There could be no question that, in point of color, the fairest bloom sent in was Exhibit Sixteen. It was a rose of such a dazzling snowy whiteness that it had caught and held the expert eye of the President at the morning inspection. "An easy winner, Jennings," he had said, as soon as he had seen it, "Nothing to put beside it, my boy."
The astute Jennings, a professional nurseryman along The Rise, made no comment. He had taken the trouble to find out the name of the grower before bringing a mature judgment to bear on the fruits of his craft. "Sound" criticism is always a priori. Critics who value their reputation are careful not to pronounce an opinion on any work of art until they know who has produced it. Otherwise mistakes are apt to occur. None knew better than Jennings that the grower of Exhibit Sixteen could not hope to receive the President's prize; indeed Jennings was amazed at the little tick's impudence in daring to compete at all for his father-in-law's silver gilt goblet. It was an act of bravado. Jennings, therefore, shook his head coldly. He declined to show enthusiasm in the presence of what to the unsuspecting eye of the President was an almost too obvious masterpiece.
Jennings shook the sober head of a professional expert. "To me," he said, "Twenty-one 'as more quality."
"Rubbish, man!" The President threw up his head sharply, a favorite trick when goaded by contradiction. "Twenty-one can't be mentioned on the same day o' the week. What do you say, Penney?"
Before Mr. Councilor Penney, an acknowledged light of the a priori school of criticism, ventured to express an opinion he winged a glance at Nurseryman Jennings. And that glance, in the technical language of experts, conveyed a clear request for "the office."
"The office" was given sotto voce behind the adroit hand of Jennings, "Mester Munt--Twenty-one, Sixteen--Bill Hollis."
Thereupon Mr. Councilor Penney closed one eye and proceeded to examine the competing blooms. "Well, Mester Munt," he said solemnly, "I am bound to say, to my mind Twenty-one 'as it."
The impetuous president had a short way with the Councilor Penneys of the earth. "Have you no eyes, man! Twenty-one can't live beside Sixteen. Not the same class. Look at the color--look at the shape--look at the size----"