“My good man, you talk as if I proposed to do something with the stroke of a pen, to-morrow, before the world’s ready for it——”
“Have ye ever been to Blackpool of a Bank Holiday?”
“What on earth has Blackpool to do with it?——”
“Well, we’ll say Owdham Wakes week at t’ Isle o’ Man—Douglas——”
“Pooh! You’ve got hold of the wrong idea altogether! Do you know what Saturnalia means?——”
“I know there’s a man on Douglas Head, at twelve o’clock i’ t’ day, wi’ t’ sun shining, going round wi’ a stick an’ prodding ’em up an’ telling ’em to break away——”
“I shouldn’t have thought anybody could have been so incredibly slow to grasp an idea—!” cried Walter, his hands aloft.
“Have—you—ever—been—to—Blackpool—when—t’ Wakes—is on?”
Then Cosimo called again—