ggesting next that some credit should be given to the
youths who pass brilliant examinations in things, and that all should
not be absorbed by their grinders."

"I'm not so silly as that, papa," said she. "No; but Mr.
Courtland----Ah, never mind."

He did not mind.

It so happened, however, that several of the newspapers which commented
on the questions and counter-questions the next day introduced the name
of Mr. Herbert Courtland and his explorations; though, of course, most
attention was directed to what Mr. Ayrton's party called the brilliant,
and the other party the flippant, methods of Mr. Ayrton. His reference
to the New Guinea pig some thought a trifle too personal to be in
good taste, but if politicians refrained from personalities and
were punctilious in matters of taste, what chance would they have of
"scoring," and where would the caricaturists be? The reputation of a
politician is steadily built up nowadays, not by consistency, certainly;
not by brilliant rhetoric; not even by the unscrupulous exercise of
a faculty for organizing impromptu "scenes," but by the wearing of a
necktie, or a boot, or a waistcoat that is susceptible of caricature.
A very ordinary young man has before now been lifted into fame by the
twists of his mustache, and another of less than mediocre ability has
been prevented from sinking in the flood of forgetfulness by the kindly
efforts of a caricaturist who supported him by a simple lock on his
scalp. Thus it was that Mr. Apthomas found himself famous before a week
had passed, through the circumstance of being represented in the leading
journal of caricature as a guinea pig, flying, with the spoil of bubble
boards of directors under his arm, from the attack of a number of
quaint-looking mammals wearing collars inscribed "ACCURACY," "CORRECT
BALANCE SHEETS," "LEGITIMATE SPECULATIONS," and other phrases that
suggested the need for the old guinea pig to give way to a new breed.
Underneath the picture was printed a portion of the counter-question of
Mr. Ayrton, and opposite to it were some verses with a jingling refrain
that everyone could remember, and which everyone quoted during the next
few days.

The firm of publishers who had been fortunate enough to secure the issue
of Mr. Courtland's new book were delighted. If Mr. Ayrton could only
have seen his way to introduce their names and their address in his
counter-question, their cup of happiness would have been complete, they
said.