One
question, however, I did ask him.
"What sort of an hotel is the Universal supposed to be, Gilbert? Rather a
queer lot of people staying there, I thought."
My cousin implied by a gesture that he was not surprised.
"Very cosmopolitan indeed," he declared. "It is patronized chiefly, I
believe, by a certain class of Americans and gentlemen of the sporting
persuasion. The restaurant, of course, is good, and a few notabilities
stay there now and then. I should have thought the Carlton would have
suited you better."
I changed the subject.
"How are politics?" I asked.
He looked at me as though in reproach at the levity of my question.
"You read the papers, I suppose?" he remarked. "You know for yourself
that we are passing through a very critical time. Never," he added,
"since I have been in the House, have I known such a period of anxiety."
Considering that Gilbert represented a rural constituency, and that his
party was not even in office, I felt inclined to smile. However, I took
him seriously.
"Same old war scare, I suppose?" I remarked.
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