other Eminent Pot here," he said, "and
simply argue hell's blazes out of him ... my Lordy God, that 'ud be
great!"

"They're not likely to come," said Ninian.

"I don't know. Eminent Ones sometimes do the most unusual things!"

Ninian yawned and stretched his arms. "I move that this House be now
adjourned!" he said.

But they ignored his sleepiness, and he would not move away from their
company.

"Well, we've settled what our future is to be," said Gilbert.

"What is it to be?" Ninian interrupted, stifling another yawn.

"Weren't you listening? We're to be Improved Tories ... and we're to
improve the Universe, so to speak. We've just settled it. All the Old
Birds are to be hoofed out of office, and we're to take their places,
and I thoroughly approve of that. In my opinion, any man who wants to
occupy a place of authority after the age of sixty should be publicly
and cruelly pole-axed. I can't stand old men ... they're so cowardly and
so obstinate and so conceited!"

"The great thing," said Roger, "is to keep ourselves from sloppiness. We
mustn't make fools of ourselves!"

"The principal way in which a man makes a fool of himself," Gilbert
added, "is in connexion with the female species. Is that what you mean,
Roger?" Roger nodded his head. "Pay attention to that, Ninian," Gilbert
went on. "You have a weakness for females, I've noticed!"

Ninian, suddenly forgetting his fatigue, sat up in his seat. "I say,
let's jaw about women," he said.

"No," Gilbert replied. "We won't ... not at this hour of the morning!"
But, disregarding his decision, he went on, "My view of women is that we
all make too much fuss about 'em! Either we damn them excessively or we
praise them excessively. They're a cursed nuisance in literature. All
the writers seem to think that man was made for woman or woman for man,
and they write and write about sex and love as if there weren't other
things in the world besides women!"

"I'd like to know what else we were made for?" Henry said.

"We were made to do our jobs," Roger answered. "I believe in what I may
call the modified anchorite ... women are too emotional and get between
a man and his work. Love is an excellent thing ... excellent ... but
there are other things!..."

"What else is there?" Henry demanded almost crossly. He felt vaguely
stirred by what was being said, vaguely antagonistic to it.

"Oh, lots of things," Roger answered. "Fighting for your place, moving
multitudes