Page:Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories (1915).djvu/20

 "Thank you," said the bishop; "I've had a long drive."

Mrs. Mendel wished to ring the bell and summon a servant, but Minnie insisted on showing the bishop to his room. Before leaving him she glanced at his clothes, which were dusty.

"I dare say," she said, "that you'd like the loan of a clothes-brush. Ronald's dressing-room is next door. I'll get you one."

"Thanks," said the bishop, "but I see my bag is here, and I have a clothes-brush of my own."

"I thought," said Minnie, "that being a missionary bishop, you might perhaps"

"Missionary bishops are poor, of course; but I have managed to save up enough to buy a clothes-brush."

"That's not what I meant. My idea was that, having lived so long among people who wear no clothes, you might have got out of the habit"

"I assure you," said the bishop, "that our Indian fellow subjects dress most decorously."

"How nice of them! You must tell us all about them later on. Tea will be ready in the drawing- room and I mustn't keep you now. By the way, do you object to China tea?"

"No. I prefer it."

"That's all right. I merely asked because I thought you might consider it your duty to drink nothing but Indian tea with a view to attracting the natives to church."