"That is right."
"Have a sip?"
"Yes."
"I nearly got bowled out once at the masonry game. This is between ourselves."
"Of course, we understand each other; shake hands."
"They nearly caught me."
"How?"
"We were walking over the work—when I say we, I mean a party of directors, a couple of engineers, and the resident engineer. An unlucky thing happened. Someone said, 'I should think a good view of the surrounding country is to be obtained from the top of this bridge.' Now, you know, in those days, some engineers liked offsets at the back of a wall very close together, say about every two feet, as they thought the backing remained on them, and helped to prevent the wall overturning; but it seldom does, the backing is usually drawn away from such off-sets. However, unfortunately, most of these directors had only recently returned from Switzerland, and had been up the Mortarhorn, I think they said—or thought they had, or read about it in a guide book. Anyhow, they started climbing up the back of one of the abutments. They ought to have known our work is not quite so solid as nature, nor as the Romans made in the old slow days when they were not fighting; but it is all right for the purpose intended, at least, for what we intend it, and that is enough. The abutment of the bridge I am referring to was 50 feet in length, and what must they all do but start at once at the climbing business, like a lot of schoolboys eager to get there first, and I had only time to think a moment, and to shout,
"'Be careful, gentlemen, please, the mortar has not had time to set yet, it's green.'
"Lucky, I said 'yet'; but between you and me, I should be an old one, and no mistake, if I had to wait till it set right.