144 WHISPERS FROM FAIRVLAND. {uit

 

 

Presently, however, Joe Muggins roused himself to
action. He slowly and with much deliberation
removed his pipe from his mouth; then he carefully
laid it upon the table near him; next, he solemnly
lifted the tumbler to his lips and took a deep draught
of the beverage which it contained; then, drawing
from his capacious pocket a large red handkerchief, he
leisurely unfolded it upon his knee, and proceeded to
wipe his lips with the gravity of a man who feels that
he is performing an important act; this done, he
placed a hand upon each knee, bending forward in
order to do so, and staring Simon Ricketts full in the
face. He cleared his throat twice before he spoke,
and having by this time apparently made up his
mind and found his voice, propounded his views upon
the subject in the following momentous words:

‘Be a Parliament-man,’ and, having thus spoken,
maintained his position for some minutes, steadily
staring at his friend as if to mark the full and exact
effect produced by his words.

Simon was for the moment completely taken
aback. The oracle had spoken and had certainly
changed the whole scope and current of his ideas. He
had thought and pondered over many possible occu-
pations, but amongst them all, that of a member of
Parliament had certainly never been included. Indeed,
the worthy milkman had no very clear and definite
ideas upon the subject of the duties of a representative
of the people. He had some vague notion that the
position must be one of value, judging from the eager-
ness with which it was sought after by the candidates
at an election. Morcover, from newspaper reports
and public-house gossip, he fancied that the posses-