Page:Quartette - Kipling (1885).djvu/92

 "Hallo, Bubbleby! Back again I see. I have news for you. Mudsworth is coming."

"Mr. Mudsworth is here with me," said the Engineer with complacent dignity.

"Ah yes; but I mean the Mudsworth, you know, Consulting Engineer for Railway Crossings and Culverts."

"And this gentleman?" said Mr. Bubbleby, pointing to me.

"That's Mr. Mudsworth of the Presidency Oracle, you know?" The designer of the patent brake and the parent of the fair Clara hastily gathered together his papers. His face was pale; his hair more tangled than ever. He tied up his precious documents with unnecessary tightness, and, as he turned to go, he thundered—"Sir, you are a hearthless imposter!"

Mr. Twitchley Crowdie and the jurymen broke into a roar of laughter. It was a most embarrassing position that my obedience to instructions had brought about. I had carefully avoided mentioning the paper; but I had also forgotten all about the Mudsworth-the other and better known man who bore my name. The mysterious air of deference with which I had been treated, and other incidents which Clara's bright eyes had caused me to pass over without notice, were all now clear. I breathlessly explained the circumstances to Mr. Twitchley Crowdie and the gentlemen with him. I grew eloquent with a piteous earnestness seldom heard in private life; but those jovial jurors only laughed the more. They believed me, however; and their President invited me to join them at lunch.

If they performed their judging functions in the large and comprehensive spirit in which they lunched, my friends were miracles of critical force. They had been awarding prizes all the morning; but after that generous meal there was a positive rain of decorations. And the Ajaibgaum Exhibition Medal was a thing to be proud of. On the obverse was a profile head of Sir Rupert Boldick in bold relief, crowned with a laurel wreath, like a Cæsar or a victor in the Olympic games. On the reverse there was a picturesque heap of cows, astronomical telescopes, horses, ploughs, painters; palettes, books, sextants and cog-wheels surmounted by a palm-tree, which conveyed to the meanest capacity a general impression of Art, Science, Industry, Agriculture, Literature, and India. In the cheerful society of the dispensers of this brazen honour, I regained my spirits,