Echoes of the Hunting Horn 



and at least his equal mentally, so I had no fears of 

 travelling in his company. 



He wasn't long in the car until I realized that my 

 calculations regarding our respective mental ability 

 needed readjustment. The man seemed to have con- 

 sumed vast quantities of dictionaries and was determined 

 to pour forth their contents at every available oppor- 

 tunity. 



" It's more than munificent of you to give me travel- 

 ling accommodation," said he, speaking like a B.B.C. 

 announcer. 



" Oh, not at all," said I, very humbly. 



1 This is a deplorably nice car," continued my pas- 

 senger. * You know, since I possess a mechanical mind, 

 it gives me very alacritive grief to see the delicate 

 incentives of internal combustion engines being abused 

 by ignorant cosmopolitans these days." 



" I suppose so," said I, trying to recover from this 

 onslaught. 



" Great heavens ! " he exploded, " to see the delicate 

 incentives being conflagrated by curmudgeons who know 

 nothing about the metaphysics of an engine ! " 



" I suppose so," I ventured again. 



" You suppose so ! Why, it's a conflagrating fact ! 

 Sure there's nothing in the universe of engines, gramo- 

 phones or radio that I don't understand alacritively, 

 because I have forty-five years' expenditure behind 

 me ! " 



" Do you tell me so ? " said I, trying to keep a straight 

 face. 



" I do indeed, but I wouldn't tell every Tom, Dick 



130 



