THE RETURN OF THE EXILES 



&quot; Have patience with me. She is going to 

 marry the village wheelwright.&quot; 



&quot; Christopher Columbus ! and so the heavens 

 are falling. Did you get me up here for that 

 cataclysm, confound your lubberly organic pulp!&quot; 



&quot; I didn t suppose you would come flying up 

 in this manner. There s nothing you can do 

 except listen to me ; about the last thing in the 

 world I should expect you to do. The blow 

 has fallen. The account is made up. The cur 

 tain has dropped. Don t you want to take those 

 heavy boots off and make yourself comfortable, 

 now you are here ? &quot; 



&quot; No. It may be necessary for me to get away 

 in order to be comfortable, and so I will remain 

 prepared to fly in disgust, if this thing goes too 

 far. Do you understand that I haven t wasted 

 all this time with you for a mere diversion ; that 

 there was a great principle at stake ; that my pro 

 fessional acumen was involved ; that I was pitted 

 against sudden death, and did not expect to be 

 done up by a rustic petticoat ? And now you 

 write me that the jig is up. Have you taken 

 nine months to make a monkey of me?&quot; 



&quot; Doctor, you had better keep your explosion 

 for the last act it is always more appropriate 

 there than in the prelude.&quot; 



But I might as well have tried to stop that 

 mill-race over at the dam with an apostrophe. 

 He swept on : 



&quot; You may have a right to smash your own 

 prospects, but you have no right to upset my 



35 



