os:_ 'Tis well. But still I fear me over much
That he, like highly tempered steel, will bend
Only to swift rebound, and further by
Reaction go from paths of rectitude.
_(Seldonskip indolently approaches.)_
_Seldonskip:_ Most noble gentlemen, I greet thee sweet:
It tireth mightily, this placid sea.
Methinks a storm, a mighty, raging storm,
To break monotony would lend to life
A phlegm, and hence a tedious day become
More gladsome. Alack-a-day when I did leave
Those gilded halls where beauty did indwell.
On this good ship naught but uncertain age
Measures those forms divine to which we kneel.
_(Seldonskip walks slowly on.)_
_Quezox speaking to Francos._ Most noble sire, in wonderment
I pause.
If I may query put, what mental rheum
Did cause selection of such vacuous mind
To fill a post requiring mental grasp?
_Francos:_ Good Quezox, surely I was misinformed.
Full well; his sire, I dreamed, was made of clay
Much finer than is wont within the mold,
And so I eager seized his proffered aid.
But keen regret doth fill my troubled soul
And fears prophetic, to the future point.
But, noble friend, we'll let the matter drop
If it hath weight to fall, which much I doubt.
_Quezox:_ Ha! Ha! I see! he hath so little force,
That gravitation with him worketh not!
_Francos:_ Now, noble Quezox, we must quick devise
Some method to surmount the vicious laws
Of civil service, which with shrewd design
Purpose to keep those vultures in their nests,
While others long denied official posts,
Shall wander in the wilderness, and ne'er
Set wary foot within the promised land.
_Quezox:_ Most worthy sire, when guile hath strong intrenched,
Guile of a firmer mould, should countermatch,
And beat the bulwarks down; 'twere easy done.
In sooth so easy that no glory crowns
The working of a scheme so patent to
An eagle eye, which hath discernment keen.
To unmake offices, were quickly done.
To lower stipends till the hungry mouth
Shall to the belly say: "We must go hence
Or else we perish