"Indeed!" said the man. "I hardly see how that can be. Perhaps you will explain."
"I will!" said the Angel. "To begin with, the work is slovenly."
"I was born heedless," said the man. "It is a family failing which I have always regretted."
"It is ill put together, too;" said the Angel. "The parts do not fit."
"I never had any eye for proportion," said the man; "I admit it is unfortunate."
"The whole thing is a botch," said the Angel. "You have put neither brains nor heart into it, and the result is ridiculous failure. What do you propose to do about it?"
"I credited you with more comprehension," said the man. "My faults, such as they are, were born with me. I am sorry that you do not approve of me, but this is the way I was made; do you see?"
"I see!" said the Angel. He put out a strong white hand, and taking the man by the collar, tumbled him neck and crop into the ditch.
"What is the meaning of this?" cried the man, as he scrambled out breathless and dripping. "I never saw such behavior. Do you see what you have done? you have ruined my clothes, and nearly drowned me beside."
"Oh yes!" said the Angel: "this is the way _I_ was made."
Some neighbours were walking together in the cool of the day, watching the fall of the twilight, and talking of this and that; and as they walked, they saw at a little distance a light, as it were a house on fire.
"From the direction, that must be our neighbour William's house," said one. "Ought we not to warn him of the danger?"
"I see only a little flame," said another; "perchance it may go out of itself, and no harm done."
"I should be loth to carry ill news," said a third; "it is always a painful thing to do."
"William is not a man who welcomes interference," said a fourth. "I should not like to be the one to intrude upon his privacy; probably he knows about the fire, and is managing it in his own way."
While they were talking, the house burned up.
The door of the Comet House was open. In the great court-yard stood hundreds of comets, of all sizes and shapes. Some were puffing and blowing, and arranging their tails, all ready to start; others had just come in, and looked shabby and forlorn after their long journeyings, their tails drooping disconsolately; while others still were switched off on side-tracks, where the tinker and the tailor were attending to their wants, and setting them to rights. In the midst of all stood the Comet Master, with his hands behind him, holding a very long stick with a very sharp point. The comets knew just how the point of that stick felt, for they were prodded with it whenever they misbehaved themselves; accordingly, they all remained very quiet, while he gave his orders for the day.
