a crude force that at times became almost distinguished, but with a
bitterness that he felt he must reprove. And suddenly he came upon a
passionate tirade against the present period. It made him nibble softly
with his lips at the top of his fountain pen as he read.

"We live," said the writer, "in a second Byzantine age, in one of those
multitudinous accumulations of secondary interests, of secondary
activities and conventions and colossal intricate insignificances, that
lie like dust heaps in the path of the historian. The true history of
such periods is written in bank books and cheque counterfoils and burnt
to save individual reputations; it sneaks along under a thousand
pretences, it finds its molelike food and safety in the dirt; its outer
forms remain for posterity, a huge debris of unfathomable riddles."

"Hm!" said Mr. Brumley. "He slings it out. And what's this?"

"A civilization arrested and decayed, waiting through long inglorious
ages of unscheduled crime, unchallenged social injustice, senseless
luxury, mercenary politics and universal vulgarity and weakness, for the
long overdue scavenging of the Turk."

"I wonder where the children pick up such language," whispered Mr.
Brumley with a smile.

But presently he had pushed the book away and was thinking over this
novel and unpleasant idea that perhaps after all his age didn't matter
as some ages have mattered and as he had hitherto always supposed it did
matter. Byzantine, with the gold of life stolen and the swans changed to
geese? Of course always there had been a certain qualification upon
heroes, even Caesar had needed a wreath, but at any rate the age of Caesar
had mattered. Kings no doubt might be more kingly and the issues of life
plainer and nobler, but this had been true of every age. He tried to
weigh values against values, our past against our present, temperately
and sanely. Our art might perhaps be keener for beauty than it seemed to
be, but still--it flourished. And our science at least was
wonderful--wonderful. There certainly this young detractor of existing
things went astray. What was there in Byzantium to parallel with the
electric light, the electric tram, wireless telegraphy, aseptic surgery?
Of course this about "unchallenged social injustice" was nonsense. Rant.
Why! we were challenging social injustice at every general
election--plainly and openly. And crime! What could the man mean about
unscheduled crime? Mere words! There was o