PARSON'S METHODS
Next day, immediately after breakfast, Sir Geoffrey summoned his two footmen and the odd man, so called because he does odd jobs in a big establishment and works harder for less pay than any other servant except, possibly, the scullery-maid. The first footman, Alfred Rockley, had married recently his cousin, Prudence, and, for the moment, the Squire regarded him as ineligible for service elsewhere. Charles, the second footman, was held by the Squire to be an oaf, sadly in need of barrack-yard discipline; the odd man had been taken from the Home Farm, and felt more at home in a barn than in the pantry.
They had attended the lecture of the previous evening.
Sir Geoffrey marshalled them in front of him, as he sat at his desk, and said genially:
"Now, Alfred, what do you think about joining up?"
The gallant fellow answered promptly:
"I'm ready to enlist with Captain Pomfret, Sir Geoffrey."
"So he told me, and it warmed the cockles of my heart. But you have a wife and——"
"Somebody else coming, Sir Geoffrey," added a true son of Nether-Applewhite.
"Yes, yes; a hint of that reached me, and I was much pleased. Babies, b'Jove, ought to command premiums nowadays. Under the circumstances, Alfred, you can go back to the pantry. Single men must march first."