FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63  
64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   >>   >|  
eople of Notting Hill have accepted our compensation. But the ineffable Wayne sticks out over Pump Street. Says he's Provost of Notting Hill. He's only Provost of Pump Street." "A good thought," replied Auberon. "I like the idea of a Provost of Pump Street. Why not let him alone?" "And drop the whole scheme!" cried out Buck, with a burst of brutal spirit. "I'll be damned if we do. No. I'm for sending in workmen to pull down without more ado." "Strike for the purple Eagle!" cried the King, hot with historical associations. "I'll tell you what it is," said Buck, losing his temper altogether. "If your Majesty would spend less time in insulting respectable people with your silly coats-of-arms, and more time over the business of the nation--" The King's brow wrinkled thoughtfully. "The situation is not bad," he said; "the haughty burgher defying the King in his own Palace. The burgher's head should be thrown back and the right arm extended; the left may be lifted towards Heaven, but that I leave to your private religious sentiment. I have sunk back in this chair, stricken with baffled fury. Now again, please." Buck's mouth opened like a dog's, but before he could speak another herald appeared at the door. "The Lord High Provost of Bayswater," he said, "desires an audience." "Admit him," said Auberon. "This _is_ a jolly day." The halberdiers of Bayswater wore a prevailing uniform of green, and the banner which was borne after them was emblazoned with a green bay-wreath on a silver ground, which the King, in the course of his researches into a bottle of champagne, had discovered to be the quaint old punning cognisance of the city of Bayswater. "It is a fit symbol," said the King, "your immortal bay-wreath. Fulham may seek for wealth, and Kensington for art, but when did the men of Bayswater care for anything but glory?" Immediately behind the banner, and almost completely hidden by it, came the Provost of the city, clad in splendid robes of green and silver with white fur and crowned with bay. He was an anxious little man with red whiskers, originally the owner of a small sweet-stuff shop. "Our cousin of Bayswater," said the King, with delight; "what can we get for you?" The King was heard also distinctly to mutter, "Cold beef, cold 'am, cold chicken," his voice dying into silence. "I came to see your Majesty," said the Provost of Bayswater, whose name was Wilson, "about that Pump Street affair
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63  
64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Provost

 

Bayswater

 

Street

 

silver

 

wreath

 

banner

 

burgher

 

Majesty

 
Auberon
 
Notting

cognisance

 
quaint
 

punning

 

symbol

 

audience

 
Kensington
 

wealth

 
immortal
 

Fulham

 

discovered


champagne

 
emblazoned
 

ineffable

 
prevailing
 

uniform

 

sticks

 
compensation
 

halberdiers

 

bottle

 

researches


accepted
 

ground

 
distinctly
 

mutter

 

cousin

 

delight

 

Wilson

 

affair

 

chicken

 

silence


splendid

 

hidden

 
completely
 
Immediately
 

originally

 

whiskers

 

crowned

 

anxious

 

altogether

 

temper