you had better keep your toe in
your pump, young man."

"I don't know that I shall keep my toe in my pump because there is
another aspirant," said Anderson. "You rather whet my ardor, sir, to new
exploits. In such circumstances one is inclined to think that the
aspirant must look after himself. Not that I conceive for a moment that
Miss Mountjoy should ever look after me."

When Mrs. Mountjoy came down to the drawing-room there seemed to be
quite "a party" collected to enjoy the hospitality of Sir Magnus, but
there were not, in truth, many more than the usual number at the board.
There were Lady Mountjoy, and Miss Abbot, and Mr. Anderson, with Mr.
Montgomery Arbuthnot, the two attaches. Mr. Montgomery Arbuthnot was
especially proud of his name, but was otherwise rather a humble young
man as an attache, having as yet been only three months with Sir Magnus,
and desirous of perfecting himself in Foreign Office manners under the
tuition of Mr. Anderson. Mr. Blow, Secretary of Legation, was not there.
He was a married man of austere manners, who, to tell the truth, looked
down from a considerable height, as regarded Foreign Office knowledge,
upon his chief.

It was Mr. Blow who did the "grinding" on behalf of the Belgian
Legation, and who sometimes did not hesitate to let it be known that
such was the fact. Neither he nor Mrs. Blow was popular at the Embassy;
or it may, perhaps, be said with more truth that the Embassy was not
popular with Mr. and Mrs. Blow. It may be stated, also, that there was a
clerk attached to the establishment, Mr. Bunderdown, who had been there
for some years, and who was good-naturedly regarded by the English
inhabitants as a third attache. Mr. Montgomery Arbuthnot did his best to
let it be understood that this was a mistake. In the small affairs of
the legation, which no doubt did not go beyond the legation, Mr.
Bunderdown generally sided with Mr. Blow. Mr. Montgomery Arbuthnot was
recognized as a second mounted attache, though his attendance on the
boulevard was not as constant as that of Mr. Anderson, in consequence,
probably, of the fact that he had not a horse of his own. But there were
others also present. There were Sir Thomas Tresham, with his wife, who
had been sent over to inquire into the iron trade of Belgium. He was a
learned free-trader who could not be got to agree with the old familiar
views of Sir Magnus,--who thought that the more iron that was produced in
Belgium the less would