E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 28495-h.htm or 28495-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/4/9/28495/28495-h/28495-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/4/9/28495/28495-h.zip) SCALLY The Story of a Perfect Gentleman by IAN HAY * * * * * By Ian Hay SCALLY: THE STORY OF A PERFECT GENTLEMAN. With Frontispiece. A KNIGHT ON WHEELS. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY. Illustrated by Charles E. Brock. A SAFETY MATCH. With frontispiece. A MAN'S MAN. With frontispiece. THE RIGHT STUFF. With frontispiece. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK * * * * * [Illustration: THE LEADING OBJECT PROVED TO BE A SMALL, WET, SHIVERING, WHIMPERING PUPPY] SCALLY The Story of a Perfect Gentleman by IAN HAY [Illustration] Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin Company MDCCCCXV Copyright, 1914, by the Curtis Publishing Company Copyright, 1915, by Ian Hay Beith All Rights Reserved Published November 1915 SCALLY SCALLY THE STORY OF A PERFECT GENTLEMAN I "BETTERSEA trem? Right, miss!" My wife, who has been married long enough to feel deeply gratified at being mistaken for a maiden lady, smiled seraphically at the conductor, and allowed herself to be hoisted up the steps of the majestic vehicle provided by a paternal county council to convey passengers--at a loss to the ratepayers, I understand--from the Embankment to Battersea. Presently we ground our way round a curve and began to cross Westminster Bridge. The conductor, whose innate cockney bonhomie his high official position had failed to eradicate, presented himself before us and collected our fares. "What part of Bettersea did you require, sir?" he asked of me. I coughed and answered evasively:-- "Oh, about the middle." "We haven't been there before," added my wife, quite gratuitously. The conductor smiled indulgently and punched our tickets. "I'll tell you when to get down," he said, and left us. For some months we had been considering the question of buying a dog, and a good deal of our spare time--or perhaps I should say of my spare time, for a woman's time is naturally all her own--had been pleasantly occupied in discussing the matter. Having at length committed ourselves to the purchase of the animal, we proceeded to consider such details as breed, sex, and age.