CHAPTER IV

Tankerville


The great Mr. Molescroft himself came over to Tankerville for the
purpose of introducing our hero to the electors and to Mr. Ruddles,
the local Liberal agent, who was to be employed. They met at the
Lambton Arms, and there Phineas established himself, knowing well
that he had before him ten days of unmitigated vexation and misery.
Tankerville was a dirty, prosperous, ungainly town, which seemed to
exude coal-dust or coal-mud at every pore. It was so well recognised
as being dirty that people did not expect to meet each other with
clean hands and faces. Linen was never white at Tankerville, and even
ladies who sat in drawing-rooms were accustomed to the feel and taste
and appearance of soot in all their daintiest recesses. We hear that
at Oil City the flavour of petroleum is hardly considered to be
disagreeable, and so it was with the flavour of coal at Tankerville.
And we know that at Oil City the flavour of petroleum must not be
openly declared to be objectionable, and so it was with coal at
Tankerville. At Tankerville coal was much loved, and was not thought
to be dirty. Mr. Ruddles was very much begrimed himself, and some
of the leading Liberal electors, upon whom Phineas Finn had already
called, seemed to be saturated with the product of the district. It
would not, however, in any event be his duty to live at Tankerville,
and he had believed from the first moment of his entrance into the
town that he would soon depart from it, and know it no more. He felt
that the chance of his being elected was quite a forlorn hope, and
could hardly understand why he had allowed himself to be embarrassed
by so very unprofitable a speculation.