The
temporary peace which brooded over the Parliamentary situation was
by no means reproduced in the home circles of the leading
statesmen and politicians. It had been frequently and extensively
remarked of Mrs. Exe that she would try the patience of an angel;
now the tables were reversed, and she unwittingly had an
opportunity for discovering that the capacity for exasperating
behaviour was not all on one side.
And then, with the introduction of the Navy Estimates,
Parliamentary peace suddenly dissolved. It was the old quarrel
between Ministers and the Opposition as to the adequacy or the
reverse of the Government's naval programme. The Angel-Quinston
and the Angel-Hugo-Sizzle contrived to keep the debates free from
personalities and pinpricks, but an enormous sensation was created
when the elegant lackadaisical Halfan Halfour threatened to bring
up fifty, thousand stalwarts to wreck the House if the Estimates
were not forthwith revised on a Two-Power basis. It was a
memorable scene when he rose in his place, in response to the
scandalized shouts of his opponents, and thundered forth,
"Gentlemen, I glory in the name of Apache."
Belturbet, who had made several fruitless attempts to ring up his
young friend since the fateful morning in St.
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