“Yes,” she said slowly and with something of awe in her voice. “He is a one bisquer at croquet!”
I tried to catch sight of the carriage and its bays, but it must have been a mile away by this time.
“And he does all that out of the hundred and fifty pounds a year your father pays him?”
“He does indeed, eked out by the five thousand a year his father left him: his father was Sir Edmund Bonnewell, the great contractor. You have heard of him?”
I had.
IV.—THE ENCYCLOPÆDIC PARSON
It is impossible that every one should be fully informed on all points even in so enlightened a community as Broadminster; but there is one clergyman who has a reputation for being the most artful fisherman in the Close, and of being always able to answer any question that may be put to him by the most casual inquirer. I heard him discussing the origin of a fire that had taken place in the town a few days before, and, as is usual in these days, it was said to have been due to a short circuit in the electric wires.
“I have often wondered what a short circuit is,” said a lady. “Can you tell me what it is, Mr. Tomlinson?”