Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/97

 TRAVELING WITH A REFORMER

it; he would not have understood. When we left the car, I said:

&quot;That was a good stroke of diplomacy three good strokes of diplomacy, in fact.&quot;

&quot; That? That wasn t diplomacy. You are quite in the wrong. Diplomacy is a wholly different thing. One cannot apply it to that sort; they would not understand it. No, that was not diplomacy ; it was force.&quot;

&quot;Now that you mention it, I yes, I think per haps you are right.&quot;

&quot;Right? Of course I am right. It was just force.&quot;

&quot;I think, myself, it had the outside aspect of it. Do you often have to reform people in that way?&quot;

&quot;Far from it. It hardly ever happens. Not oftener than once in half a year, at the outside./

&quot;Those men will get well?&quot;

&quot;Get well? Why, certainly they will. They are not in any danger. I know how to hit and where to hit. You noticed that I did not hit them under the jaw. That would have killed them.&quot;

I believed that. I remarked rather wittily, as I thought that he had been a lamb all day, but now had all of a sudden developed into a ram batter ing-ram; but with dulcet frankness and simplicity he said no, a battering-ram was quite a different thing and not in use now. This was maddening, and I came near bursting out and saying he had no more appreciation of wit than a jackass in fact, I had it right on my tongue, but did not say it, know ing there was no hurry and I could say it just as well some other time over the telephone.

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