(then  loith  a  sudden  outburst)  Hang  it  all,  so  have
you,  you've  all  made  fools  of  yourselves  about  him  at
one  time  or  another.  You — {he  points  a  scornful  finger
at  the  Soldieb-Man)  You've  swaggered  down  Piccadilly
with  him  sittting  on  your  shoulders  rubbing  your  top
hat  the  wrong  way.  I  was  with  you  and  saw  even  the
cabmen  laughing,  {then  he  turns  fiercely  on  Waddles)
You — you  were  caught  in  a  four-wheeler  in  Pall  Mall
with  a  rocking  horse  on  top,  a  most  invidious  position
for  an  unmarried  man.  {they  all  laugh)  You  laugh
at  me.  Very  well — laugh  away.  I'm  a  hen  with  one
chicken,  I  daresay,  and  a  hen  with  one  chicken  I'll  be  to
the  end  of  the  chapter,  but  I  mean  that  chicken  to  be  a


WHEN  WE  WERE  TWENTY-ONE.  17

bally  swan  before  I  go  and  tell  Charlie  how  we've  reared
his  boy.
(And  very  excited  he  goes  across  to  the  bureau  and  re-
places the  letter,  shutting  the  drawer  with  a  snap.)

Doctor.  Well,  well,  well— he's  a  fine  ould  youngster—
but  all  this  has  given  me  the  doldrums,  Dickie,  me  son
— excursh  into  the  larder,  and  trot  out  another  jug  of
whiskey  wine.
Dick.  I — I — I'm  awfully  sorry.  I  didn't  mean  to  get
so  serious.
Waddles.  Let's  get  on  with  our  game;  there  won't  be
time  for  me  to  get  that  £7  back  if  we  don't.
Dick.  Come  along,  Waddy, — you  shall  have  it,  if  I
have  to  revoke  to  give  it  you — wait  till  I  get  the  whiskey,
where  the  devil  are  the  matches.
Waddles.     Hurry  up.
