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Mr. Hoopdriver temporarily lost his thread. He glared malignantly at the
little man with the beard, and tried to recover his discourse. A pause.
"You were saying," said the fair young man with the white tie, speaking
very politely, "that you came here with a lady."
"A lady," meditated the gaiter gazer.
The man in velveteen, who was looking from one speaker to another with
keen, bright eyes, now laughed as though a point had been scored, and
stimulated Mr. Hoopdriver to speak, by fixing him with an expectant
regard.
"
Some dirty cad," said Mr. Hoopdriver, proceeding with his discourse,
and suddenly growing extremely fierce, "made a remark as we went by this
door."
"Steady on!" said the old gentleman with many chins. "Steady on! Don't
you go a-calling us names, please."
"
One minute!" said Mr. Hoopdriver. "It wasn't I began calling names."
("Who did?" said the man with the chins.) "I'm not calling any of you
dirty cads. Don't run away with that impression. Only some person in
this room made a remark that showed he wasn't fit to wipe boots on,
and, with all due deference to such gentlemen as ARE gentlemen" (Mr.
Hoopdriver looked round for moral support), "I want to know which it
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