e activities of the
guilty nation, barrow or child, imperial Parliament or excursion
steamer, is welcome to my simple plans. You are not," he inquired, with
a shade of sympathetic interest, "you are not, I trust, a believer?"

"Sir, I believe in nothing," said the young man.

"You are then," replied Zero, "in a position to grasp my argument. We
agree that humanity is the object, the glorious triumph of humanity; and
being pledged to labour for that end, and face to face with the banded
opposition of kings, parliaments, churches, and the members of the
force, who am I--who are we, dear sir--to affect a nicety about the
tools employed? You might, perhaps, expect us to attack the Queen, the
sinister Gladstone, the rigid Derby, or the dexterous Granville; but
there you would be in error. Our appeal is to the body of the people; it
is these that we would touch and interest. Now, sir, have you observed
the English housemaid?"

"I should think I had," cried Somerset.

"From a man of taste and a votary of art, I had expected it," returned
the conspirator politely. "A type apart; a very charming figure; and
thoroughly adapted to our ends. The neat cap, the clean print, the
comely person, the engaging manner; her position between classes,
parents in one, employers in another; the probability that she will have
at least one sweetheart, whose feelings we shall address:--yes, I have a
leaning--call it, if you will, a weakness--for the housemaid. Not that I
would be understood to despise the nurse. For the child is a very
interesting feature: I have long since marked out the child as the
sensitive point in society." He wagged his head, with a wise, pensive
smile. "And talking, sir, of children and of the perils of our trade,
let me now narrate to you a little incident of an explosive bomb, that
fell out some weeks ago under my own observation. It fell out thus."

And Zero leaning back in his chair narrated the following simple tale.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] The Arabian author of the original has here a long passage
conceived in a style too oriental for the English reader. We subjoin
a specimen, and it seems doubtful whether it should be printed as
prose or verse: "Any writard who writes dynamitard shall find in me
a never-resting fightard"; and he goes on (if we correctly gather
his meaning) to object to such elegant and obviously correct
spellings as lamp-lightard, corn-dealard, apple-filchard (clearly