The Roll-Call

onal purposes, some scale drawings of architectural detail which were required for a restaurant then rising in Piccadilly under the direction of Lucas & Enwright. In his ro

d passed the Intermediate, Mr. Lucas had not. But in manly beauty, in stylish

greeted. "How d

ically "I feel so fit I could

tell you?"

toes of a lack of muscularity, and upon George denying the charge, he asserted that George could not hang from the mantelpiece by his toes. They were both men of the world, capable of great heights of dignity, figures in an important business, aspirants to a supreme art and profession. They were at that moment in a beautiful late-eighteenth-century house of a stately and renowned square, and in a room whose proportions and ornament admittedly might serve as an exemplar to the student; and not the least lovely feature of the room was the high carved mantelpiece.

you cuckoo!" Georg

f proceeding along the corridor direct to the principals' room. His aspect, as he gazed at George's hair and at the revealed sateen back of George's waistcoat, was unusual. Mr. Enwright commonly entered the office full of an intense and aggrieved consciousn

this?" he

dangerously thereon, and arose in a condition much disa

ge. It was foolish in the extreme, but it was the best he could do, and afte

ls' room, where John Orgreave could be heard dictating letters. George straightened his clo

e shabby, respectable old man sm

heard the re

is introduction to Mr. Haim's household, had been accepted by Mr. Enwright. As for Mr. Enwright, though the exigencies of his beard, and his regular morning habit of inveighing against the profession at great length, and his inability to decide where he should lunch, generally prevented him from beginning the day until three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Enwright had given many highly concentrated hours of creative energy to the design. And Mr. Haim had adorned the sheets with t

on?" he as

ay, Mr. Cannon,

you know he's hear

d assisted at the advent of such vital news in the office-news obtained in advance by the principals through secret channels-

and Mr. Enwright's head showed. The gloomy,

tepped into full view. His unseen partner had ceased to dictate,

e not, in one unvisited corner of his mind, always foreknown it? Suddenly he was distressed, discouraged, disillusioned about

t it?" Ge

inb

!... Where

whe

pla

uch if Grant had got it. There was something to be said for his scheme. I kn

what he had so often affirmed during the last few weeks. People were certainly very

sque!" he protested borrowing o

urse i

rver go and give him the a

g Sir Hugh and his reputation and his p

him Assessor-that's wh

ny's a piebald pony. Couldn't you think of that for yourself? Or have you been stone deaf in this office for two years? It stands to reason that a man who's responsible for all the largest new eyesores in London would impress

ly into the discussion. John Orgreave had grown rather fat and coarse. At one period, in the Five Towns, he had been George's hero. He was so no longer. George was still fond of him, but he had torn him down from the pedestal and estab

bsolutely going to ignore the market on the other side of the Square. Whinburn's f

as convinced that nobody could possibly rival Mr. Enwright, and that no Law Courts ever had been conceived equal to those Law Courts. And he himself had contributed something to the creation. He had dreamed of the building erected and of being able to stand in front of some detail of it and say to himself: "That was my notion, that was." And now the building was destroy

ight did

, Orgreave," he said suddenly. "Th

ect's got much to do with i

ort, but you don't see, and you never will see. Even Lucas

with the most acrid cynicism, and he pulled open one door of a long, low cupboard whos

escape from the competition system; and it had lost in far more competitions than it had won. It was always, and always would be, at the mercy of an Assessor. The chances had always been, and always would be, against the acceptance of its designs, because they had the fatal quality of originality combined with modest adherence to the classical tradition. When they conquered, it was by sheer force. George glanced at the skeleton, and he was afraid. Something was very wrong with architecture. He agree

ked-to the door

"I shan't be back just yet. I have to

ly set back he always went off to visit Bentley, the architect of the new R

athedral lately?" he dema

table omissions, and of the fullness of his life as an architect and

ome time-before they've spoilt the thing with decorations. There's a whole