“Mr. Billing,” he said, “insisted on our producing some sort of relative for the dead General. He wouldn’t have given that £100 if we hadn’t. Now what I say is this——”
“I’m not talking to you now, Major. I’m talking to Father McCormack, who’s a man of sense, with some knowledge of the world. The way I’m putting it to him is this: Supposing there was a job going a begging, a nice comfortable job under the Government, with no particular duties attached to it, except just to look pleasant and be generally agreeable—there are such jobs.”
“And supposing that you were asked to nominate a man for the post——” Dr. O’Grady still addressed himself only to Father McCormack. “You might be, you know. In fact you, and other people in your position often are, though there’s always supposed to be a competitive examination.”
“Nobody believes in examinations,” said the Major.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Dr. O’Grady. “Now what would you do in a case of the kind? As a matter of fact what do you do? What did you do when they were appointing a secretary to the Old-Age Pension Committee?”
“I’d look out for some decent poor fellow,” said Father McCormack. “One that might be wanting something of the kind, a man that nobody would have anything particular to say against.”
“You wouldn’t spend a lot of time arguing about whether there ought to be such a secretary or not?”
“I would not, of course,” said Father McCormack. “What would be the use? If the job’s there and a man’s wanted I’d have no business talking about the rights or wrongs of it beyond saying that the salary ought to be a bit larger.”
“Exactly,” said Dr. O’Grady. “Now that’s just what’s happened in this case. It isn’t exactly a job, under the Government, not under our Government, though it may lead on to something in Bolivia. Here’s a dead General that has to be fitted out with a niece——”
“You said a grand-niece a minute ago,” said the Major.
“The principle’s the same,” said Dr. O’Grady. “What I’m trying to get you to see is that Mary Ellen may just as well step into the position as anyone else.”
“When you put it that way,” said Father McCor-mack, “there’s no more to be said. The girl’s a decent girl, and I wouldn’t stand in the way of her bettering herself.”