Corroboration

The Anglican Archbishop of Perth, Dr. Riley, says that certain anonymous letter-writers expressed the wish that he should go to hell and hear the shrieks of the damned, because he would not support Prohibition.

1. And, lo, it came to pass that the Archbishop, in a dream,
descended

2. Into hell. Throwing a sop to Cerberus — a sop soaked in the
wine of the country — he managed to

3. Pass the portals; for the heart of Cerberus was made glad
and all his three heads were swimming in

4. Different directions. And, standing just within the gates,
the good Archbishop listened unto the shrieks of the

5. Damned. And, behold, they shrieked in divers tongues —
some in Sanscrit, some in Chaldean, some in Coptic roots, many in
the Teuton tongue, and some few in the dinkum

6. Aussie lingo. And it was so. Then, being something of a lin-
guist and a scholar, the good Archbishop set down notes in short-
hand upon his tablet, taking them verbatim (even those that

7. Were verboten) in the Teuton tongue, and the Aussie tongue;
aye, even in the Coptic root and in the language of the Northern
American who shrieked lustily through the flames and

8. His nose; for, “Behold,” he shrieked, “this is even worse
than America. For in hell there are no bootleggers!” And, lo, the
heart of the good Archbishop was sore within him for

9. He had foreseen this thing and

10. He went on taking notes upon his tablet of

11. Asbestos; while Cerberus yet slept, with his three heads pil-
lowed peacefully upon three separate blocks of

12. Brimstone. And, behold, the good Archbishop after a space,
awoke again upon

13. Earth, and faced his accusers, saying unto them, “I

14. Told you so.” And they replied “What’s

15. Doing? Are you not now a Prohibitionist?” And he answered
them, saying, “Not on

16. Your life. I have beheld the only Prohibitionist country in
the

17. Universe, and my heart is sad; for I have heard the nations
shriek in divers tongues and, one and all, the shriek for

18. Drinks —

19. For the strong drink, for the one half of one per cent. drink,
aye, even for the weak drink down unto the lemon squash and the
cocoa that destroyeth. And I will NOT support your Prohibition for
it maketh the nations to shriek.” And the good

20. Archbishop went his way, smiling. For he knew that he had
done good work; for down in

21. Hell the good and wise dog, Cerberus, having tasted of the
joy of life has become a

22. Bootlegger.