DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3462#0079
THE STATE ENTRY 49
Suddenly a shout indicated the tonga had been
found. And—oh what humiliation!—by the doctor,
who had scoffed at our nicely-laid plans and trudged
off pigheadedly on his own account! We crowded
round him excitedly. "How did you find it?
" What system did you work upon ?" he was
asked. He had no imagination, and his explana-
tion was crude in the extreme. " Well," he said,
"there's nothing much to tell. I was walking
along, and I ran into the tonga. I knew it
belonged to Menpes, because it was yellow."
Because it was yellow, forsooth! It hurt one's
sensitive feelings even to hear him. With pained
expressions, we got into the tonga and drove back
to Number One, the camp of the millionaires, not at
all a fitting place for a painter, its very atmosphere
spelling philistine materialism. At luncheon there
was the usual struggle on the part of every one to
describe what had been seen during the day, and
the conversation was richly flavoured with such com-
prehensive adjectives as "sparkling," "gorgeous,"
"magnificent." How much meaning do such
descriptions convey to those who did not witness
the pageant ?
Suddenly a shout indicated the tonga had been
found. And—oh what humiliation!—by the doctor,
who had scoffed at our nicely-laid plans and trudged
off pigheadedly on his own account! We crowded
round him excitedly. "How did you find it?
" What system did you work upon ?" he was
asked. He had no imagination, and his explana-
tion was crude in the extreme. " Well," he said,
"there's nothing much to tell. I was walking
along, and I ran into the tonga. I knew it
belonged to Menpes, because it was yellow."
Because it was yellow, forsooth! It hurt one's
sensitive feelings even to hear him. With pained
expressions, we got into the tonga and drove back
to Number One, the camp of the millionaires, not at
all a fitting place for a painter, its very atmosphere
spelling philistine materialism. At luncheon there
was the usual struggle on the part of every one to
describe what had been seen during the day, and
the conversation was richly flavoured with such com-
prehensive adjectives as "sparkling," "gorgeous,"
"magnificent." How much meaning do such
descriptions convey to those who did not witness
the pageant ?