’Haveyoutakenitlong？’
’Three-and-twentyyears。’
’Whatsnuffdoyoutake？’
’Universalmixture。’
’Andyoufinditofuse？
Taggarttappedhisbox。
’Inwhatrespect？’saidI。
’Inmany-thereisnothinglikeittogetamanthrough；butforsnuffIshouldscarcelybewhereIamnow。’
’Haveyoubeenlonghere？’
’Three-and-twentyyears。’
’Dearme，’saidI；’andsnuffbroughtyouthrough？Givemeapinch-pah，Idon’tlikeit，’andIsneezed。
’Takeanotherpinch，’saidTaggart。
’No，’saidI，’Idon’tlikesnuff。’
’Thenyouwillneverdoforauthorship；atleastforthiskind。’
’SoIbegintothink-whatshallIdo？’
Taggarttooksnuff。
’Youweretalkingofagreatwork-whatshallitbe？’
Taggarttooksnuff。
’DoyouthinkIcouldwriteone？’
Taggartupliftedhistwoforefingersasiftotap，hedidnothowever。
’Itwouldrequiretime，’saidI，withahalfsigh。
Taggarttappedhisbox。
’Agreatdealoftime；Ireallythinkthatmyballads-’
Taggarttooksnuff。
’Ifpublished，woulddomecredit。I’llmakeaneffort，andofferthemtosomeotherpublisher。’
Taggarttookadoublequantityofsnuff。
CHAPTERXLII
FrancisArdry-Thatwon’tdo，sir-Observemygestures-Ithinkyouimprove-Betterthanpolitics-DelightfulyoungFrenchwoman-
Aburningshame-Magnificentimpudence-Paunch-Voltaire-Lumpofsugar。
OCCASIONALLYIcalledonFrancisArdry。Thisyounggentlemanresidedinhandsomeapartmentsintheneighbourhoodofafashionablesquare，keptaliveryservant，and，uponthewhole，livedinverygoodstyle。Goingtoseehimoneday，betweenoneandtwo，Iwasinformedbytheservantthathismasterwasengagedforthemoment，butthat，ifIpleasedtowaitafewminutes，I
shouldfindhimatliberty。HavingtoldthemanthatIhadnoobjection，heconductedmeintoasmallapartmentwhichservedasantechambertoadrawing-room；thedoorofthislastbeinghalfopen，IcouldseeFrancisArdryatthefartherend，speechifyingandgesticulatinginaveryimpressivemanner。Theservant，insomeconfusion，washasteningtoclosethedoor；but，erehecouldeffecthispurpose，FrancisArdry，whohadcaughtaglimpseofme，exclaimed，’Comein-comeinbyallmeans’；andthenproceeded，asbefore，speechifyingandgesticulating。Filledwithsomesurprise，Iobeyedhissummons。
OnenteringtheroomIperceivedanotherindividual，towhomFrancisArdryappearedtobeaddressinghimself；thisotherwasashortsparemanofaboutsixty；hishairwasofbadgergray，andhisfacewascoveredwithwrinkles-withoutvouchsafingmealook，hekepthiseye，whichwasblackandlustrous，fixedfullonFrancisArdry，asifpayingthedeepestattentiontohisdiscourse。
Allofasudden，however，hecriedwithasharp，crackedvoice，’Thatwon’tdo，sir；thatwon’tdo-morevehemence-yourargumentisatpresentparticularlyweak；therefore，morevehemence-youmustconfusethem，stunthem，stultifythem，sir’；and，ateachoftheseinjunctions，hestruckthebackofhisrighthandsharplyagainstthepalmoftheleft。’Good，sir-good!’heoccasionallyuttered，inthesamesharp，crackedtone，asthevoiceofFrancisArdrybecamemoreandmorevehement。’Infinitelygood!’heexclaimed，asFrancisArdryraisedhisvoicetothehighestpitch；
’andnow，sir，abate；letthetempestofvehemencedecline-
gradually，sir；nottoofast。Good，sir-verygood!’asthevoiceofFrancisArdrydeclinedgraduallyinvehemence。’Andnowalittlepathos，sir-trythemwithalittlepathos。Thatwon’tdo，sir-thatwon’tdo，’-asFrancisArdrymadeanattempttobecomepathetic，-’thatwillneverpassforpathos-withtonesandgestureofthatdescriptionyouwillneverredressthewrongsofyourcountry。Now，sir，observemygestures，andpayattentiontothetoneofmyvoice，sir。’
Thereupon，makinguseofnearlythesametermswhichFrancisArdryhademployed，theindividualinblackutteredseveralsentencesintonesandwithgestureswhichwereintendedtoexpressaconsiderabledegreeofpathos，thoughitispossiblethatsomepeoplewouldhavethoughtboththeoneandtheotherhighlyludicrous。Afterapause，FrancisArdryrecommencedimitatingthetonesandthegesturesofhismonitorinthemostadmirablemanner。
Beforehehadproceededfar，however，heburstintoafitoflaughter，inwhichIshould，perhaps，havejoined，provideditwereevermywonttolaugh。’Ha，ha!’saidtheother，good-humouredly，’youarelaughingatme。Well，well，Imerelywishedtogiveyouahint；butyousawverywellwhatImeant；uponthewholeIthinkyouimprove。ButImustnowgo，havingtwootherpupilstovisitbeforefour。’
Thentakingfromthetableakindofthree-corneredhat，andacaneheadedwithamber，heshookFrancisArdrybythehand；and，afterglancingatmeforamoment，mademeahalfbow，attendedwithastrangegrimace，anddeparted。
’Whoisthatgentleman？’saidItoFrancisArdry，assoonaswerealone。
’Oh，thatis-’saidFrank，smiling，’thegentlemanwhogivesmelessonsinelocution。’
’Andwhatneedhaveyouofelocution？’
’Oh，Imerelyobeythecommandsofmyguardians，’saidFrancis，’whoinsistthatIshould，withtheassistanceof-，qualifymyselfforParliament；forwhichtheydomethehonourtosupposethatI
havesomenaturaltalent。Idarenotdisobeythem；for，atthepresentmoment，Ihaveparticularreasonsforwishingtokeepongoodtermswiththem。’
’But，’saidI，’youareaRomanCatholic；andIthoughtthatpersonsofyourreligionwereexcludedfromParliament？’
’Why，uponthatverythingthewholematterhinges；peopleofourreligionaredeterminedtobenolongerexcludedfromParliament，buttohaveashareinthegovernmentofthenation。NotthatI
careanythingaboutthematter；Imerelyobeythewillofmyguardians；mythoughtsarefixedonsomethingbetterthanpolitics。’
’Iunderstandyou，’saidI；’dog-fighting-well，Icaneasilyconceivethattosomemindsdog-fighting-’
’Iwasnotthinkingofdog-fighting，’saidFrancisArdry，interruptingme。
’Notthinkingofdog-fighting!’Iejaculated。
’No，’saidFrancisArdry，’somethinghigherandmuchmorerationalthandog-fightingatpresentoccupiesmythoughts。’
’Dearme，’saidI，’IthoughtIhadheardyousaythattherewasnothinglikeit!’
’Likewhat？’saidFrancisArdry。
’Dog-fighting，tobesure，’saidI。
’Pooh，’saidFrancisArdry；’whobutthegrossandunrefinedcareanythingfordog-fighting？Thatwhichatpresentengagesmywakingandsleepingthoughtsislove-divinelove-thereisnothinglikeTHAT。Listentome，Ihaveasecrettoconfidetoyou。’
AndthenFrancisArdryproceededtomakemehisconfidant。ItappearedthathehadhadthegoodfortunetomaketheacquaintanceofthemostdelightfulyoungFrenchwomanimaginable，AnnetteLaNoirebyname，whohadjustarrivedfromhernativecountrywiththeintentionofobtainingthesituationofgovernessinsomeEnglishfamily；apositionwhich，onaccountofhermanyaccomplishments，shewaseminentlyqualifiedtofill。FrancisArdryhad，however，persuadedhertorelinquishherintentionforthepresent，onthegroundthat，untilshehadbecomeacclimatedinEngland，herhealthwouldprobablysufferfromtheconfinementinseparablefromtheoccupationinwhichshewasdesirousofengaging；hehad，moreover-foritappearedthatshewasthemostfrankandconfidingcreatureintheworld-succeededinpersuadinghertopermithimtohireforheraveryhandsomefirstfloorinhisownneighbourhood，andtoacceptafewinconsiderablepresentsinmoneyandjewellery。’Iamlookingoutforahandsomegigandhorse，’saidFrancisArdry，attheconclusionofhisnarration；’itwereaburningshamethatsodivineacreatureshouldhavetogoaboutaplacelikeLondononfoot，orinapaltryhackneycoach。’
’But，’saidI，’willnotthepursuitofpoliticspreventyourdevotingmuchtimetothisfairlady？’
’Itwillpreventmedevotingallmytime，’saidFrancisArdry，’asIgladlywould；butwhatcanIdo？Myguardianswishmetoqualifymyselfforapoliticalorator，andIdarenotoffendthembyarefusal。IfIoffendmyguardians，Ishouldfinditimpossible-