"'There was faith and hope and whacking and despair.
While the Sergeant gave his orders and he combed old Pharaoh out,
And England didn't look to know or care.'"
"Isn't it 'While the Sergeant gave his cautions'?" suggested Blake.
"Perhaps it is. It's the whacking and the combing I'm thinking of, and the line:
"'Translated by a stick (which is really half the trick).'
"'It's a good deal more than half the trick. England wouldn't allow us to comb these derelicts out. The Sergeant had a great advantage over me. He worked in a silent desert, under the burning sun. I'd have to work in gossipy, prying, interfering England, under the rules of the County Council or the Local Government Board, which are worse than any tropical sun that ever struck a man with heat apoplexy. I might possess Roosevelt's big stick, but I should not be permitted to use it. Our phrase 'Are we down-hearted?' should be changed into 'Are we soft-hearted?' Yes, and soft-headed. The answer is found in the old rhyme 'We are, we are, we are.'"
"Then this scheme is N.G.? Mr. Stillson Crane, of Manchester, doesn't get the five hundred pounds?"
