'I shall be delighted, Comrade--'

'Rossiter,' said Mike, aside.

'Comrade Rossiter. I shall be delighted to furnish you with particulars
of my family history. As follows. Soon after the Norman Conquest, a
certain Sieur de Psmith grew tired of work--a family failing,
alas!--and settled down in this country to live peacefully for the
remainder of his life on what he could extract from the local
peasantry. He may be described as the founder of the family which
ultimately culminated in Me. Passing on--'

Mr Rossiter refused to pass on.

'What are you doing here? What have you come for?'

'Work,' said Psmith, with simple dignity. 'I am now a member of the
staff of this bank. Its interests are my interests. Psmith, the
individual, ceases to exist, and there springs into being Psmith, the
cog in the wheel of the New Asiatic Bank; Psmith, the link in the
bank's chain; Psmith, the Worker. I shall not spare myself,' he
proceeded earnestly. 'I shall toil with all the accumulated energy of
one who, up till now, has only known what work is like from hearsay.
Whose is that form sitting on the steps of the bank in the morning,
waiting eagerly for the place to open? It is the form of Psmith, the
Worker. Whose is that haggard, drawn face which bends over a ledger
long after the other toilers have sped blithely westwards to dine at
Lyons' Popular Cafe? It is the face of Psmith, the Worker.'

'I--' began Mr Rossiter.