e waiter."

"----of certain responsibilities," pursued Betteredge, impenetrably
declining to see anybody in the room but himself and me. "As to Miss
Verinder's sitting-room, to begin with. When we took up the carpet
last year, Mr. Jennings, we found a surprising quantity of pins. Am I
responsible for putting back the pins?"

"Certainly not."

Betteredge made a note of that concession, on the spot.

"As to the first corridor next," he resumed. "When we moved
the ornaments in that part, we moved a statue of a fat naked
child--profanely described in the catalogue of the house as 'Cupid,
god of Love.' He had two wings last year, in the fleshy part of his
shoulders. My eye being off him, for the moment, he lost one of them. Am
I responsible for Cupid's wing?"

I made another concession, and Betteredge made another note.

"As to the second corridor," he went on. "There having been nothing in
it, last year, but the doors of the rooms (to every one of which I can
swear, if necessary), my mind is easy, I admit, respecting that part of
the house only. But, as to Mr. Franklin's bedroom (if THAT is to be
put back to what it was before), I want to know who is responsible for
keeping it in a perpetual state of litter, no matter how often it may
be set right--his trousers here, his towels there, and his French novels
everywhere. I say, who is responsible for untidying the tidiness of Mr.
Franklin's room, him or me?"

Mr. Blake declared that he would assume the whole responsibility with
the greatest pleasure. Betteredge obstinately declined to listen to any
solution of the difficulty, without first referring it to my sanction
and approval. I accepted Mr. Blake's proposal; and Betteredge made a
last entry in the pocket-book to that effect.

"Look in when you like, Mr. Jennings, beginning from to-morrow," he
said, getting on his legs. "You will find me at work, with the necessary
persons to assist me. I respectfully beg to thank you, sir, for
overlooking the case of the stuffed buzzard, and the other case of
the Cupid's wing--as also for permitting me to wash my hands of all
responsibility in respect of the pins on the carpet, and the litter in
Mr. Franklin's room. Speaking as a servant, I am deeply indebted to you.
Speaking as a man, I consider you to be a person whose head is full
of maggots, and I take up my testimony against your experiment as a
delusion and a snare. Don't be afraid, on that account, of my feelings
as a man