“Pray do so by all means,” said Mr. W. P. Walkinshaw, with a bland encouragement. “It occurs to me, sir,” said Mr. Dodson, “that William Jordan, Junior’s--ah, shortness of measure may be due to _greenness_, as one might say.” “Your metaphor is a little mixed, Dodson,” said Mr. Walter Pater Walkinshaw affably, “but I think your meaning is sufficiently clear. You would say he lacks experience of life?” “That is it, sir, exactly,” said Mr. Dodson, “that is just what I wanted to say. My private impression is that his education has been seriously neglected.” “That is a serious indictment, Mr. Dodson,” said Mr. W. P. Walkinshaw gravely. “A very serious indictment.” “It would be, sir, in the case of another, I am free to confess,” said Mr. Dodson, with a guile that would have embellished the primeval serpent; “but then, you see, sir, in spite of ed-u-ca-tional disadvantages, Nature has thought fit to reserve a point in favour of William Jordan, Junior.” “Ah,” said Mr. W. P. Walkinshaw, “what, pray, is the point that Nature has reserved in his favour?” “William Jordan, Junior, may not be a scholar,” said Mr. Dodson, speaking with the calm humility of those who have served their novitiate to the mysteries, “but, in the best sense of the word, sir, he is a gentleman.” “Ah,” said Mr. W. P. Walkinshaw, with a sudden accession of interest to his eminently serious and somewhat melancholy eyes, “that is interesting; one is glad to know that.” “Yes, sir,” said Mr. Dodson with quiet confidence, for unmistakably he was well on the target; “whatever young Jordan is, or whatever he is not, he can’t _help_ being a gentleman.” “One has noticed it oneself,” said Mr. Walter Pater Walkinshaw. “May one ask, Dodson, has your knowledge been gained empirically, or are you in the possession of data which have been privately communicated?” “Well, sir,” said Mr. Dodson, “he has not said a word about his family; but if it is not a good deal above the common my name is not Matthew Arnold Dodson. I believe, sir, his mental training is entirely due to a maiden aunt who lives in the neighbourhood of Hither Green--I believe, sir, he was left an orphan at a tender age--but his manners and behaviour seem to have been handed down. Personally, I do not doubt, sir, for a single moment that Mr. Octavius was right when he allowed him to take his seat in our midst.” “The judgment at which you have arrived does you infinite credit, Dodson,” said Mr. Walter Pater Walkinshaw. “It is also a tribute to a fun-da-men-tal goodness of heart. There can be no doubt whatever that Mr. Octavius was quite right.” Mr. Dodson totally ignored a compliment that one of less calibre would have felt constrained to accept with embarrassment. “I, for one, sir,” said Mr. Dodson confidentially, “place implicit faith in the judgment of Mr. Octavius. Personally, sir, I have never seen it betray a sign of being at fault.”