")_
Lord GEORGE PUFF _and_ Sir JOHN BULL _discovered attending a rehearsal
of the Naval Estimates._
_Lord George._ And now I pray your particular attention, Sir JOHN, as
this is the best thing in my play--it is a spectacular effect called
the Summer Manoeuvres.
_Sir John._ And no doubt costly, Lord GEORGE?
_Lord George._ You are right, Sir JOHN, as you will have an
opportunity of finding out--hereafter. But to the argument. It is
supposed that the British Fleet is at war with, indeed, the British
Fleet.
_Sir John._ A very clever idea.
_Lord George._ I flatter myself it is, and novel too. It is true that
occasionally the ships comprising the British Fleet have run into one
another in the past just as if they had been at war, but then they
were avowedly at peace, and now they are undoubtedly the reverse. Do
you take my meaning?
_Sir John._ Well, not clearly. How do you show that the British Fleet
is at war with the British Fleet?
_Lord George._ Ah, there comes in my art, and I think you will confess
I have a very pretty wit. You see I divide the British Fleet into two
parts--one part represents the enemy and the other part represents
itself like the House of Commons, a most representative body. That is
clear, I hope?
_Sir John._ Certainly--one is the British Fleet, and the other is not
the British Fleet. But is there no bond of union?
_Lord George._ Most assuredly there is--you pay for both.
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