James.

[Very aggressively.] I shan't go till I choose.

Basil.

[Turns round, smiling blandly.] Of course, we're both Christians, dear James; and there's a good deal of civilisation kicking about the world nowadays. But, notwithstanding, the last word is still with the strongest.

James.

What d'you mean by that?

Basil.

[Good-humouredly.] Merely that discretion is the better part of valour. They say that proverbs are the wealth of nations.

James.

[Indignantly.] That's just the sort of thing you'd do—to 'it a feller smaller than yourself.