"You are a good friend, Mr. Clendon."
"I am! I am everything that is good!"
"Your trumpeter is dead, I see."
"Yes, poor soul! He died from overwork."
Mrs. Belswin laughed again at Toby's verbal dexterity, and then began to talk about Maxwell, which was the subject nearest her heart. The lady wished to know all about Archie's position, so as to see if he was a suitable lover for Kaituna, and the man being a firm friend of the love-lorn swain, lied calmly, with that great ease which only comes from long experience.
"Mr. Maxwell is a great friend of yours, isn't he?"
"Oh, yes! We were boys together,"
"You're not much more now. What is his profession?"
"He's an engineer! Awfully clever. He'd have invented the steam-engine if Stephenson hadn't been before him."
"Would he indeed? What a pity he wasn't born before the age of steam. By the way, how is he getting on in his profession?"