I have not the wildest notion what you mean, said
the vicar ofHanging Burgess briskly. I was the new hypocrite; but mine was the
homage thatvirtue pays to vice.
Yes, admired it in myself; even when it wasntthere.
That, at least, was what I was supposed tobe. Yes, continued Pond, the King has
crept back among you.
There it would not be seen,for the moment, anyhow;
and he could safely offer himself to besearched. The blackmail charge rests on one
scene, in which a lady knelt tohim in the street. It means, said Gahagan, that I got
engaged to be married thismorning.
Congratulations, of course, and all
that.
I might even believe thatGahagan saw six
sea-serpents; but not that each was larger than thelast. That was why I nearly got
hanged; and why therewas a corpse in the house behind me. He hasnt enough mind to
know that he has amind.
In short, to confess that I was a
humbug.
And then Gahagan broke out again:I was better than
I seemed.
And when youve done mystifying us, you will tell us
thesolution? He assembled thosemen to find out who was the sender; or, in other
words, who was theowner. A romance in your family history, I suppose?
Pond, said Gahagan, I sometimes think you are
inspired, orpossessed of a devil in a quiet way. Politicians do not understand much;
but politicians do understandpolitics, said Pond pensively.
Life is artistic in parts, but not as a whole; its
likebroken bits of different works of art. It means, said Gahagan, that I got
engaged to be married thismorning.
It was this old acquaintance who, on one sunny
afternoon, came outof Mr.