TRAVELING WITH A REFORMER
it; he would not have understood. When we left the car, I said:
"That was a good stroke of diplomacy three good strokes of diplomacy, in fact."
" That? That wasn t diplomacy. You are quite in the wrong. Diplomacy is a wholly different thing. One cannot apply it to that sort; they would not understand it. No, that was not diplomacy ; it was force."
"Now that you mention it, I yes, I think per haps you are right."
"Right? Of course I am right. It was just force."
"I think, myself, it had the outside aspect of it. Do you often have to reform people in that way?"
"Far from it. It hardly ever happens. Not oftener than once in half a year, at the outside./
"Those men will get well?"
"Get well? Why, certainly they will. They are not in any danger. I know how to hit and where to hit. You noticed that I did not hit them under the jaw. That would have killed them."
I believed that. I remarked rather wittily, as I thought that he had been a lamb all day, but now had all of a sudden developed into a ram batter ing-ram; but with dulcet frankness and simplicity he said no, a battering-ram was quite a different thing and not in use now. This was maddening, and I came near bursting out and saying he had no more appreciation of wit than a jackass in fact, I had it right on my tongue, but did not say it, know ing there was no hurry and I could say it just as well some other time over the telephone.
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