'll be--goody-goody, isn't he? You
know--religious, and all that!

MANSON. God forbid!

MARY [fearfully]. Oh, perhaps he's the other sort--like auntie's
brother! He's a bishop--the Bishop of Lancashire. You see, I've
heard a lot about bishops in my time, and they're not always quite
nice men.

MANSON. And what sort is the Bishop of Lancashire?

MARY. Well, I don't think I ought to tell you; but I once heard
_Uncle William_ call him a devil!--And he's a clergyman!

MANSON. Your Uncle Joshua's reputation is exactly opposite.

MARY. There is that; everybody speaks awfully well of him.

MANSON. I don't think I would go so far as that: some people
blackguard him abominably.

MARY. No!--Who?

MANSON. His clergy, chiefly.

MARY. His clergy! They must be dreadfully wicked men!

MANSON. No--only blind: perhaps, also, a little deaf. But between
the two they manage to make his work very difficult.

MARY. Why? What do they do?

MANSON. It's partly what they do _not_ do.

MARY. Oh, I see--lazy.

MANSON. Not precisely--they work: they are not idle; but they
serve other masters.

MARY. Such as whom?

MANSON. The Bishop of Lancashire.

MARY [after a pause], I always thought he was such a great success
out there. The papers have been full of it--of the millions of
people who follow him about: they say they almost worship him in
some places. What kind of people are they?

MANSON. Just common people.

MARY. And then, all that ta