with the gravest possible face, taking up, in his utter confusion, the words that were put into his mouth.
'Hurray!—so you did—you're the real brick. Well done, Snip; go it again with the wax and thread!'
'I am a thorough-paced reformer,' continued Mr. Moffat, somewhat reassured by the effect of the opportune words which his friend had whispered into his ear. 'A thorough-paced reformer—a thorough-paced reformer—'
'Go on, Snip. We all know what that means.'
'A thorough-paced reformer—'
'Never mind your paces, man; but get on. Tell us something new. We're all reformers, we are.'
Poor Mr. Moffat was a little thrown aback. It wasn't so easy to tell these gentlemen anything new, harassed as he was at this moment; so he looked back at his honourable supporter for some further hint. 'Say something about their daughters,' whispered George, whose own flights of oratory were always on that subject. Had he counselled Mr. Moffat to say a word or two about the tides, his advice would not have been less to the purpose.
'Gentlemen,' he began again—'you all know that I am a thorough-paced reformer—'
'Oh! drat your reform. He's a dumb dog. Go back to your goose, Snippy; you never were made for this work. Go to Courcy Castle and reform that.'
Mr. Moffat, grieved in his soul, was becoming inextricably bewildered by such facetiæ as these, when an egg—and it may be feared not a fresh egg—flung with unerring precision, struck him on the open part of his well-plaited shirt, and reduced him to speechless despair.
An egg is a means of delightful support when properly administered; but it is not calculated to add much spirit to a man's eloquence, or to insure his powers of endurance, when supplied in the manner above described. Men there are, doubtless, whose tongues would not be stopped even by such an argument as this; but Mr. Moffat was not one of them. As the insidious fluid trickled down beneath his waistcoat, he felt that all further powers of coaxing the electors out of their votes, by words flowing from his tongue sweeter than honey, was for that occasion denied to him. He could not be self-confident, energetic, witty, and good-humoured with a rotten egg drying in through his clothes. He was forced, therefore, to give way, and with sadly-disconcerted air retired from the open window at which he had been standing.
It was in vain that the Honourable George, Mr. Nearthewinde
