Nobody, not even the Colossus himself, had penetrated to the fact that, in point of sheer cleverness, Slippery Sam was at that moment without a peer in the realm. Cleverness may not be a specially high attribute, and Mr. Williams, who was perfectly frank with himself, would have been the first to say so, but occasions do arise when it has its uses. One of these now occurred. Midway through the speech of this rather simple but very gifted young man, there came the word China. The prime minister, it seemed, had lately been paying a good deal of attention to China. His thoughts were in this wise. “In my pocketbook is the ukase that infernal fellow H. had the effrontery to hurl at me the other day in his own handwriting.” “Saint James’s Square, “Friday afternoon “MY DEAR W. W.: “Send the Fleet to Peking before Japan gets in, or forfeit all claim to thinking Imperially. “Yours, in haste, “S. H.” Mr. Williams’ mind as it now reverted to China was a complex of many things. Listening to that name of ill omen on the lips of the member for Blackhampton, listening to the burning scorn of his words, the prime minister suddenly remembered the giants of his youth. Above all, he remembered Gladstone’s power of carrying not only the House, but the country with him on a live issue. This young man Endor, out of date as he was, a rather tragic anachronism in that _cénacle_ sprawling, dozing and sneering around him, was a voice from the past. He had not the ear of the House it was true. The simple fact was, the House no longer possessed an ear; it had no longer the power to react to style or tradition. Demosthenes himself could not have pierced these professional hardbakes, who ran the country on the lines of their trade-unions. The British House of Commons was now the most soulless and vulgar of all assemblies; the U. P. had castrated it; but the prime minister, at any rate, was still able to recognize the divine fire. Moreover, the flame burning in the heart of this young man, John Endor, set him thinking. XXX The thoughts of Slippery Sam were after this fashion.