e of melodious sounds upon winding a handle?" I
asked, not at the moment grasping with certainty to what organ he
referred.

"Well, some call them that," he admitted, "others don't. I suppose, now,
you wouldn't care to walk to Brighton with your feet tied together,
or your hair in curl papers, and then get on at a music hall? Or would
there be any chance of your Legation kidnapping you if it was properly
worked? 'Kong Ho, the great Chinese Reformer, tells the Story of his
Life,'--there ought to be money in it. Are you a reformer or the leader
of a secret society, Kong?"

"On the contrary," I replied, "we of our Line have ever been unflinching
in our loyalty to the dynasty of Tsing."

"You ought to have known better, then. It's a poor business being that
in your country nowadays. Pity there are no bye-elections on the African
Labour Question, or you'd be snapped up for a procession."

To this I replied that although the idea of moving in a processional
triumph would readily ensnare the minds of the light and fantastic, I
should prefer some more literary occupation, submissively adding that in
such a case I would not stiffen my joints against the most menial lot,
even that of blending my voice in a laudatory chorus, or of carrying
official pronouncements about the walls of the city, for it is said with
justice, "The starving man does not peel his melon, nor do the parched
first wipe round the edges of the proffered cup."

"If you've set your mind on something literary," said Beveledge
confidently, "you have every chance of finishing up in a chorus or
carrying printed placards about the streets, certainly. When it comes
to that, look me up in Eastcheap." With this encouraging assurance of
my ultimate success he left me, and rejoicing that I had not fallen into
the snare of opposing a written destiny, I sought the literary quarters
of the city.

When this person has been able to write of any custom or facet of
existence here in a strain of conscientious esteem, he has not hesitated
to dip his brush deeply into the inkpot. Reverting backwards, this
barbarian enactment of not permitting those who from any cause have
decided upon spending the night in a philosophical abstraction to repose
upon the public seats about the swards and open spaces is not conceived
in a mood of affable toleration. Nevertheless there are deserted places
beyond the furthest limits of the city where a more amiable full-face
is shown. On the elev