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diff --git a/14605-h/14605-h.htm b/14605-h/14605-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b25cf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/14605-h/14605-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9903 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Devil's Garden, by W. B. Maxwell</title> + <style type="text/css" id="internalstyle"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1.pg {text-align: center; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + color: black; } + h1 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 3em; + color: gray; + } + h2 { text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + color: blue; + } + h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 70%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .signature {margin-left: 50%;} + .ctr {text-align: center;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 6em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14605 ***</div> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Devil's Garden, by W. B. Maxwell</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + <hr class="full" /> + <p class="ctr"><img src="./images/title.jpg" width="100%" alt="Cover" title="" /></p> + <h1>THE<br /> + DEVIL'S GARDEN</h1> + <h4>By</h4> + <h3>W. B. MAXWELL</h3> + <h4>Author of</h4> + <h4><i>IN COTTON WOOL</i>, <i>MRS. THOMPSON</i>, <i>SEYMOUR CHARLTON</i>, ETC.</h4> +<p> </p> + <h6>Indianapolis<br /> + The Bobbs-Merrill Company<br /> + Publishers</h6> +<p> </p> + <h4>1914</h4> +<p> </p> + <hr /> + <h1>THE DEVIL'S GARDEN</h1> + <p class="ctr"><b>The Devil playeth in a man's mind like a<br /> + wanton child in a garden, bringing his filth<br /> + to choke each open path, uprooting the<br /> + tender plants, and trampling the buds that<br /> + should have blown for the Master.</b><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="ctr"> + <table summary="Chapter references" width="60%"> + <colgroup align="left" width="10%" span="3"> + </colgroup> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" align="center"><i>Go to Chapter</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#I"><b>I</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XIII"><b>XIII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXV"><b>XXV</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#II"><b>II</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XIV"><b>XV</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXVI"><b>XXVI</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#III"><b>III</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XV"><b>XIV</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXVII"><b>XXVII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#IV"><b>IV</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XVI"><b>XVII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXVIII"><b>XXVIII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#V"><b>V</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XVII"><b>XVIII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXIX"><b>XXIX</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#VI"><b>VI</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XVIII"><b>XIX</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXX"><b>XXX</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#VII"><b>VII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XIX"><b>XX</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXXI"><b>XXXI</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#VIII"><b>VIII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XX"><b>XXI</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXXII"><b>XXXII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#IX"><b>IX</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXI"><b>XVI</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXXIII"><b>XXXIII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#X"><b>X</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXXIV"><b>XXXIV</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXII"><b>XXII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#XI"><b>XI</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXIII"><b>XXIII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXXV"><b>XXXV</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#XII"><b>XII</b></a></td> + <td><a href="#XXIV"><b>XXIV</b></a></td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + <hr /> + <h2><a id="I" name="I"></a>I</h2> + <p>The village postmaster stood staring at an official envelope that had just been + shaken out of a mailbag upon the sorting-table. It was addressed to himself; and for + a few moments his heart beat quicker, with sharp, clean percussions, as if it were + trying to imitate the sounds made by the two clerks as they plied their stampers on + the blocks. Perhaps this envelope contained his fate.</p> + <p>Soon the stamping was finished; the sorting went on steadily and methodically; + before long the letters and parcels were neatly arranged in compartments near the + postmen's bags. The first delivery of the day was ready to go forth to the awakening + world.</p> + <p>"All through, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>The postmaster struck a bell, and glanced at the clock. Five fifty-six. Up to + time, as usual.</p> + <p>"Now then, my lads, off with you."</p> + <p>The postmen had come into the sorting-room, and were packing their bags and + slinging their parcels.</p> + <p>"Sharp's the word."</p> + <p>Picking up his unopened letter, the postmaster went through the public office, + stood on the outer threshold, and looked up and down the street.<a id="Page_2" + name="Page_2"></a></p> + <p>To his left the ground sloped downward through a narrowing perspective of + house-fronts and roof cornices to faint white mist, in which one could see some + cattle moving vaguely, and beyond which, if one knew that it was there, one might + just discern a wide space of common land stretching away boldly until the dark + barrier of woods stopped it short. To his right the ground lay level, with the road + enlarging itself to a dusty bay in front of the Roebuck Inn, turning by the + churchyard wall, forking between two gardened houses of gentlefolk, and losing itself + suddenly in the same white mist that closed the other vista. Over the veiling + whiteness, over the red roofs, and high above the church tower, the sky of a glorious + July morning rose unstained to measureless arches of blue.</p> + <p>As always in this early hour of the day, the postmaster thought of his own + importance. The village seemed still half asleep—blinds down wherever he + looked—lazy, money-greedy tradesmen not yet alive to their selfish + enterprises—only the poor laborers of the soil already at work; and + nevertheless here was he, William Dale, up and about, carrying on the continuous + business of the state.</p> + <p>But how long would he be permitted to feel like this? Could it be possible that + the end of his importance was near at hand?</p> + <p><i>On Her Majesty's Service!</i> He opened the envelope, unfolded the folio sheet + of paper that it contained, began to read—and immediately all the blood in his + body seemed to rush to his head.</p> + <p>"I am to inform you that you are temporarily suspended." And in the pompous + language of headquarters he was further informed that the person appointed to <a + id="Page_3" name="Page_3"></a>take over control would arrive at Rodchurch Road + Station by the eleven o'clock train; that he himself was to come to London on the + morrow, and immediately call at the G.P.O.; where, on the afternoon of that day or + the morning of a subsequent day, he would be given an opportunity of stating his case + in person, "agreeable to his request."</p> + <p>Why had they suspended him? Surely it would have been more usual if they had + allowed him to leave the office in charge of his chief clerk, or if they had given + charge of it to a competent person from Rodhaven, and not sent a traveler from + London? The traveling inspector is the bird of evil presage: he hovers over the + houses of doomed men.</p> + <p>William Dale ran his hand round the collarless neck of his shirt, and felt the + perspiration that had suddenly moistened his skin.</p> + <p>He was a big man of thirty-five; a type of the strong-limbed, quick-witted + peasant, who is by nature active as a squirrel and industrious as a beaver; and who, + if once fired with ambition, soon learns to direct all his energies to a chosen end, + and infallibly wins his way from the cart-tracks and the muck-wagons to office stools + and black coats. Not yet dressed for the day, in his loose serge jacket and unbraced + trousers, he looked what was termed locally "a rum customer if you had to tackle un." + His dark hair bristled stiffly, his short mustache wanted a lot of combing, a russet + stubble covered chin and neck; but the broad forehead and blue eyes gave a suggestion + of power and intelligence to an aspect that might otherwise have seemed simply + forbidding.</p> + <p>"Good marnin', sir."<a id="Page_4" name="Page_4"></a></p> + <p>One of the helpers at the Roebuck stables had come slouching past.</p> + <p>"Good mornin', Samuel."</p> + <p>It was still music to the ears of the postmaster when people addressed him as + "Sir." Especially if, like that fellow, they had known him as a boy. But he thought + now that perhaps many who spoke to him thus deferentially in truth desired his + downfall.</p> + <p>Quite possible. One never knows. He himself wished them well, in his heart was + fond of them all, and craved their regard; although he was too proud to be always + seeking it, or even going half-way to meet it.</p> + <p>And he thought, tolerantly, that you can not have everything in this world. Your + successful man is rarely a popular man. He had had the success in full + measure—if it pleased them, let the envious ones go on envying him his elevated + station, his domestic comfort, and his pretty wife.</p> + <p>As he thought of his wife all his reflections grew tender. She was probably still + fast asleep; and when, presently, he went up-stairs to the private part of the house, + he was careful not to disturb her.</p> + <p>His official clothes lay waiting for him on a chair in the kitchen. They had been + brushed and folded by Mary, the servant, who sprang to attention at the appearance of + her master, brought him shaving-water, arranged the square of looking-glass + conveniently, assisted with the white collar and black tie, and generally proved + herself an efficient valet.</p> + <p>She ventured to ask a question when Mr. Dale was about to leave the kitchen.</p> + <p>"Any news, sir?"<a id="Page_5" name="Page_5"></a></p> + <p>"News!" Mr. Dale echoed the word sternly. "What news should there be—anyway, + what news that concerns <i>you</i>?</p> + <p>"I beg pardon, sir." Buxom, red-cheeked Mary lowered her eyes, and by voice and + attitude expressed the confusion proper to a subordinate who has taken a liberty in + addressing a superior. "I'm sorry, sir. But I on'y ast."</p> + <p>"All right," said Dale, less sternly. "You just attend to your own job, my + girl."</p> + <p>He went down into the office, and did not come up again until an hour and a half + later, when breakfast was ready and waiting. He stood near the window for a few + moments, meditatively looking about him. The sunlight made the metal cover of the hot + dish shine like beautifully polished silver; it flashed on the rims of white teacups, + and, playing some prismatic trick with the glass sugar basin, sent a stream of + rainbow tints across the two rolls and the two boiled eggs. An appetizing + meal—and as comfortable, yes, as luxurious a room as any one could ask for. + Through the open door and across the landing, he had a peep into the other room. In + that room there were books, a piano, a sofa, hand-painted pictures in gold + frames—the things that you expect to see only in the homes of gentlemen.</p> + <p>"Sorry I'm late, Will."</p> + <p>"Don't mention it, Mavis."</p> + <p>Mrs. Dale had come through the doorway, and his whole face brightened, softened, + grew more comely. Yes, he thought, a home fit for a gentleman, and a wife fit for a + king.</p> + <p>"Any news?"<a id="Page_6" name="Page_6"></a></p> + <p>"They've told me to go up and see them to-morrow;" and he moved to the table. + "Come on. I'm sharp-set."</p> + <p>"Did they write in a satisfactory way?"</p> + <p>"Oh, yes. Sit down, my dear, and give me my tea."</p> + <p>He had said that he felt hungry, but he ate without appetite. The roll was crisp + and warm, the bacon had been cooked to a turn, the tea was neither too strong nor too + weak; and yet nothing tasted quite right.</p> + <p>"Will," said his wife, toward the end of the meal, "I can see you aren't really + satisfied with their answer. Do tell me;" and she stretched her hand across the table + with a gesture that expressed prettily enough both appeal and sympathy.</p> + <p>She was a naturally graceful woman, tall and slim, with reddish brown hair, dark + eyebrows, and a white skin; and she carried her thirty-two years so easily that, + though the searching sunlight bore full upon her, she looked almost a young girl.</p> + <p>Dale took her hand, squeezed it, and then, with an affectation of carelessness, + laughed jovially. "They've appointed a deputy to take charge here during my + absence."</p> + <p>"Oh, Will!" Mrs. Dale's dark eyebrows rose, and her brown eyes grew round and big; + in a moment all the faint glow of color had left her pale cheeks, and her intonation + expressed alarm and regret.</p> + <p>"It riled me a bit at first," said Dale firmly. "However, it's no + consequence—really."</p> + <p>"But, Will, that means—" She hesitated, and her lips trembled before she + uttered the dreadful word—"That means—suspended!"<a id="Page_7" + name="Page_7"></a></p> + <p>"Yes—<i>pro tem</i>. Don't fret yourself, Mav. I tell you it's all + right."</p> + <p>"But, Will, this does change the look of things. This is + serious—<i>now</i>." And once more she hesitated. "Will, let me write again to + Mr. Barradine."</p> + <p>"No," said Dale, with great determination.</p> + <p>"May I get Auntie to write to him? She said she knows for sure he'd help us."</p> + <p>"Well, he said so himself, didn't he?"</p> + <p>"Yes. Anything in his power!"</p> + <p>Dale reflected for a moment, and when he spoke again his tone was less firm.</p> + <p>"In his power! Of course Mr. Barradine is a powerful gentleman. That stands to + reason; but all the same—Let's have a look at his letter."</p> + <p>"I haven't got his letter, Will."</p> + <p>"Haven't got his letter? What did you do with it?</p> + <p>"I tore it up."</p> + <p>"Tore it up!" Dale stared at his wife in surprise, and spoke rather irritably. + "What did you do that for?"</p> + <p>"You seemed angry at my taking on myself to write to him without + permission—so I didn't wish the letter lying about to remind you of what I'd + done."</p> + <p>"You acted foolish in destroying document'ry evidence," said Dale, sternly and + warmly. But then immediately he stifled his irritation. "Don't you see, lassie, I'd + 'a' liked to know the precise way he worded it. I'm practised to all the turns of the + best sort o' correspondence, and I'd 'a' known in a twinkling whether he meant + anything or nothing."<a id="Page_8" name="Page_8"></a></p> + <p>"He said he'd be glad to do what was in his power. Really he said no more."</p> + <p>"Very good. We'll leave it at that. He has done more than enough for us already, + and I don't hold with bothering gentlemen in and out of season. Besides, this is a + bit in which I don't want his help, nor nobody else's. This is between me and + <i>them</i>."</p> + <p>He pushed away his uneaten food, stood up, and squared his big shoulders.</p> + <p>"Yes, but, Will dear—you, you won't be hasty when you get before them."</p> + <p>Dale frowned, then laughed. "Mav, trust your old boy, and don't fret." He came + round the table, and laid his hand on his wife's shoulder. "My sweetheart, I'm sorry, + for your sake, that this little upset should have occurred. But don't you fret. I'm + coming out on top. Maybe, this is like touch-and-go. I don't say it isn't. But I know + my vaarlue—and I mean to let them know it, if they don't know it already. Look + at my record! Who's goin' to pick a hole in it?"</p> + <p>"No, but—"</p> + <p>"There's times when a man's got to show pluck—to stan' to's guns, and assert + hisself for what he's worth. And that's what I'm going to do in the General Post + Office of all England." As he said this the blood showed redly, and every line of his + face deepened and hardened. "You keep a stout heart. This isn't going to shake + William Dale off of his perch."</p> + <p>"No?" And she looked up at him with widely-opened eyes.</p> + <p>"No." He gave her shoulder a final pat, and laughed noisily. "No, it'll set me + firmer on the road to promotion than what I've ever been. When I get <a id="Page_9" + name="Page_9"></a>back here again, I shall be like the monkey—best part up the + palm-tree, and nothing dangerous between him and the nuts."</p> + <p>All that day Dale was busy installing the deputy.</p> + <p>"You find us fairly in order," he said, with a pride that did not pretend to + conceal itself. "Nothing you wouldn't call shipshape?"</p> + <p>"Apple-pie order," said Mr. Ridgett. "Absolutely O.K."</p> + <p>Mr. Ridgett was a small sandy man of fifty, who obviously wished to make himself + as agreeable as might be possible in rather difficult circumstances. During the + afternoon he listened with an air of interested attention while Dale told him at + considerable length the series of events that had led up to this crisis.</p> + <p>"For your proper understanding," said the postmaster, "I'll ask you once more to + cast your eye over the position of the instruments;" and he marched Mr. Ridgett from + the sorting-room to the public office, and showed him the gross error that had been + committed in placing the whole telegraphic apparatus right at the front, close to the + window, merely screened from the public eye and the public ear by glass + partition-work, instead of placing it all at the back, out of everybody's way. "I + told them it was wrong from the first—when they were refitting the office, at + the time of the extensions. My experience at Portsmouth had taught me the + danger."</p> + <p>It seemed that one evening, about three weeks ago, a certain soldier on leave had + been lounging against the counter, close to the glass screen. On the other side of + the screen the apparatus was clicking merrily while Miss Yorke, the telegraph clerk, + despatched a <a id="Page_10" name="Page_10"></a>message. And all at once the soldier, + who was well versed in the code, began to recite the message aloud. The postmaster + peremptorily ordered him to stand away from the counter. An altercation ensued, and + the soldier became so impudent that the postmaster threatened to put him outside the + door. "Oh," said the soldier, "it'd take a many such as you to put me out."</p> + <p>"Did he say so? Really now!" And Mr. Ridgett looked at Dale critically. "I take it + he was a heavyweight, eh?"</p> + <p>"He gave me my work," said Dale; "and I was all three minutes at it. But + <i>out</i> he went."</p> + <p>"Really now!" and Mr. Ridgett smiled.</p> + <p>"I had stopped Miss Yorke from operating. And I started her again within four + minutes. That was the time, and no more, the message was delayed. That was the time + it took me to renew the service with the confidence and secrecy provided by Her + Majesty's Regulations. And I ask you, how else could I have acted? Was I to allow a + telegram consigned to my care to be blabbed out word for word to all the world?"</p> + <p>"Were there many people in the office just then?"</p> + <p>"Two. But that makes no difference. If it had been only one—or half a + one—it couldn't be permitted."</p> + <p>"And was the message itself of a particularly private or important nature?"</p> + <p>"Not as it happens. But the principle was the same."</p> + <p>"Just so."</p> + <p>As it appeared from Dale's narration, the soldier was at first willing to accept + his licking in a sportsmanlike spirit, was indeed quite ready to admit that he <a + id="Page_11" name="Page_11"></a>had been the offending party; but injudicious + friends—secret enemies of Dale perhaps—had egged him on to take out a + summons for assault. When, however, Dale appeared before the magistrates, the soldier + had changed his mind again—he did not appear, he allowed the charge to fall to + the ground. And there the matter might have ended, ought to have ended, but for the + fact that the local Member of Parliament suddenly made a ridiculous fuss—said + it was a monstrous and intolerable state of affairs that soldiers of the Queen should + be knocked about by her civil servants—wrote letters to other Members of + Parliament, to Government secretaries, to newspapers. Then the excitement that had + been smoldering burst forth with explosive force, shaking the village, the county, + the universe.</p> + <p>Dale, at handy grips with his superior officers, stood firm, declined to budge an + inch from his position; he was right, and nothing would ever make him say he was + wrong.</p> + <p>"Ah, well," said Mr. Ridgett, "if that's the way you looked at it. But I don't + quite follow how it got lifted out of their hands at Rodhaven, and brought before + <i>us</i>."</p> + <p>"I demanded it," said Dale proudly. "I wasn't going to be messed about any further + by a pack of funking old women—for that's what they are, at Rodhaven. And I + wasn't going to have it hushed over—nor write any such letter as they + asked."</p> + <p>"Oh, they suggested—"</p> + <p>"They suggested," said Dale, swelling with indignation, "that I should write + regret that I had perhaps acted indiscreet but only through over-zeal."<a + id="Page_12" name="Page_12"></a></p> + <p>"Oh! And you didn't see your way to—"</p> + <p>"Not <i>me</i>. Take a black mark, and let my record go. No, thank you. I sent up + my formal request to be heard at headquarters. I appealed to Cæsar."</p> + <p>Mr. Ridgett smiled good-naturedly. "Why, you're quite a classical scholar, Mr. + Dale. You have your Latin quotations all pat."</p> + <p>"I'm a self-educated man," said Dale. "I begun at the bottom, and I've been trying + to improve myself all the way to where I've risen to."</p> + <p>Once or twice he sought tentatively to obtain from Mr. Ridgett the moral support + that even the strongest people derive from being assured that they are entirely in + the right. But Mr. Ridgett, who had been sympathetic from the moment of his arrival, + and who throughout the hours had been becoming more and more friendly, did not + entirely respond to these hinted invitations.</p> + <p>"If you tell me to speak frankly," he said at last, "I should have a doubt that + you've made this one false step. You haven't kept everything in proportion."</p> + <p>"How do you mean?"</p> + <p>"Well, I mean it strikes me—quite unbiased, you know—that you've let + Number One overshadow the situation. You've drawn it all too personal to + yourself."</p> + <p>"I don't see that," said Dale, forcibly, almost hotly. "It's the principle I stand + for—pretty near as much as for myself."</p> + <p>"Ah, yes, just so," said Mr. Ridgett. "And now I'm going to ask you to help me + find a bedroom somewhere handy, and put me up to knowing where I'd best get my + meals;" and he laughed cheerfully. "Don't <a id="Page_13" name="Page_13"></a>think + I'm <i>establishing</i> myself—but one may as well be comfortable, if one can. + And I do give you this tip. You're in for what we used to call the devil's dance up + there. Cæsar is a slow mover. I mean, it won't be 'Step this way, Mr. Dale. + Walk in this minute.' They'll keep you on the dance. I should take all you're likely + to want for a week—at the least."</p> + <p>Dale made arrangements for the future comfort of the visitor, and hospitably + insisted that he should take his first substantial meal up-stairs.</p> + <p>"It's served at seven sharp," said Dale; "and we make it a meat tea; but you + aren't restricted to non-alcolic bev'rages."</p> + <p>"Oh, tea is more than good enough for me, thank you."</p> + <p>"Mavis," said Dale, introducing his guest, "this is Mr. Ridgett, who is so kind as + to honor us without ceremony." And, as if to demonstrate the absence of ceremony, he + put his arm round his wife's waist and kissed her.</p> + <p>Mr. Ridgett smiled, and opened conversation in a very pleasant easy fashion.</p> + <p>"From the look of things," he said facetiously, "I hazard the guess that you two + aren't long home from the honeymoon."</p> + <p>"You're off the line there," said Dale. "We're quite an old Darby and Joan."</p> + <p>"Really!" And Mr. Ridgett's smile, as he regarded Mrs. Dale, expressed admiration + and surprise. "Appearances are deceitful. And how long may you have been running in + double harness?"</p> + <p>"Eleven years," said Dale.</p> + <p>"Never! Any children?"<a id="Page_14" name="Page_14"></a></p> + <p>"No," said Mrs. Dale.</p> + <p>"No," said her husband. "We haven't been blessed that way—not as yet."</p> + <p>"I note the addition. Not as yet! Very neatly put." Mr. Ridgett laughed, and bowed + gallantly to Mrs. Dale. "Plenty of time for any amount of blessings."</p> + <p>Then they all sat down to the table.</p> + <p>During the course of the meal, and again when it was over, they spoke of the + business that lay before Dale on the morrow.</p> + <p>"I've ventured to tell your husband that perhaps he has been taking it all too + seriously."</p> + <p>"Oh, has he? I'm so glad to hear you say it." And Mavis Dale, with her elbows on + the table, leaned forward and watched the deputy's face intently.</p> + <p>"Too much of the personal equation."</p> + <p>"Yes?"</p> + <p>"What I say is, little accidents happen to all of us—but they blow + over."</p> + <p>Mavis Dale drew in her breath, and her eyebrows contracted. "Mr. Ridgett! The way + you say that, shows you really think it's serious for him."</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't in the least read it up as ruin and all the rest of it. It's just a + check. In Mr. Dale's place, I should be philosophical. I should say, 'This is going + to put me back a bit, but nothing else.'"</p> + <p>Dale shrugged his shoulders and snorted. Mrs. Dale's eyebrows had drawn so close + together that they almost touched; her eyes appeared darker, smaller, more opaque. + Mr. Ridgett continued talking in a tone of light facetiousness that seemed to cover a + certain deprecating earnestness.<a id="Page_15" name="Page_15"></a></p> + <p>"Yes, that would be <i>my</i> point of view—quite general, philosophical. I + should say to myself, 'Old chap, if you're in for a jolly good wigging, why, just + take it. If you're to be offered a little humble pie to eat—well, eat it.'"</p> + <p>"I won't," cried Dale, loudly; and he struck the table with his clenched fist. + "I'm not goin' to crawl on my belly any more. I've done it in my time, when perhaps I + felt myself wrong. But I won't do it now when I'm right—no, so help me, God, I + won't."</p> + <p>It was as if all restraints had been burst by the notion of such injustice.</p> + <p>"Ah, well," said Ridgett, looking uncomfortable, "then I must withdraw the + suggestion."</p> + <p>Mavis Dale was trembling. Her husband's noisy outburst seemed to have shaken her + nerves; the downward lines formed themselves at the corners of her mouth; and her + eyelids fluttered as if she were on the verge of tears. "Will," she murmured, + "you—you ought to listen, if it's good advice. Mr. Ridgett knows the + ropes—he, he has experience—and he means you well."</p> + <p>"Indeed I do," said Ridgett cordially.</p> + <p>"And I thank you for it, sir," said Dale. "And now—" He mastered his + emotions and was calm and polite again, as became a host. "Now, what about two or + three whiffs?"</p> + <p>"If madam permits."</p> + <p>"Mav don't mind. She's smoke-dried."</p> + <p>All three remained sitting at the table. The two men smoked their pipes + reflectively, and spoke only at intervals, while Mavis sank into the motionless + silence of a deep reverie. The golden sunlight came no more <a id="Page_16" + name="Page_16"></a>into the room; bright colors of oleograph pictures, hearth-rug, + and window-curtains imperceptibly faded; the whole world seemed to be growing quiet + and cool and gray. The sounds of voices and the rumble of passing wheels rose so + drowsily from the street that they did not disturb one's sense of peace.</p> + <p>All at once Mavis roused herself, or rather, seemed to be roused involuntarily by + some inward sensation—perhaps an ugly and unexpected turn that her thoughts had + suddenly taken. She gave a little shiver, looked across the table at the visitor as + if surprised at his presence, and then began to talk to him volubly.</p> + <p>"Do you know this part of the world? It's a pretty country—especially the + forest side. Lots of artists and photographers come here on purpose to take the + views."</p> + <p>For a little while she and Mr. Ridgett chatted gaily together; and Dale observed, + not without satisfaction, that the deputy patently admired Mavis. "Yes," he thought, + "it must be an eye-opener for him or anybody else to come up those stairs and find a + postmaster's wife with all the education and manners of a lady, and as pretty as a + bunch of primroses into the bargain."</p> + <p>And indeed little Mr. Ridgett was fully susceptible to Mavis' varied charms. He + liked her complexion—so unusually white; he liked her hair—such a lot of + it; he liked the mobility of her lips, the fineness and straightness of her nose; and + he also greatly liked the broad black ribbon that was tied round her slender neck. + The simple decoration seemed curiously in harmony with something childlike pertaining + to its wearer. He did not attempt to analyze this characteristic, but he felt it + plainly—something that drew its components <a id="Page_17" + name="Page_17"></a>from voice, expression, gesture, and that as a whole carried to + one a message of extreme youth.</p> + <p>And how fond of her husband! The anxiety for his welfare that she had shown just + now quite touched a soft spot in Mr. Ridgett's dryly official heart.</p> + <p>"You know," said Dale, interrupting the conversation, and speaking as though the + subject that occupied his own mind was still under debate, "they can't pretend but + what I warned them. I said it's madness to go and put the instruments anywhere but + the place I've marked on the plan. If they'd listened to my words + <i>then</i>—"</p> + <p>"Ah, there you are again," said Mr. Ridgett. "The personal equation!"</p> + <p>"Where's the personality of it?"</p> + <p>"I'll tell you. London isn't Rodchurch. What you said—how many years + ago?—isn't going to govern the judgment of people who never heard you say + it."</p> + <p>"It ought to have gone on record. It <i>is</i> on record over at Rodhaven."</p> + <p>"London isn't Rodhaven either."</p> + <p>Then once again the talk became serious; and once again Ridgett saw in Mrs. Dale's + white face, trembling fingers, and narrowed eyes, the deadly anxiety that she was + suffering. With that face opposite to one, it would have been monstrously cruel not + to offer the wisest and best considered advice that one could anyhow produce.</p> + <p>"Here's <i>verb. sap</i>," he said solemnly. "<i>Ultimatum</i>, and <i>ne plus + ultra</i>. I'm giving you Latin for Latin, Mr. Dale. I understand your attitude, and + I appreciate its bearing; but I say to you, the best causes sometimes need the best + advocates."<a id="Page_18" name="Page_18"></a></p> + <p>"Yes!" Mavis drew in her breath with a little gasp.</p> + <p>"If any of the gentry down here would speak up for you, send you a few + testimonials—well, I should get them to do it. You see, from what you tell me + of the case, you've your Member of Parliament against you. It would be useful to + counteract—"</p> + <p>Then Mavis eagerly explained that the biggest man of the neighborhood had promised + to give his support to her husband. This great personage was the Right Honorable + Everard Barradine, an ex-Cabinet Minister and a large landed proprietor, who lived + over at the Abbey House, on the edge of Manninglea Chase, five miles away. Mr. + Barradine had always borne a good heart to her and hers.</p> + <p>"Capital!" said Mr. Ridgett, visibly brightening. "A friend at court—what's + the proverb? It's not for me to let fall any remarks about wire-pulling. But + naturally there's a freemasonry among the bigwigs. You take my tip, and use Mr. + Barradine's interest for all it's worth."</p> + <p>"Well," said Dale, "he has given a promise—of a sort—and I shan't + bother him further."</p> + <p>After that the talk became light again. As if the strain of her anxiety was more + than Mavis Dale could bear for long at a time, she plunged into frivolous discussion, + telling Mr. Ridgett of the splendors and beauties of the Abbey House. It was a + show-place. Its gardens surpassed belief; royal persons came hundreds of miles to + look at them. And the wild historic woodland of Manninglea Chase was famous, it was + said, all over Europe. Talking thus, she seemed as gay and careless as a child of + ten.<a id="Page_19" name="Page_19"></a></p> + <p>Mr. Ridgett, puffing his pipe luxuriously, contemplated her animated face with + undisguised admiration; and presently Dale felt irritated by the admiring + scrutiny.</p> + <p>That was what always happened. At first he felt pleased that people should admire + his wife; but if they seemed to admire her the least little shade too much, he became + angry. In the lanes, in church, anywhere, he froze too attentive glances of admiring + males with a most portentous scowl. It was not that he entertained the faintest doubt + of her loyalty and devotion, or of her power to protect herself from improper + assiduities; but he loved her so passionately that his blood began to boil at the + mere thought of anybody's having the audacity to court her favor. Instinctively, on + such occasions, words formed themselves in his mind and clamored for utterance on his + lips. "You take care, my fine fellow;" "Hands off, please;" "Let me catch you trying + it"—and so on: only thought-counters secretly used by himself, and never issued + in the currency of spoken words.</p> + <p>Now the internal warmth was just sufficient to make him push back his chair and + break up the party. "Mavis," he said, rather grimly, "we mustn't detain Mr. Ridgett + from his duties." Then he forced a laugh. "I'm nobody; and so it doesn't matter how + long I sit over my supper. But we've to remember that Mr. Ridgett is the postmaster + of Rodchurch."<a id="Page_20" name="Page_20"></a></p> + <h2><a id="II" name="II"></a>II</h2> + <p>He went to bed early; but he knew that he would not sleep until the mail-cart had + gone.</p> + <p>His wife was sleeping peacefully. He could feel the warmth of her body close + against him; her breath, drawn so lightly and regularly, just touched his face; and + he edged away cautiously, seeking space in which to turn without disturbing her. At + immeasurably long periods the church clock chimed the quarters. That last chime must + have been the quarter after eleven.</p> + <p>Every now and then there came a sound that told him of the things that were + happening on the ground floor; and in the intervals of silence he began to suffer + from an oppressive sense of unreality. This disruption of the routine of life was so + strange as to seem incredible. They were making up the two big bags for the up mail + and the down mail; and he was lying here like a state prisoner, of no account for the + time being, while below him his realm remained actively working.</p> + <p>As midnight approached, an increasing anxiety possessed him. The horse and cart + had been standing under the window for what appeared to be hours, and yet they would + not bring out the bags. What in the name of reason were they waiting for now? Then at + last he detected the movement of shuffling footsteps; he heard voices—Ridgett's + voice among the others; a wheel grated against the curbstone, and the cart rolled <a + id="Page_21" name="Page_21"></a>away. The sounds of the church clock chiming twelve + mingled with the reverberations made by the horse's hoofs as the cart passed between + the garden walls. Thank goodness, anyhow, they had got it off to its time.</p> + <p>With a sigh, he turned on his back and stared at the darkness that hid the + ceiling. Ah! A profuse perspiration had broken out on his neck and chest. To give + himself more air he pulled down the too generous supply of bed clothes, and in + imagination he followed the cart.</p> + <p>It was progressing slowly and steadily along the five miles of road to the railway + junction. Would Perkins, the driver, break the regulations to-night and pick up + somebody for a ride with the sacred bags? Such a gross breach of duty would render + Perkins, or his employer, liable to a heavy penalty; and again and again Dale had + reminded him of the risks attending misbehavior. But unwatched men grow bold. This + would be a night to bring temptation in the way of Perkins. Some + villager—workman, field-laborer, wood-cutter—tramping the road would + perhaps ask for a lift. "What cheer, mate! I'm for the night-mail. Give us a lift's + far as junction, and I'll stan' the price of a pint to you."</p> + <p>A glance up and down the empty road—and then "Jump in. Wunnerful weather + we're having, aren't us?" So much for the wise regulation! <i>Most</i> wise + regulation, if one understand it properly. For when once you begin tampering with the + inviolable nature of a mail-cart, where are you to stop? Suppose your chance + passenger proves to be not an honest subject, but a malefactor—<i>one of a + gang</i>. "Take that, ye <a id="Page_22" name="Page_22"></a>swab." A clump on the + side of his head, and the driver is sent endways from the box-seat; the cart gallops + on to where the, rest of the gang lurk waiting for it; strong arms, long legs, and + the monstrous deed is consummated. Her Majesty's bags have been stolen.</p> + <p>Though so dark in this bedroom, there would be light enough out there. There was + no moon; but the summer night, as he knew, would never deepen to real obscurity. It + would keep all of a piece till dawn, like a sort of gray dusk, heavy and impenetrable + beneath the trees, but quite transparent on the heath and in the glades; and then it + would become all silvery and trembling; the wet bracken would glisten faintly, high + branches of beech trees would glow startlingly, each needle on top of the lofty firs + would change to a tiny sword of fire—just as he had seen happen so often years + ago, when as an undisciplined lad he lay out in the woods for his pleasure.</p> + <p>Now! The church clock had struck one. Barring accidents, the cart was at its goal; + and in imagination he saw the junction as clearly as if he had been standing at + Perkins' elbow. There was the train for London already arrived—steam rising in + a straight jet from the engine, guard and porter with lanterns, and a flood of orange + light streaming from the open doors of the noble Post Office coach. Perkins hands in + his up bag, receives a bag in exchange, and half his task is done. Forty minutes to + wait before he can perform the other half of it. Then, having passed over the metals + with the cart, he will attend to the down train; hand in his other bag, receive the + London bag; and, as soon as the people in the signal-box will release the + crossing-gates, he may come home.<a id="Page_23" name="Page_23"></a></p> + <p>Dale knew now that he would not sleep until the cart returned.</p> + <p>When the church clock struck the half-hour after two, he lay straining his ears to + catch the sound of the horse's hoofs. Finally it came to him, immensely remote, a + rhythmic plod, plod, plod. Then in a few more minutes the cart was at rest under his + window again; they were taking in the bags; bolts shot into their fastenings, a key + turned in a lock, and the clerk went back to bed at the top of the house. All was + over now. Nothing more would happen until the other clerk came down in a couple of + hours' time, until the bags were opened, until Ridgett came yawning from his hired + bedroom at the saddler's across the street, and the new day's work began. And Dale + would be shut out of the work—a director who might not even assist, a master + superseded, a general under arrest in the midst of his army.</p> + <p>He gulped and grew hot. "By Jupiter! I'll have to tell them what I think of them + up there, and please the pigs!"</p> + <p>Then he remembered the pleadings of his wife. She had implored him to keep a tight + hold of himself; and in fairness to her he must exercise discretion. She and he were + one. With extraordinary tenderness he mentally framed the words that by custom he + employed when speaking of her. "She is the wife of my boosum."</p> + <p>For a little while he calmed himself by thinking only of her. Then, tossing and + turning and perspiring again, he began to think of his whole life, seeing it as a + pageant full of wonder and pathos. Holy Jupiter! how hard it had been at its opening! + Everything <a id="Page_24" name="Page_24"></a>against him—just a lout among the + woodside louts, an orphan baited and lathered by a boozy stepfather, a tortured + animal that ran into the thickets for safety, a thing with scarce a value or promise + inside it except the little flame of courage that blows could not extinguish! And yet + out of this raw material he had built up the potent, complex, highly-dowered organism + known to the world as Mr. Dale of Rodchurch. There was the pride and glory—from + such a start to have reached so magnificent a position. But he could not have done + it—not all of it—without Mavis.</p> + <p>It would be unkind to wake this dear bedfellow merely because he himself could not + sleep. He clasped his hands behind his head, and by a prolonged effort of will + remained motionless. But insomnia was exciting every nerve in his body; each memory + seemed to light up the entire labyrinth of his brain; each sense-message came inward + like a bomb-shell, reaching with its explosion the highest as well as the deepest + centers, discharging circuits of swift fire through every area of associated ideas, + and so completely shattering the normal congruity between impressions and + recognitions that the slight drag of the sheet across his raised toes was sufficient + to make him feel again the pressure of thick boots that he had worn years ago when he + tramped as new postman on the Manninglea Road.</p> + <p>And each thing that he thought of he saw—hawthorn blossom like snow on the + hedgerows, red rhododendrons as vivid as Chinese lanterns in the gloom of the dark + copse, the green moss of the rides, the white paint of the gates. The farthest point + of his round was Mr. Barradine's mansion, and he used to arrive there just before + eight o'clock. With the thought <a id="Page_25" name="Page_25"></a>came the luminous + pictures, and he saw again, as clearly as fifteen years ago, the splendor of the + Abbey House—that is, all one can see of it as one approaches its vast servants' + offices. Here, solidly real, were the archway, the first and the second courtyard, + grouped gables and irregular roof ridges, the belfry tower and its gilded vane; men + washing a carriage, a horse drinking at the fountain trough, a dog lying on a sunlit + patch of cobble-stones and lazily snapping at flies; a glimpse, through iron scroll + work, of terrace balustrades, yellow gravel, and lemon-trees in tubs; the oak doors + of laundries, drying-rooms, and so forth.</p> + <p>It was here, outside the laundry, that he saw Mavis for the first time; and + although the sleeves of her print dress were rolled up and she was carrying a metal + skimming dish, something ineffably refined and superior in her deportment led him to + believe that she was some lesser member of the august Barradine family, and not one + of its hired dependents. He touched his peaked cap, and did not even venture to say + "Good morning, miss."</p> + <p>Then he found out about her. She was not quite so grand as all that. You might say + she was a young lady right enough, if you merely counted manners and education; but + she had been born far below the level of gentility. She belonged to the Petherick + lot; and, living with her aunt at North Ride Cottage, she came every day to the Abbey + to do some light and delicate work in Mr. Barradine's model dairy. The fact that she + had lost both her parents interested and pleased Dale: orphanhood seemed to contain + the embryonic germs of a mutual sympathy.</p> + <p>He used to speak to her now whenever he saw her.<a id="Page_26" + name="Page_26"></a> One day they stood talking in the copse, and he showed her their + distorted reflections on the curves of her shining cream-dish. She laughed; and that + day he was late on his round.</p> + <p>Then somehow he got to a heavy sort of chaff about the letters. She said she liked + receiving letters, and she never received enough of them. He used to say, "Good + morning, miss. My mate started off with a tremendous heavy bag to-day. I expect the + most of it was for you. You'll find 'em when you get home this evening—shoals + of 'em."</p> + <p>Walking fast on his round he rehearsed such little speeches, and if she made an + unanticipated answer he was baffled and confused. He suffered from an extreme shyness + when face to face with her.</p> + <p>Then all at once his overwhelming admiration gave him a hot flow of language. + Beginning the old cumbrous facetiousness about her correspondence, he blurted out the + true thoughts that he had begun to entertain.</p> + <p>"You didn't ought to want for letters, miss, and you wouldn't—not if I was + your letter-writer. I'd send you a valentine every day of the year."</p> + <p>As he spoke, he looked at her with burning eyes. He was astonished, almost + terrified by his hardiness; and what he detected of its effect on her threw him into + an indescribable state of emotion.</p> + <p>Rough and coarse he might be, and yet not truly disagreeable to her fine senses; + his freckled face and massive shoulders did not repel her; no instinct of the lovely + princess turned sick at these advances of the wild man of the woods. Under his + scrutiny she showed a sort of fluttered helplessness, a mingling of beauty <a + id="Page_27" name="Page_27"></a>and weakness that sent fiery messages thrilling + through and through him, a pale tremor, a soft glow, a troubled but not offended + frown; and from beneath all these surface manifestations the undeveloped woman in her + seemed to speak to the matured manhood in him—seemed to say without words, "Oh, + dear me, what is this? I hope you haven't taken a real fancy to my whiteness and + slenderness and tremulousness; because if you <i>have</i>, you are so big and so + strong that I know you'll get me in the end."</p> + <p>That was the crucial moment of his marvelous life. After that all his dreams fused + and became one. He felt as if from soft metal he had changed into hard metal. And, + moreover, the stimulus of love seemed to induce a vast intellectual growth; things + that had been difficult of comprehension became lucidly clear; prejudices and + ignorances fell away from him of their own accord. A shut world had suddenly become + an open world.</p> + <p>As a grown man he returned to the benches of evening school. He learned to write + his beautiful copper-plate hand, and knocked the bottom out of arithmetic and + geography. Then came sheer erudition—the nature of chemical elements, stars in + their courses, kings of England with their Magna Chartas and habeas corpuses. Nor + content even then, he must needs grapple with Roman emperors and Greek republics, and + master the fabled lore concerning gods and goddesses, cloven-footed satyrs, and naked + nymphs of the grove. But he understood that, in spite of all this culture, in spite, + too, of his greater care for costume and his increased employment of soap and water, + Mavis was still enormously above him. The aunt, a smooth-tongued <a id="Page_28" + name="Page_28"></a>little woman whom for a long time he regarded as implacably + hostile to his suit, made him measure the height of the dividing space every time + that he called at North Ride Cottage. Plainly trying to crush him with the + respectability both of herself and of her surroundings, she showed off all the + presents from the Abbey—the china and glass ornaments, the piano; the + photographs of Mr. Barradine on horseback, of the late Lady Evelyn Barradine in her + pony-carriage, of Mr. Barradine's guests with guns waiting to shoot pheasants. And + she conducted him into and out of the two choicely upholstered rooms which on certain + occasions Mr. Barradine deigned to occupy for a night or a couple of nights—for + instance, when the Abbey House was being painted and he fled the smell of paint, when + the Abbey House was closed and he came down from London to see his agent on business, + when he wanted to make an early start at the cub-hunting and he couldn't trust the + servants of the Abbey House to rouse him if he slept there.</p> + <p>"Last time of all," and Mrs. Petherick rubbed her hands together and smiled + insinuatingly, "he paid me the pretty compliment of saying that I made him more + comfortable than he ever is in his own house. I said, 'If we can't let you feel at + home here, it's something new among the Pethericks.'"</p> + <p>It seemed that the bond between the humble family and the great one had existed + for several generations. It was a tradition that the Pethericks should serve the + Barradines. Mavis' grandfather had been second coachman at the Abbey; her aunt's + husband had been valet to Mr. Everard and made the grand tour of Europe with him; + aunt herself was of the Petherick blood, and <a id="Page_29" name="Page_29"></a>had + been a housemaid at the Abbey. It also seemed to be a tradition that the + acknowledgment made by the Barradines for this fidelity of the Pethericks should be + boundless in its extent.</p> + <p>Aunt spoke of the Right Honorable Everard as though she held him like a purse in + her pocket, and Dale at one period had some queer thoughts about this old widow of a + dead servant for whom so much had been done and who yet expected so much more. She + said Mr. Barradine had charged himself with the musical training of another niece, + and he would probably not hesitate to send Mavis to Vienna for the best masters, + should she presently display any natural talent. Her cousin Ruby sang like an angel + from the age of ten; but Mavis so far exhibited more inclination for instrumental + music.</p> + <p>"She'll belie her name, though, if she doesn't pipe up some day, won't she?"</p> + <p>When Dale secured his appointment at Portsmouth, he and Mavis were not engaged. + She said, "Auntie simply won't hear of it."</p> + <p>"Not now," he said. "But later, when I've made my way, she'll come round. Mav, + will you wait for me?</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't know," said Mavis. "I can't give any promise. I must do whatever + Auntie tells me. I can't go against her wishes."</p> + <p>Yet somehow he felt sure that she would be his. A thousand slimy, humbugging old + aunts should not keep them apart. From Portsmouth he wrote a letter to his sweetheart + on every day of the year for three years—except on those days of joyous leave + when he could get away and talk to her instead of writing to her. At <a id="Page_30" + name="Page_30"></a>the end of the three years the postmastership at Rodchurch became + vacant, and he boldly applied for the place.</p> + <p>His life just then was almost too glorious to be true. All difficulties and + dangers seemed to melt away in a sort of warm haze of rapture. Mrs. Petherick no + longer opposed the marriage; Mr. Barradine, at the zenith of political power, exerted + his influence; the postmastership was obtained. To top up, Dale made the not + unpleasing discovery that Mavis was an heiress as well as an orphan. She had two + hundred pounds of her very own, "which came in uncommon handy for the + furnishing."</p> + <p>And his education did not cease with wedlock. Mavis was always improving him, + especially in regard to diction. He was pleased to think that he made very few slips + nowadays—an "h" elided here and there; the vowels still rather broad, more + particularly the Hampshire "a"; and one or two unchanged words, such as "boosum." But + these microscopic faults were of no consequence, and Mav had stopped teasing him + about them. She only warned him of what he knew was Gospel truth—that the + little failures were more frequent under hurry or excitement, and that when deeply + moved he had a tendency to lapse badly toward the ancient peasant lingo.</p> + <p>Nothing to worry about, however. It merely indicated that he must never speak on + important matters without due preparation. He would be all right up there, knowing to + a syllable what he wished to say; and he thought with swelling pride of comparatively + recent public speeches and the praise that he had received from them. After the + Parish meeting last January the<a id="Page_31" name="Page_31"></a> <i>Rodhaven + District Courier</i> had said, "With a few happy remarks Mr. Dale adverted again to + the fallacy of plunging the village into the expense of a costly fire-engine without + first ascertaining the reliability of the water supply." His very words, almost + <i>verbatim</i> "Happy remarks!" A magistrate on the bench could not have been better + reported or more handsomely praised.</p> + <p>The reviewing of these manifold bounties of Providence had produced a sedative + effect; but now he grew restless once more. He felt that twinge of doubt, the + pin-prick of illogical fear which during the last eighteen hours had again and again + pierced his armor of self-confidence. Suppose things went against him! No, that would + be too monstrous; that would mean no justice left in England, the whole fabric of + society gone rotten and crumbling to dust.</p> + <p>The spaces between the blinds and window-frames were white instead of gray; the + sun had risen; presently the whole room was visible.</p> + <p>Mavis' little face showed pink and warm as a baby's above the bed clothes. And a + sudden longing for caresses took possession of her husband. To wake her, fold her in + his arms, and then, pacified by the embrace, perhaps obtain a few hours' sound sleep? + For some moments his desire was almost irresistible. But it would be selfish thus to + break her tranquil repose—poor little tired bird.</p> + <p>He noiselessly slipped from the bed, huddled on some clothes, washed his face in + cold water at the kitchen sink, and let himself out of the house. The open air + refreshed him almost as much as sleep could have done. He walked nearly five miles + and back on <a id="Page_32" name="Page_32"></a>the Manninglea Road, and would not + even glance at the busy sorting-room when he came in again.</p> + <p>Mavis accompanied him to Rodchurch Road Station, and saw him off by the nine + o'clock train. He looked very dignified in his newest bowler hat and black + frock-coat, with a light overcoat on one arm and his wife's gloved hand on the other; + and as he walked up and down the platform he endeavored to ignore the fact that he + was an object of universal attention.</p> + <p>When buying his ticket he had let fall a guarded word or two about the nature of + his errand, and from the booking-office the news had flown up and down both sides of + the station, round the yard, and even into the signal cabins. "See Mr. Dale?" "Mr. + Dale!" "There's Mr. Dale, going to London for an interview with the + Postmaster-General."</p> + <p>Mr. Melling, the Baptist minister, took off his hat and bowed gravely; Mrs. + Norton, the vicar's wife, smilingly stopped Mavis and spoke as if she had been + addressing a social equal; then they received greetings from old Mr. Bates, the corn + merchant, and from young Richard Bates, his swaggering good-for-nothing son. And + then, as passengers gathered more thickly, it became quite like a public reception. + "Ma'arnin', sir." "Good day, Mr. Dale." "I hope I see you well, sir."</p> + <p>Mavis got him away from all this company just before the train came in, and made a + last appeal to him. Would he recollect what the deputy had said about eating that + ugly dish which is commonly known as humble pie?</p> + <p>But at the mention of Mr. Ridgett's advice Dale displayed a slight flare of + irascibility.</p> + <p>"Let Mr. Ridgett mind his own business," he said <a id="Page_33" + name="Page_33"></a>shortly, "and not bother himself about mine. And look here," he + added. "I am not trusting that gentleman any further than I see him."</p> + <p>"I think you're wrong there, Will."</p> + <p>"I know human nature." His face had flushed, and he spoke admonitorily. "I don't + need to tell you to be circumspect during my absence—but you may have a little + trouble in keeping Mr. R. in his proper place. You'll be quick to twig if he supposes + the chance has come to pester you. These London customers—whatever their + age—think when they get along with a pretty woman—"</p> + <p>"Oh, Will, don't be absurd;" and she looked at him wistfully, and spoke sadly. + "I'm not so attractive as you think me. I may be the same to your eyes—but not + to others. It's very doubtful if anybody would want me now—except those who + knew me when I was young."</p> + <p>Then after a moment's reflection she said that, if he consented, she proposed to + relieve his mind of any silly jealous fancies about Mr. Ridgett by going over to stay + with her aunt at North Ride.</p> + <p>"I should be anxious and miserable here, Will, while you were away—whereas + with her I could occupy my thoughts."</p> + <p>He immediately consented to the arrangement. An excellent idea. She might go that + very afternoon, and safely promise to stay three days. He would write to North Ride + and keep her informed as to his movements.</p> + <p>"Good-by, my sweetheart. God bless you."</p> + <p>"Good luck, Will. Good luck, my dear one."<a id="Page_34" name="Page_34"></a></p> + <h2><a id="III" name="III"></a>III</h2> + <p>The devil's dance had begun.</p> + <p>They kept him waiting. Days passed; but his hour of crisis postponed itself, and + all things combined to enervate him. Above all, the callous immensity of London + oppressed his mind. His case, that had been so important down there in the village, + was absolutely of no account up here in the city. Not a single sympathizer among + these millions of hurrying human beings.</p> + <p>The General Post Office was itself a town within a town—a mighty labyrinth + that made the imagination ache. To find one's way through a fractional block of it, + to see a thronged corner of any of its yards, to hear even at a distance the stone + thunder made by the smallest stampede of its red carts, irresistibly evoked a + realization of one's nothingness. Never would he have believed it possible that the + local should thus shrink in presence of the central.</p> + <p>He had taken a bedroom on the top floor of a cheap lodging-house near the Euston + Road, and every night as he climbed the dimly-lit staircase he knew that he was + toiling upward toward a fit of depression. The house was almost empty of lodgers; no + one noticed when he went out or came in; at each flight of the stairs his sense of + solitude increased.</p> + <p>He had never before lived in a building that contained so many stories, and at + first he was troubled by <a id="Page_35" name="Page_35"></a>the great height above + the ground; but now he could stand at his open window and look down without + giddiness. Wonder used to fill his mind as he stared out toward the southeast at the + stupendous field of roofs, chimneys, and towers; at the sparkling powder of + street-lamps; at the astounding yellow haze that extended across the horizon, + illuminating the sky nearly to the zenith, and seemingly like the onset of a terrific + conflagration which only he of all the thousands who were threatened had as yet + observed. Even this bit of London, the comparatively small part of the overwhelming + whole now visible to his eyes, must be as big as Manninglea Chase. And beyond his + half circle of vision, behind him, on either hand, the forest of houses stretched + away almost to infinity. The thought of it was as crushing as that of interstellar + distances, of the pathless void into which God threw a handful of dust and then + quietly ordained that each speck should be a sun and the pivot of a solar system.</p> + <p>He turned from the window to look at the dark little room, groped his way to the + chest of drawers, and lighted a candle. Its flame sputtered, then settled and burned + unwaveringly. Here in London the nights seemed as stuffy as the days; there was no + life or freshness, no movement of the air; it was as if the warm breath of the crowd + rose upward and nothing less than a balloon would allow one to escape from its taint. + But he noticed that even at this slight elevation he had got free from the noise of + the traffic. It would continue—a crashing roar—for hours, and yet it was + now scarcely perceptible. Listening attentively he heard it—just a crackling + murmur, a curious muffled <a id="Page_36" name="Page_36"></a>rhythm, as of drums + beaten by an army of drummers marching far away.</p> + <p>When he got into bed and blew out his candle, the rectangle of the window became + brighter. After a little while he fancied that he could distinguish two or three + stars shining very faintly in the patch of sky above the sashes; and again thinking + of remoteness, immensity, infinity, he experienced a curious physical sensation of + contracting bulk, as though all his body had grown and was steadily growing smaller. + Very strong this sensation, and, unless one wrestled with it firmly, translating + itself in the mental sphere as a vaguely distressful notion that one was nothing but + a tiny insect at war with the entire universe.</p> + <p>Day after day he spent his time in the same manner at the G.P.O.—asking + questions of clerks, lounging in stone corridors, sitting on wooden benches, thinking + that the hour was coming and finding that it did not come. He was one of a weary + regiment of people waiting for interviews. Clerks behind counters of inquiry offices + hunted him up in pigeon-holes, looked for him in files and on skewers. "Oh, yes, + let's see. You say you're the man from Rodchurch! That's north or midlands, isn't it? + You must ask in Room 45.... What say? Down south, is it? Then you're quite right to + ask here. No, we haven't heard any more about it since yesterday."</p> + <p>At the end of each fruitless day he emerged from the vast place of postponement + feeling exhausted, dazed, stupefied. The sunlight made him blink. He stood holding + his hat so as to shade his eyes.</p> + <p>Then after a few minutes, as he plodded along Queen Victoria Street, his confusion + passed away, and <a id="Page_37" name="Page_37"></a>he observed things with a clear + understanding. It was a lovely evening really and truly, and these ponderous + omnibuses were all carrying people home because the day's work was done. The streets + were clean and bright; and there was plenty of gayness and joy—for them as + could grab a share of it. He noticed fine private carriages drawn up round corners, + waiting for prosperous tradesmen; young men with tennis-bats in their hands, taking + prodigiously long strides, eager to get a game of play before dusk; girls who went by + twos and threes, chattering, laughing, making funny short quick steps of it, like as + if on the dance to reach sweethearts and green lanes. A man selling a mechanical + toy—sort of a tin frog that jumped so soon as you put it down—made him + smile indulgently.</p> + <p>Outside the Mansion House Station the traffic stopped dead all of a moment, and + directly the wheels ceased rattling one heard the cheerful music of a soldiers' band + close upon one. It was the Bank Guard—Coldstreams—marching proudly. The + officer in charge seemed very proud; with drawn sword, his broad red back bulging + above his sash, and the enormous bearskin narrowing to his shoulders and hiding his + neck.</p> + <p>The wheels rolled again; the music, floating, fading, died beneath the horses' + feet; and Dale stood gaping at a board over the entrance of the railway station. + Places served by this District Company had pleasant-sounding suburban + names—such as Kew Gardens, Richmond, Wimbledon. Reading the names, he felt a + sick nostalgic yearning for the wind that blows through fir-trees, for the dust that + falls on highroads, for the village street and the friendly nod—for home.<a + id="Page_38" name="Page_38"></a></p> + <p>He ate some food at an eating-house near Blackfriars, and then wandered aimlessly + for hours. The broad river, with its dull brown flood breaking in oily wavelets + against the embankment wall, exercised a fascination. He admired the Temple, watched + some shadows on a lawn, and wondered if the pigeons by the cab-rank ever went to bed, + or if, changing their natural habits to suit their town-life, they had become night + birds like the owls. The trains passing to and fro in the iron cage called Hungerford + Bridge interested him; and as he approached the Houses of Parliament, he was stirred + by memories of his historical reading.</p> + <p>The stately pile had become almost black against the western sky by the time that + he drew near to it, and its majestic extent, with the lamplight gleaming from + innumerable windows, gave him a quite personal satisfaction. It represented all that + was grandest in the tale of his country. The freedom of the subject had been born on + this hallowed spot; here had been thrown down those cruel barriers by which the rich + and powerful penned and confined the poor and humble as cattle or slaves; by this and + because of this, the people's meeting-place, men like himself had been enabled to + aspire and to achieve. He was aware of a moisture in his eyes and a lump in his + throat while he meditated thus; and then suddenly his eyes grew hot and dry again, + and his larynx opened. His thought had taken a rapid turn from the general to the + particular. It was a pity that an interfering ass like their member should have the + right to come in and out here, record his vote, and spout his nonsense with the best + of them.<a id="Page_39" name="Page_39"></a></p> + <p>The metal tongue of Big Ben startled him, a booming voice that might have been + that of Time itself, telling the tardy sunlight and the encroaching dusk that it was + nine o'clock. Under a lamp-post Dale brought out his silver watch, and carefully set + it.</p> + <p>"I suppose they keep Greenwich," he thought, "same as we do;" and an apprehensive + doubt presented itself. Would his clerk have the sense to see to it, that the clocks + down there were duly wound? Ridgett, of course, could not be expected to know that + they were always wound on Thursdays.</p> + <p>St. James' followed Westminster in his tour of inspection, and then, after that + amazing street of clubs, he soon found himself in the white glare, the kaleidoscopic + movement, and the concentrated excitement of Piccadilly Circus. Then he sauntered + through Leicester Square and began to drift northward. The gas torches outside places + of entertainment had arrested his slow progress. One of the music-halls in the Square + appeared to him as iniquitously gorgeous, and he gazed through the wide entrance at + the vestibule hall, and staircase. The whole thing was as fine as one might have + expected inside Buckingham Palace or the Mansion House—crimson curtains, marble + steps, golden balusters, and flunkeys wearing velvet breeches and silk stockings. It + grieved him momentarily to discover that two giant commissionnaires were both + foreigners. He heard them address each other with a rapid guttural jabber. "Should + 'a' thought there's large-sized men enough in England, if you troubled to look for + 'em."</p> + <p>To this point he had amused himself sufficiently; but <a id="Page_40" + name="Page_40"></a>each night as he turned his face toward the Euston Road, his + spirits sank and the same queer mixture of bodily and mental discomfort attacked him. + It began with the slightly bitter thought of being "out of it." He looked + disapprovingly at pallid and puffed young swells gliding past in cabs; at the humbler + folk who hurried by without seeming to be aware of his existence, who bumped into him + and never said "Pardon!"; at the painted women of the narrower pavements—more + foreigners half of them—who leered and murmured.</p> + <p>"Where's the police?" He asked himself the question indignantly and + contemptuously. "Can't they see what's going on under their noses? Or don't they + <i>wish</i> to see it? Or have they been paid <i>not</i> to see it? Funny thing if + every respectable married man is to be bothered like this—three times in fifty + yards!"</p> + <p>These incessant solicitations affected his nerves. So much so, indeed, that he + cursed the impudence of one woman and called her a rude name. She did not seem to + mind. While he was still in the generous afterglow produced by a bit of + plain-speaking, another one had taken her place.</p> + <p>With head high and shoulders squared he marched on, subject for some distance to a + purely nervous irritation, together with a disagreeably potent memory of powdered + cheeks, reddened lips, and a searching perfume.</p> + <p>Then he thought of his wife, and instantly he had so vivid a presentation of her + image that it obliterated all newer visual records. What a lady she looked when + bidding him farewell at the station. He had watched her till the train carried him + out of sight—a slender graceful figure; pale face and sad eyes; a fluttering <a + id="Page_41" name="Page_41"></a>handkerchief and a waved parasol; then nothing at + all, except a sudden sense of emptiness in his heart.</p> + <p>And once more he mused with gratitude on the things that Mavis had done for him. + He thought of how she had saved him from the ugly imaginations of his youth. How + marvelously she had purified and elevated him! He used to be afraid of himself, of + all the potentialities for evil that one takes with one across the threshold of + manhood.</p> + <p>The fantastic dread which recurred to his memory now, as he turned from Dean + Street into Oxford Street, had been started when he first heard the legendary tale of + Hadleigh Wood. It was said that seventy or a hundred years ago some louts had caught + girls bathing in the stream and violated them. The legend declared that one of the + offenders was executed and the rest were sent to prison for life. Perhaps it was all + a myth, but it helped to give the upper wood a bad name; and out of these fabled + materials William had built his fancy—dread and desire combining—a wish + that, when he pushed the branches apart, he might see a lass bathing; and a fear that + he would not be able to resist an impulse to plunge into the water and carry her off. + As he walked through the shade cast by summer foliage, with a hot whisper of nascent + virility tormenting his senses, the fancy was almost strong enough to be a + hallucination. He could imagine that he saw female garments on the bank, petticoats + fallen in a circle, boots and stockings hard by; he could hear the splashing of water + on the other side of the holly bushes; he could feel the weight of the nude form + slung across his shoulder as he galloped into the gloom with his prey. And later, + under the increasing stress of his adolescence, he used to have a dread of + realities—a <a id="Page_42" name="Page_42"></a>conviction that he could not + trust himself. He thought at this period not of legends, but of facts—of things + that truly happened; of the brutality of hayfields; of a man full of beer dealing + roughly with a woman-laborer who unluckily came in his way alone and defenceless at + nightfall.</p> + <p>From all this kind of vague peril his wife had saved him. When in the course of + his education he read of nymphs and satyrs, and was startled by what seemed a highly + elaborated version of his own crude imaginings, he had already, through the influence + of Mavis, attained to states of mind that rendered such suggestions powerless to stir + his pulses or warm his blood; and now, as he recognized with proud satisfaction, he + had reached a stage of development wherein the improper advances of a thousand houris + would evoke merely indignation and repugnance. It was not a matter that one could + boast about to anybody except one's self; but he wondered if Mr. Ridgett, or several + other customers who might remain nameless, could say as much.</p> + <p>Thanks to Mav! Yes, he ought always let himself be guided by her.</p> + <p>And then, by a natural transition of ideas, he thought of that other great + instinct of untutored man—the fighting instinct. When a person is rising in the + social scale he should learn to govern that also. Although the nobs themselves do it + when pushed to it, scrapping is not respectable. It is common. Nevertheless there + must be exceptions to every rule: anger when justified by its provocation is not, can + not be reprehensible.</p> + <p>But dimly he understood that with him cerebral excitement, when it reached a + certain pitch, overflowed too rapidly into action. Whereas the gentry, after <a + id="Page_43" name="Page_43"></a>their centuries of repressive training, could always + control themselves. They could fight, but they could wait for the appropriate moment. + If you stung them with an insult, they resolved to avenge themselves—but not + necessarily then and there; and their resolve deepened in every instant of delay, so + that when the fighting hour struck, their heads worked with their arms, and they + fought <i>better</i> than the hasty peasants.</p> + <p>And then he thought of the various advantages still possessed by gentlefolk. How + unfairly easy is the struggle of life made for them, in spite of all the talk about + equality; how difficult it still is for the humbly-born, in spite of Magna Chartas, + habeas corpuses, and Houses of Commons! Finishing his long ramble, he remembered the + biggest and grandest gentleman of his acquaintance, and wondered bitterly if the + Right Honorable Everard Barradine had done so much as to raise a little finger on his + behalf.</p> + <p>Five days had passed, and as yet not a single official at St. Martin's-le-Grand + had learnt to know him by sight. Every morning he was forced to repeat the whole + process of self-introduction.</p> + <p>"Dale? Rodchurch, Hants. Let's see. What name did you say? Dale! + Superseded—eh?"</p> + <p>But on the sixth morning somebody knew all about him. It was quite a superior sort + of clerk, who announced that Mr. Dale and all that concerned Mr. Dale had been + transferred to other hands, in another part of the building. Dale gathered that + something had happened to his case; it was as though, after lying dormant so long, it + had unexpectedly come to life; and in less than ten minutes he was given a definite + appointment. The interview would take place at noon on the day after to-morrow.<a + id="Page_44" name="Page_44"></a></p> + <p>To-day was Saturday. The long quiescent Sunday must be endured—and then he + would stand in the presence of supreme authority.</p> + <p>By the end of that Sunday his enervation was complete. The want of exercise, the + want of fresh air, the want of Mavis, had been steadily weakening him, and now his + anticipations as to the morrow produced a feverish excitement.</p> + <p>Throughout the day he rehearsed his speeches. He was still assuming—had + always taken for granted—that the personage addressed would be the + Postmaster-General, and he was sure of the correct mode of address. "Your Grace, I + desire to respectfully state my position."... That was the start all right; but how + did it go on? Again and again, before recovering the hang of it, he was confronted + with a blank wall of forgetfulness.</p> + <p>And there was the bold flight that he had determined on for wind-up. This had come + as an inspiration, down there at Rodchurch over a fortnight ago, and had been + cherished ever since. "Your Grace, taking the liberty under this head of speaking as + man to man, I ask: If you had been situated as I was, wouldn't you have done as I + done?" That was to be the wind-up, and it had rung in his mind like a trumpet call, + bold yet irresistible—"Duke you may be, but if also a man, act as a man, and + see fair play." Now, however, the prime virtue of it seemed to be lessened: it was + all muddled, unstimulating, and flat of tone.</p> + <p>How damnable if some insane nervousness should make him mix things up! Strong as + his case was, it might be spoiled by ineffective argument. But was his case strong? + Again the cruel twinge of doubt.<a id="Page_45" name="Page_45"></a></p> + <h2><a id="IV" name="IV"></a>IV</h2> + <p>The parquetry all around the square of carpet was so smooth that Dale had slipped + a foot and nearly come down when he entered the room and bowed to his judges; and now + he moved with extreme caution when they told him to withdraw to the window.</p> + <p>There were three seated at the table, and none of the three was the + Postmaster-General. Two of them were obviously bigwigs—so big, at any rate, + that his fate lay in their hands; and the other one was a secretary—not the + General Secretary—not even a gentleman, if one could draw any inference from + his deferential tone and the casual manner in which the others addressed him. He was + a sandy person—not unlike Ridgett, but rather older and much fatter.</p> + <p>Once a quiet young gentleman—a real gentleman, although apparently acting + just as a clerk—had been in and out of the room. He had given Dale a half + smile, and it had been welcome as a ray of sunlight on the darkest day of winter. + Instinct told Dale that this nice young man sympathized with him, as certainly as it + told him that his judges were unsympathetic.</p> + <p>He stood now in the deep bay window, as far as possible from the table, pretending + not to listen while straining every nerve to catch the words that were being spoken + over there. His blood was hurrying thickly, his heart beat laboriously, his collar + stuck <a id="Page_46" name="Page_46"></a>clammily to his perspiring neck. His sense + of bodily fatigue was as great as if he had run a mile race; and yet one might say + that the interview had scarcely begun. What would he be like before it was over? He + summoned all his courage in order to go through with it gamely.</p> + <p>... "You can't have this sort of thing." The words had reached him + distinctly—spoken by the one they called Sir John; and the one that Sir John + called "Colonel" said with equal distinctness, "Certainly not."</p> + <p>Dale's heart beat more easily. As he hoped and believed, they must be talking of + the soldier. Then the heart-beats came heavy again. Were they talking of him and not + of the soldier? He caught a few other broken phrases of enigmatic import—such + as "storm in teacup," "trouble caused," "no complaints"—and then the voices + were lowered, and he heard no more of the conversation at the table.</p> + <p>Presently he saw that the secretary was producing a fresh file of papers, and at + the same moment, quite inexplicably, his attention wandered. He had brought out a + handkerchief, and while with a slow mechanical movement he rubbed the palms of his + hands, he noticed and thought about the furniture and decoration of the room. Clock, + map, and calendar; some busts on top of a bookless bookcase; red turkey carpet, the + treacherous parquetry, and these stiff-looking chairs—really that was all. The + emptiness and tidiness surprised him, and he began to wonder what the + Postmaster-General's room was like. Surely there would be richer furniture and more + litter of business there. Then, with a little nervous jerk, as of his internal + machinery starting again after a breakdown, <a id="Page_47" name="Page_47"></a>he + felt how utterly absurd it was to be thinking about chairs and desks at such a + moment. He must pull himself together, or he was going to make an ass of himself.</p> + <p>"Now, if you please." They were calling him to the table. He slowly marched across + to them, and stood with folded hands.</p> + <p>"Well now, Mr. Dale." The Colonel was speaking, while Sir John read some letters + handed to him by the secretary. "We have gone into this matter very carefully, and I + may tell you at once that we have come to certain conclusions."</p> + <p>"Yes, sir." Dale found himself obliged to clear his throat before uttering the two + words. His voice had grown husky since he last spoke.</p> + <p>"You have caused us a lot of trouble—really an immense amount of + trouble."</p> + <p>Dale looked at the Colonel unflinchingly, and his voice was all right this time. + "Trouble, sir, is a thing we can't none of us get away from—not even in private + affairs, much less in public affairs."</p> + <p>"No; but there is what is called taking trouble, and there is what is called + making trouble."</p> + <p>"And the best public servants, Mr. Dale"—this was Sir John, who had + unexpectedly raised his eyes—"are those who take most and make least;" and he + lowered his eyes and went on reading the documents.</p> + <p>"First," said the Colonel, "there is your correspondence with the staff at + Rodhaven. Here it is. We have gone through it carefully—and there's plenty of + it. Well, the plain fact is, it has not impressed us favorably—that is, so far + as you are concerned."</p> + <p>"Sorry to hear it, sir."<a id="Page_48" name="Page_48"></a></p> + <p>"No, I must say that the tone of your letters does not appear to be quite what it + should be."</p> + <p>"Indeed, sir. I thought I followed the usual forms."</p> + <p>"That may be. It is not the form, but the spirit. There is an arrogance—a + determination not to brook censure."</p> + <p>"No censure was offered, sir."</p> + <p>"No, but your tone implied that you would not in any circumstances accept it."</p> + <p>"Only because I knew I hadn't merited it, sir."</p> + <p>"But don't you see that subordination becomes impossible when each + officer—"</p> + <p>Sir John interrupted his colleague.</p> + <p>"Mr. Dale, perhaps short words will be more comprehensible to you than long + ones."</p> + <p>Dale flushed, and spoke hurriedly.</p> + <p>"I'm not without education, sir—as my record shows. I won the Rowland Hill + Fourth Class Annual and the Divisional Prize for English composition."</p> + <p>Sir John and the Colonel exchanged a significant glance; and Dale, making a clumsy + bow, went on very submissively. "However you are good enough to word it, sir, I shall + endeavor to understand."</p> + <p>"Then," said Sir John, with a sudden crispness and severity, "the opinion I have + derived from the correspondence is that you were altogether too uppish. You had got + too big for your boots."</p> + <p>"Sorry that should be your opinion, sir."</p> + <p>"It is the opinion of my colleague too," said Sir John sharply. "The impudence of + a little Jack in office. I'm the king of the castle."</p> + <p>"I employed no such expression, sir."<a id="Page_49" name="Page_49"></a></p> + <p>"No, but you couldn't keep your temper in writing to your superiors, any more than + you could in managing the ordinary business of your office.</p> + <p>"Who makes the allegation?" Unconsciously Dale had raised his voice to a high + pitch. "That's what I ask. Let's have facts, not allegations, sir."</p> + <p>"Or," said Sir John, calmly and gravely, "any more than you can keep your temper + now;" and he leaned back in his chair and looked at Dale with fixed attention.</p> + <p>Dale's face was red. He opened and shut his mouth as if taking gulps of air.</p> + <p>Sir John smiled, and continued very quietly and courteously. "You must forgive me, + Mr. Dale, if by my bruskness and apparent lack of consideration I put you to a little + test. But it seemed necessary. You see, as to Rodhaven, the gravamen of their charge + against you—"</p> + <p>"Charge!" Dale's voice had dropped to a whisper. "Do they lodge a charge against + me, sir—in spite of my record?"</p> + <p>"Their report is of course strictly confidential, and it is not perhaps my duty to + inform you as to its details."</p> + <p>"I thought if a person's accused, he should at least know his indictment, + sir."</p> + <p>Sir John smiled, and nudged the Colonel's elbow. "Then, Mr. Dale, it merely + amounts to this. They say you are unquestionably an efficient servant, but that your + efficiency—at any rate, in the position you have held of late—has been + marred by what seem to be faults of temperament. They believe—and we + believe—that <a id="Page_50" name="Page_50"></a>you honestly try to do your + best; but, well, you do not succeed."</p> + <p>"I'd be glad to know where I've failed, sir. Mr. Ridgett, he said he found + everything in apple-pie order. That was Mr. Ridgett's very own word."</p> + <p>"Who is Mr. Ridgett?"</p> + <p>"Your inspector, sir—what you sent to take over."</p> + <p>"Ah, yes. But he no doubt referred to the office itself. What I am referring to is + a much wider question—the necessity of avoiding friction with the public. We + have to remember that we are the servants of the public, and not its masters. Now in + country districts—You were at Portsmouth, weren't you, before you went to + Rodchurch?"</p> + <p>"Yes, sir."</p> + <p>"Well, of course, in the poorer parts of big towns like Portsmouth, one has rather + a rough crowd to deal with; good manners may not be required; a dictatorial method is + not so much resented. But in a country village, in a residential neighborhood, where + high and low are accustomed to live in amity—well, I must say candidly, a + postmaster who adopts bullying tactics, and is always losing his temper—"</p> + <p>"Sir," said Dale earnestly, "I do assure you I am not a bully, nor one who is + always losing his temper."</p> + <p>"Yet you gave me the impression of irascibility just now, when I drew you."</p> + <p>Dale inwardly cursed his stupidity in having allowed himself to be drawn. He had + made a mistake that might prove fatal. He felt that the whole point of the affair was + being lost sight of; they seemed to have drifted away into a discussion of good and + bad manners, while he wanted to get back to the great issue of <a id="Page_51" + name="Page_51"></a>right and wrong, justice or injustice. And he understood the + ever-increasing danger of being condemned on the minor count, with the cause itself, + the great fundamental principle, remaining unweighed.</p> + <p>"No one," he said, humbly but firmly, "regrets it more than I do, gentlemen, if I + spoke up too hot. But, sir," and he bowed to Sir John, "you were wishing to nettle + me, and there's no question that for the moment I was nettled."</p> + <p>All three judges smiled; and Dale, accepting the smiles as a happy augury, went on + with greater confidence.</p> + <p>"I'm sure I apologize. And I ask you not to turn it to more than its proper + consequence—or to make the conclusion that I'm that way as a rule. With all + respect, I'd ask you to think that this means a great deal to me—a very great + deal; and that it has dragged on until—naturally—it begins to prey on + one's mind. I am like to that extent shaken and off my balance; but I beg, as no more + than is due, gentlemen, that you won't take me for quite the man up here, where all's + strange, to what I am down there, where I'm in my element and on my own ground. And I + would further submit, under the head of all parties at Rodhaven, that there may be a + bit of malice behind their report."</p> + <p>"What malice could there possibly be? They appear to have shown an inclination to + pass over the whole matter."</p> + <p>"Only if I took a black mark, sir. That's where the shoe pinched with me, + sir—and perhaps with them too. They mayn't have been best pleased when I asked + to have <i>your</i> decision over theirs."</p> + <p>Then the Colonel spoke instead of Sir John.<a id="Page_52" name="Page_52"></a></p> + <p>"But apart from Rodhaven, we have evidence against you from the village. Your + neighbors, Mr. Dale, complain more forcibly than anybody else."</p> + <p>"Is that so?" Dale felt as if he had received a wickedly violent blow in the dark. + "Of course," and he moved his hands spasmodically—"Of course I've long expected + I'd enemies." Then he snorted. "But I suppose, sir, you're alluding now to a certain + Member of Parliament whose name I needn't mention."</p> + <p>"Yes, I allude to him, and to others—to several others."</p> + <p>"If some have spoken against me, there's a many more would have spoken for + me."</p> + <p>"But they have not done so," said the Colonel dryly.</p> + <p>For a moment Dale's mental distress was so acute that his ideas seemed to blend in + one vast confused whirl. Some answer was imperatively necessary, and no answer could + evolve itself. Hesitation would be interpreted as the sign of a guilty conscience. + And in this dreadful arrest of his faculties, the sense of bodily fatigue accentuated + itself till it seemed that it would absolutely crush him.</p> + <p>"Gentlemen, as I was venturing to say—" Really the pause had been + imperceptible: "From the vicar downwards, there's many would have spoke to my + credit—if I'd asked them. And I did not ask them—and for why?"</p> + <p>"Well, why?"</p> + <p>"Because," said Dale, with a brave effort, "I relied implicitly on the fair play + that would be meted out here. From the hour I knew I was to be heard at headquarters, + I said this is now between me and headquarters, <a id="Page_53" + name="Page_53"></a>and I don't require any one—be it the highest in the + land—coming between us."</p> + <p>"Ah, I understand," said the Colonel, with great politeness.</p> + <p>"Such was my confident feeling, sir—my full confidence that, having heard + me, you'd bear me out as doing my duty, and no more nor no less than my duty."</p> + <p>Yet, even as he said so, his whole brain seemed as if fumes from some horrid + corrosive acid were creeping through and through it. In truth, all his confidence had + gone, and only his courage remained. These men were hostile to him; they had + prejudged him; their deadly politeness and their airs of suave impartiality could not + conceal their abominable intentions. He had trusted them, and they were going to show + themselves unworthy of trust.</p> + <p>"Gentlemen," he said the word very loudly, and again there came the check to the + sequence of his ideas. In another whirl of thought he remembered those courtyards at + the Abbey House, the loyal service of his wife's family, the great personage who + might have spoken up for him. Oh, why hadn't he allowed Mavis to write a second time + imploring aid? "Gentlemen—" He echoed the word twice, and then was able to go + on. "My desire has ever bin to conduct the service smooth and expeditious, and in + strict accordance with the regulations—more particularly as set out in the + manual, which I can truly ass-ass-assev'rate that I read more constant and careful + than what I do the Bible."</p> + <p>He knew that the crisis was close upon him. Now or never he must speak the words + that should convince <a id="Page_54" name="Page_54"></a>and prevail; and instinct + told him that he would speak in vain. Nevertheless, he succeeded in stimulating + himself adequately for the last great effort. He would fight game and he would die + game.</p> + <p>"If," he said stoutly, "I am at liberty now to make my plain statement of the + facts, I do so. It was seven-thirty-five P.M. Miss Yorke was at the instrument. I was + here"—and he moved a step away. "The soldier was there;" and he pointed. "The + soldier began his audacity by—"</p> + <p>"But, good gracious," said Sir John, "you are going back to the very + beginning."</p> + <p>"For your proper understanding," said Dale, with determination, "I must commence + at the commencement. If, as promised, I am to be heard—"</p> + <p>"But you <i>have</i> been heard."</p> + <p>"Your pardon, sir. You have examined me, but I have made no statement."</p> + <p>"Oh, very well." Sir John, as well as the other two, assumed an attitude of + patient boredom. "Fire ahead, then, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>And, bowing, Dale plunged into his long-pondered oration. Their three faces told + him that he was failing. Not a single point seemed to score. He was muddled, + hopeless, but still brave. He struggled on stanchly. With a throbbing at his temples, + a prickly heat on his chest, a clammy coldness in his spine—with his voice + sounding harsh and querulous, or dull and faint—with the sense that all the + invisible powers of evil had combined to deride, to defeat, and to destroy + him—he struggled on toward the bitterly bitter end of his ordeal.<a + id="Page_55" name="Page_55"></a></p> + <p>He had nearly got there, was just reaching his man-to-man finale, when the judges + cut him short.</p> + <p>"One moment, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>The nice young man had come in, and was talking both to Sir John and the + Colonel.</p> + <p>"Thank you. Just for a moment."</p> + <p>Of his own accord Dale had gone back to the window.</p> + <p>It was all over. Never mind about the end of the speech. Nothing could have been + gained by saying it. The tension of his nerves relaxed, and a wave of sick despair + came rolling upward from viscera to brain. He knew now with absolute certainty that + right was going to count for nothing; no justice existed in the world; these men were + about to decide against him.</p> + <p>"Yes,"—and the young man laughed genially—"he said I was to offer his + apologies."</p> + <p>Dale listened to the conversation at the table without attempting to understand + it. Somebody, as he gathered dully, was demanding an interview. But the interruption + could make no difference. It was all over.</p> + <p>"He said he wouldn't take 'No' for an answer."</p> + <p>Then they all laughed; and Sir John said to the young man, "Very well. Ask him + in."</p> + <p>The young man went out, leaving the door open; and Dale saw that the secretary had + risen and brought another chair to the table. Then footsteps sounded in the corridor, + and Sir John and the Colonel smilingly turned their eyes toward the open doorway. + Dale, turning his eyes in the same direction, started violently.</p> + <p>The newcomer was Mr. Barradine.</p> + <p>He shook hands with the gentlemen at the table, <a id="Page_56" + name="Page_56"></a>who had both got up to receive him; he talked to them pleasantly + and chaffingly, and there was more laughter; then he nodded to Dale; then he said he + was much obliged to the secretary for giving him the chair, and then he sat down.</p> + <p>Dale's thoughts were like those of a drowning sailor, when through the darkness + and the storm he hears the voice of approaching aid. He had been going down in the + deep, cruel waters, with the longed-for lights of home, the adored face of his wife, + the dreaded gates of hell, all dancing wildly before his eyes—and now. Breath + again, hope again, life again.</p> + <p>He listened, but did not trouble to understand. It was dreamlike, glorious, + sublime. The illustrious visitor had alluded to the fact that Jack, the nice young + man, was a connection of his; and had explained that, hearing from Jack of to-day's + appointment, he determined to go right down there and beard the lions in their den. + He had also spoken of a nephew of Sir John's, who was coming to have a bang at the + Abbey partridges in September. He further reminded the Colonel that he did not + consider himself a stranger, because they used to meet often at such and such a + place. He also asked if the Colonel kept up his riding. Now, without any change of + tone, he was talking of the case.</p> + <p>And Dale, watching, felt as if his whole heart had been melted, and as if it was + streaming across the room in a warm vapor of gratitude.</p> + <p>"My interest," said Mr. Barradine, "is simply public spirit; although it is quite + true that I know Mr. Dale personally. Indeed, he and his wife have been friends with + me and my family for more years than I care to count."<a id="Page_57" + name="Page_57"></a></p> + <p>Dale caught his breath and coughed. He was almost overwhelmed by the noble turn of + that last phrase. Friends! Nothing more, and nothing less. Not patron and dependents, + but friends.</p> + <p>"And, of course," Mr. Barradine was saying, "I want my friend to come out of it + all right—as I honestly believe he deserves to come out of it."</p> + <p>Dale felt himself on the verge of breaking down and sobbing. His strength had gone + long ago, and now all his courage went too. With his gratitude there mingled a + cowardly joy that he had not been left to fight things out alone and be beaten, that + succor had come at the supreme moment. Ardently admiring as well as fervently + thanking, he watched the friend in need, the splendid ally, the only agent of + Providence that could have saved him.</p> + <p>Who would not admire such a prince?</p> + <p>He was old and big, and though rather frail, yet so magnificently grand. His + costume was of the plainest character—black satin neck-scarf tied negligently, + with a pearl pin stuck through it anyhow, a queer sort of black pea-jacket with braid + on its edges, square-toed patent-leather boots with white spats—and, + nevertheless, he seemed to be dressed as sumptuously as if he had been wearing all + the gold and glitter of his Privy Councilor's uniform. His face seemed to Dale like + the mask of a Roman emperor—a high-bridged delicate nose, thin gray hair combed + back from a low forehead, a ridge like a straight bar above the tired eyes and a + puffiness of flesh below them, a moustache that showed the lose curves of the mouth, + and a small pointed beard that perhaps concealed an unbeautiful protrusion of the + chin. His voice, so calm, so evenly modulated, had been trained in the senate and the + palace.<a id="Page_58" name="Page_58"></a> His attitude, his manner, his freedom from + gesture and emphasis, all indicated a born ruler as well as a born aristocrat. Was it + likely that when <i>he</i> spoke he would fail?</p> + <p>Already he had swung the balance. Dale could see that he would not be resisted. + And as the great man sat talking—chatting, one might almost term it—he + seemed to be taking out of the atmosphere every element of discomfort, all the + passionate excitement, the hot throbs of indignation, the cold tremors of fear. Dale + felt his muscles recovering tone, his legs stiffening themselves, his blood + circulating richly and freely.</p> + <p>"You have here," said Mr. Barradine, "a man of unblemished reputation, who, acting + obviously from conscientious motives, has in the exercise of his judgment done so and + so. Now, admitting for the sake of argument, that he has done wrong, are you to + punish him for an error of judgment? We do not, however, admit that it was an + error."...</p> + <p>Dale looked dogged and stern. He had been on the point of saying, "I never will + admit it;" but the words would not come out. He must not interrupt. This was + Heaven-sent advocacy.</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine went on quietly and grandly. In truth what he said now was almost + what had been said by the authorities at Rodhaven—good intentions, over-zeal, a + mistake, if you care to call it so;—but from these lips it fell on Dale's ear + as soothing music. Mr. Barradine might say whatever he pleased: and the man he was + defending would not object.</p> + <p>"And now if I show the edge of the little private ax that I myself have to grind!" + Mr. Barradine laughed. They all laughed. "Our member—we agree in politics; but, + well, you know, he and I do not altogether <a id="Page_59" name="Page_59"></a>hit it + off. We are both of us getting older than we were—and perhaps we both suffer + from swollen head. It's the prevailing malady of the period."</p> + <p>Sir John laughed gaily. "I don't think you show any marked symptoms of it. But I + can't answer for what's-his-name."</p> + <p>"Well;" and Mr. Barradine made his first gesture—just a wave of the right + hand. "One can't have two kings at Brentford. And honestly I shall feel that you have + given me a smack in the face, if—"</p> + <p>"Oh, my dear sir!"</p> + <p>Then they sent Dale out of the room. Really it seemed that they had forgotten his + presence, or they might have banished him before. It was the Colonel who suddenly + appeared to remember that he was still standing over there by the window.</p> + <p>He waited in a large empty room, and the time passed slowly. It was the luncheon + hour, and far and near he heard the footsteps of clerks going to and coming from the + midday meal. Bigwigs no doubt would take their luncheon privately, in small groups, + here and there, all over the building. He too was getting very hungry.</p> + <p>An hour passed, an hour and a half, two hours; and then he was again summoned to + the other room. There was no one in it except the secretary—looking hot and red + after a copious repast, speaking jovially and familiarly, and seeming altogether more + common and less important than when under the restraining influence of bigwigs.</p> + <p>"Ah, here you are." And he chuckled amicably, and gave Dale a roguish nod. "You've + had your wires pulled A1 for you. It's decided to stretch a point in your favor. Not + to make a secret, they don't wish to <a id="Page_60" name="Page_60"></a>run counter + to Mr. B.'s wishes. You have been lucky, Mr. Dale, in having him behind you."</p> + <p>Dale gulped, but did not say anything.</p> + <p>"Very well. I am to inform you that you will be reinstated; but—in order to + allow the talk to blow over—you will not resume your duties for a fortnight. + You will take a fortnight's holiday—from now—on full pay."</p> + <p>Dale said nothing. He could have said so much. At this moment he felt that his + victory had been intrinsically a defeat. But the strength had gone from him; and in + its place there was only joy—weak but immense joy in the knowledge that all had + ended happily. And the world would say that he had won.<a id="Page_61" + name="Page_61"></a></p> + <h2><a id="V" name="V"></a>V</h2> + <p>Outside in the streets his joy increased. Nothing had mattered. Beneath all + surface sensations there was the deep fundamental rapture: as of a wild animal that + has been caught, and is now loose and free—a squirrel that has escaped from the + trap, and, whisking and bounding through sunlight and shadow, understands that its + four paws are still under it, and that only a little of its fur is left in those iron + teeth. Security after peril—articulate man or dumb brute, can one taste a + fuller bliss?</p> + <p>But he must share and impart it. Mavis! He might not go dashing back to + Hampshire—the fortnight's exile prevented him from joining her there. A broad + grin spread across his face. What was that learned saying that his old schoolmaster, + Mr. Fenley, used to be so fond of repeating? "If Mahomet can not go to the mountain, + the mountain must come to Mahomet."</p> + <p>The memory of this classical quotation tickled him, and he went chuckling into the + Cannon Street post office and wrote out a telegraph-form.</p> + <p>"Reinstatement. Come at once. Shall expect you this evening without fail."</p> + <p>Having sent off the telegram, he presently ordered his dinner in the grill-room of + a Ludgate Hill restaurant.</p> + <p>"Yes, let's see your notion of a well-cooked rumpsteak.<a id="Page_62" + name="Page_62"></a> And I'll try some of the famous lager beer.... Oh, bottle or + draught's all one to me;" and he snapped his fingers and laughed. "Now, sharp's the + word, Mister waiter. I'm fairly famished."</p> + <p>The lager beer, served in a glass vase, was delicious—sunbeams distilled to + make a frothing and unheady nectar. The grilled steak and the fried potatoes could + not have been better done at the Buckingham Palace kitchens. Never for three weeks + had food tasted like this. All had been dust and ashes in his mouth since the row + began.</p> + <p>Then with appetite satisfied and digestion beginning, he smoked.</p> + <p>"If you've anything in the shape of a really good threepenny cigar, I can do with + it. But don't fob me off with any poor trash. For I've my pipe in my pocket."</p> + <p>The waiter said he had a truly splendid threepenny; and Dale, enjoying it, talked + to the waiter. He could not help talking; he could not help laughing. After so much + silence it was a treat to hear the sound of his own loud, jolly voice, and he gave + himself the treat freely.</p> + <p>"You're from the country, sir," said the waiter, politely.</p> + <p>"Yes, bull's eye," said Dale, with boisterous good-humor. "Hand him out a + cokernut. But may I ask how you guessed my place of origin so pat?"</p> + <p>"Well, sir. I don't know, sir. Haven't had you here before, I think."</p> + <p>"Oh, you're very clever, you Londoners. I don't doubt you can all see through a + brick wall. Yes, I'm from the country—but I'm beginning to know my way <a + id="Page_63" name="Page_63"></a>about the town too. Ever bin on a steamboat to + Rodhaven?"</p> + <p>"Rodhaven? No, sir."</p> + <p>Then Dale told the waiter about the heaths and downs and woods that lie between + Rodhaven and Old Manninglea.</p> + <p>"Prettiest part of the world that I know of," he said proudly. "You spend your + next holiday there. Take the four-horse sharrybank from Rodhaven pier—and when + you get to the Roebuck at Rodchurch, you get off of the vehicle and ask for the + Postmaster."</p> + <p>"Yes, sir?"</p> + <p>"He won't eat you," and Dale laughed with intense enjoyment of his humor. "He's + not a bad chap really, though his neighbors say he's a bit of a Tartar. I give you my + word he'll receive you, decently, and stand you dinner into the bargain. I know he + will—and for why? Because I am that gentleman myself."</p> + <p>He could not resist the pleasure of rounding off his sentence with the grand word + "Gentleman," and he was gratified by the waiter's meekly obsequious reception of the + word.</p> + <p>"Thank you, sir. Much obliged, sir."</p> + <p>When leaving, he gave the waiter a generous tip.</p> + <p>To-day his walk through the gaily-crowded streets was sweet to him as a lazy + truant ramble in the woods during church-time. Everything that he looked at delighted + him—the richness of shop-windows, showing all the expensive useless goods that + no sensible person ever wants; the liveries worn by pampered servants standing at + carriage wheels; the glossy coats of mettlesome, prancing horses; the extravagant + dresses of fine ladies mincingly walking on the common public <a id="Page_64" + name="Page_64"></a>pavement; the stolid grandeur of huge policemen, and the infinite + audacity of small newspaper boys; the life, the color, the noise. It seemed as if the + busy city and the pleasure-loving West-end alike unfolded themselves as a panorama + especially arranged for one's amusement; and his satisfaction was so great that it + mutely expressed itself in words which he would have been quite willing to shout + aloud. Such as: "Bravo, London! You aren't a bad little place when one gets to know + you. There's more in you than meets the eye, first view."</p> + <p>And because he was so happy himself, he could sympathize with the happiness of + everybody else. He was glad that the rich people were so rich and the poor people so + contented; he admired a young swell for buying flowers from a woman with a shawl over + her head; he mused on all the honest, well-paid toil that had gone to the raising of + the grapes and peaches at a Piccadilly fruiterer's. "Live, and let live"—that's + a good motto all the world over. When he saw babies in perambulators, he would have + liked to kiss them. When he saw an elderly man with a pretty young woman, he wanted + to nudge him and say jocosely, "You're in luck, old chap, aren't you?" When couples + of boy and girl lovers went whispering by, he smiled sentimentally. "That's right. + You can't begin too soon. Never mind what Ma says. If you like him, stick to him, + lassie."</p> + <p>And though still alone, he felt no loneliness. His own dear companion was soon + coming to him. Throughout the walk the only thoughts tinged with solemnity were those + which sprang from his always deepening gratitude to Mr. Barradine. He wanted to <a + id="Page_65" name="Page_65"></a>pay a ceremonious call for the purpose of expressing + his thanks, and he felt that he should do this immediately; but for the life of him + he could not remember whether the great man's London house was situated in Grosvenor + Square or Grosvenor Place. Mavis of course would know. Or he could find out from one + of these policemen. He hesitated, and it was the state of his collar that decided + him. He would postpone the visit of gratitude, and do it first thing to-morrow + morning in a clean collar.</p> + <p>The hall clock at his lodgings announced the hour as close on five, and he + mentally noted that the timepiece was inaccurate—three and a half minutes + behind Greenwich. As usual, the hall was untenanted, with no servant to answer + questions. He searched the dark recesses of a dirty letter-rack, on the chance that + he might find a telegram from his wife waiting for him. Then he went gaily up the + interminable staircase, making nothing now of its five flights, enjoying their + steepness as productive of agreeable exercise.</p> + <p>"Hulloa!" he muttered. "What's this?"</p> + <p>A woman's hat and parasol were lying on a chair, and there was a valise on the + floor by the chest of drawers. Turning, he gave a cry of delight. Mavis was stretched + on the bed, fast asleep.</p> + <p>She woke at the sound of his voice, scrambled down, and flung herself into his + arms.</p> + <p>"Will, oh, Will. My dearest Will!</p> + <p>"My darling—my little sweetheart. But how have you come to me—have you + flown?"</p> + <p>"Don't be silly."</p> + <p>He was devouring her face with his kisses, straining her to his breast in a + paroxysm of pleasure, almost <a id="Page_66" name="Page_66"></a>suffocating himself + and her in the ardor of the embrace, and jerking out his words as though they were + gasps for breath.</p> + <p>"When did you get my wire? Why, it's impossible. I on'y wired two-forty-three. Is + it witchcraft or just a dream?"</p> + <p>"Did you wire? I never got it. I was so anxious that I couldn't stay there any + longer without news. So I just packed and came. Will—be sensible. Tell me + everything."</p> + <p>"Best of news! Reinstated!" He bellowed the glad tidings over her head. She was + all warm and palpitating in his arms, her dear body so delicate and fragile and yet + so round and firm, her dear face soft and smooth, with lips that trembled and smelled + like garden flowers.</p> + <p>"Did you come up by the nine o'clock train? How long have you been waiting + here?"</p> + <p>"Oh, don't bother about me. I'm nothing. It's you I want to hear about."</p> + <p>Then they sat side by side on the narrow little bed, he with his arm firmly + clasped round her waist, and she nestling against him with her face hidden on his + breast.</p> + <p>"Mav, my bird, I can't never leave you again. I've bin just a lost dog without + you. Did you start before you got my Sunday letter?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"Every day I wrote—didn't I?—just like the old time. But I've a bone + to pick with you, young lady. What d'ye mean by not writing to me more regular? Not + even so much as a post-card these last three days!"<a id="Page_67" + name="Page_67"></a></p> + <p>"Will—I, I couldn't. I was too anxious while it all remained in + suspense."</p> + <p>"Yes, but you might have sent me a card. I told you cards would satisfy me. I was + thinking of you off and on all yesterday. I can tell you it was just about the + longest day of my life. Did you and Auntie go to church?"</p> + <p>"No. Oh, don't ask questions about me—when I'm dying for a full account of + it."</p> + <p>He asked no more questions. After stooping to kiss the fragrant coil of hair above + her forehead, he burst out into his joyous tale of triumph.</p> + <p>"It was Mr. Barradine that did the trick for me;" and with enthusiasm he narrated + the gloriously opportune arrival of "the friend at court." Indeed his enthusiasm was + so great that he could not keep still while speaking. He got off the bed, and walked + about the room, brandishing his arms. "He's just a tip-topper. If you could have been + there to hear him, you wouldn't 'a' left off crying yet. I tell you I was fairly + overcome myself. It was the <i>way</i> he did it. 'Of course,' he said, 'I want my + friend to come out of it as I honestly believe he deserves.' They couldn't stand up + against him half a minute. But, mind you, Mav;" and Dale stopped moving, and spoke + solemnly, "he's aged surprising these last few years. He's more feeble like than ever + one would think, seeing him on his horse. I mean, his bodily frame. The int'lect's + more powerful, I should make the guess, than ever it was.... And mind you, here's + another thing, Mav;" and he spoke even more solemnly. "All this is going to be a + lesson to me. I've worn my considering cap most of the time I've been <a id="Page_68" + name="Page_68"></a>away from you—and, Mav, I'm going to lay to heart the fruits + of my experience. All's well that ends well, old lady. But once bit, twice shy; and + in the future I'm going to trim my sails so's to avoid another such an upset." He + came back to the bed, and sat beside her again. "I shan't be too proud to say the + gray mare's the better horse when it comes to steering through the etiquette book, + and I mean to mend my manners by Mav's advice."</p> + <p>"My dear Will—my true husband—I'm so glad to think it's ended as we + wished."</p> + <p>Her joy in his joy was beautiful to see. Though her pretty eyes were flooded by + sudden tears, her whole face was shining with happiness; and she pressed both her + hands against him, and raised her lips to his lips with the rapid movements of a + child that craves a caress from its loved and venerated guardian.</p> + <p>"There," he said, after a long hug. "Now use your hanky, and let's be + jolly—and begin to enjoy ourselves. You and I are going to have the best treat + this evening that London can provide. But I think that, now you've come, I'll do my + duty first, and then throw myself into the pleasure without alloy. What's his + address?"</p> + <p>"Whose address?"</p> + <p>"Mr. Barradine's."</p> + <p>"How do you mean? His address here, in London?"</p> + <p>Yes."</p> + <p>"Number 181, Grosvenor Place."</p> + <p>"Ah, I thought it was the Place—and yet I couldn't feel sure it wasn't the + Square. Now you shall tie my tie for me."<a id="Page_69" name="Page_69"></a></p> + <p>And, getting out a new collar, he told her that he would go to thank Mr. Barradine + there and then. He would be less than no time fulfilling this act of necessary + politeness, and while he was away she was to see the people of the house and get a + proper married couple's bedroom in lieu of this bachelor's crib. Mavis, however, + thought that Dale was mistaken in supposing the ceremonious call necessary or even + advisable, and she gently tried to dissuade him from carrying out his purpose. She + considered that a carefully written letter would be a better method of communication + to employ in thanking their grand ally. But Dale was obstinate. He said that in this + one matter he knew best. It was between him and Mr. Barradine now—a case of man + to man.</p> + <p>"He'll look for it, Mav, and would take a very poor opinion of me if I hadn't the + manhood to go straight and frank, and say 'I thank you.' Trust your old William for + once more, Mav;" and he laughed merrily. "I tell you what I felt I wanted to do at + the G.P.O. was a leaf out of the Roman history—that is, to kneel down to him + and say, 'Put your hand on William Dale's head, sir, for sign and token, and take his + service from this day forward as your bondsman and your slave.' But I shan't say + that;" and again he laughed. "I shall simply say, 'Mr. Barradine, sir, I thank you + for what you've done for me and for the kind and open way you done it.' So much he + will expect, and the rest he will understand."</p> + <p>He was equally determined to despatch a telegram giving the good news to Mrs. + Petherick at North Ride Cottage, and he became almost huffy when Mavis again + suggested that a letter would meet the case.<a id="Page_70" name="Page_70"></a></p> + <p>"I don't understand you, Mav. You seem now as if you were for belittling + everything. I'm not going to spare sixpence to keep your aunt on tenterhooks for + course of post."</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine's town mansion stood in a commanding corner position, with its front + door in the side street; and from the glimpse that Dale obtained of its hall, its + staircase, and its vast depth, he judged that it was quite worthy of the owner of + that noble countryseat, the Abbey House.</p> + <p>The servants were at first doubtful as to the propriety of admitting him. They + said their master was at home, but they did not know if he could receive + visitors.</p> + <p>"He won't refuse to see me," said Dale confidently. "Tell him it's Mr. Dale of + Rodchurch, and won't detain him two minutes."</p> + <p>"Very good," said the principal servant gravely. "But I can't disturb him if he's + resting."</p> + <p>"Oh, if he's resting," said Dale, "I'll wait. I'll make my time his + time—whether convenient to me or not." Then they led him down a passage, past a + cloak-room and a lavatory, to a small room right at the back of the house.</p> + <p>Perhaps the room seemed small only by reason of its great height. Dale, waiting + patiently, examined his surroundings with curious interest. There were two + old-fashioned writing-tables—one looking as if it was never used, and the other + looking busy and homelike, with a cabinet full of every conceivable sort of + notepaper, trays full of pens, and little candles to be lighted when one desired to + affix seals. On a roundabout conveniently near there were books of reference that + included <a id="Page_71" name="Page_71"></a>the current volume of the <i>London Post + Office Directory</i>. The sofas and chairs were upholstered in dark green leather, + the chimney-piece was of carved marble, a few ancient and rather dismal pictures hung + almost out of sight on the walls; and generally, the room would have produced an + impression of a repellent and ungenial kind of pomp, if it had not been for the + extremely human note struck by the large assortment of photographs.</p> + <p>These were dabbed about everywhere—in panels above the chair rail, in + screens and silver frames, on the writing-table, and loose and unframed on the + mantel-shelf. They were nearly all portraits of women—and some nice attractive + bits among them, as Dale thought; young and cheeky ones, too, that he guessed were + actresses and not nieces or cousins. He smiled tolerantly. These photographs brought + to his mind a nearly forgotten fancy of his own, together with echoes of the local + gossip. Round Rodchurch the talk ran that the Right Honorable gentleman was still a + rare one for the ladies. "And why not?" thought Dale. A childless old widower may + keep up that sort of game as long as he likes, or as long as he can, without wounding + any one's feeling. It wasn't as if her ladyship had been still alive.</p> + <p>"Sir, I hope I have not disturbed you; but I couldn't be easy till I'd cordially + and heartily thanked you." Mr. Barradine had come in, and Dale fired off his brief + set speeches. But instinct almost immediately told him that once more Mavis had been + right and he wrong. Mr. Barradine was not expecting or desiring a personal call.</p> + <p>"Not worth mentioning. Nothing at all." He said <a id="Page_72" + name="Page_72"></a>these things courteously, but there was a coldness in his tone + that quite froze the visitor. He seemed to be saying really: "Now look here, I have + had quite enough bother about you; and please don't let me have any more of it."</p> + <p>"Then, sir, I thank you—and—er—that's all."</p> + <p>"Very glad if—" Mr. Barradine made the same gesture that Dale had seen a few + hours ago: a wave of the right hand. But to Dale it seemed that it was different now, + that it indicated languor and haughtiness; indeed, it seemed that the whole man was + different. Could this be the advocate who had spoken up so freely for a friend in + trouble? All the majesty and the force, as well as the generous friendliness, had + disappeared. The face, the voice, the whole bearing belonged to another man. The + tired eyes had not a spark of fire in them; those puffy bags of loose flesh, that + hung between the outer corners of the cheekbones and the thin birdlike nose, were so + ugly as to be disfiguring; the mouth, instead of looking soft and kind, although + proud, now appeared to close in the unbending lines of a very obdurate self-esteem. + This new aspect of his patron made Dale stammer uncomfortably; and he felt something + akin to humiliation in lieu of the fine glow of gratitude with which he had come + hurrying from the Euston Road.</p> + <p>"Then my duty—and my thanks—and I'll say good afternoon, sir."</p> + <p>He had pulled himself together and spoken these last words ringingly, and now + grasping Mr. Barradine's hand he gave it a mercilessly severe squeeze.</p> + <p>"Damnation!" Under the horny grip, Mr. Barradine emitted a squeal of pain. + "Confound it—my good <a id="Page_73" name="Page_73"></a>fellow—why the + deuce can't you be careful what you're doing?"</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine, very angry, was ruefully examining his hand; and Dale, apologizing + profusely, stared at it too. It was limp in texture, yellowish white of color, with + bluish swollen veins, some darkish brown patches here and there, and slight + glistening protuberances at the knuckle joints-an old man's hand, so feeble that it + could not bear the least pressure, and yet decorated with a young man's fopperies. + Dale noticed the three rings on the little finger-one of gold, one of silver, one of + black metal, each with tiny colored gems in it—and while heartily ashamed of + his rustic violence, he felt a secret contempt for its victim.</p> + <p>"That's all right." Mr. Barradine, although still wincing, had recovered + composure, and what he said now appeared to be an implied excuse for the sharpness of + his protest. "When you get to my time of life, you'll perhaps know what gout + means."</p> + <p>"Sorry you should be afflicted that way, sir," said Dale contritely.</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine had rung a bell, and a servant was standing at the door.</p> + <p>"Good day to you, Mr. Dale. You're going home, I suppose?"</p> + <p>"Not for a fortnight, sir."</p> + <p>"Ah! I hope to return to the Abbey on Thursday morning;" and quite obviously Mr. + Barradine now intended to gratify Dale by a few polite sentences of small talk, and + thus show him that his offense had been pardoned. "Yes, I soon begin to pine for my + garden. Friday, at latest, sees me home again. I always call the Abbey home. No place + like home, Dale."<a id="Page_74" name="Page_74"></a></p> + <p>Dale going out, through the long passage to the hall, felt momentarily depressed + by a sense of humiliating failure in the midst of his apparent success. If only he + could have fought them and beaten them alone, as a strong man fighting unaided, + instead of being pulled through the battle by that veinous, blotchy, ringed hand! + However, he promptly tried to banish all such vague discomfort from his mind.</p> + <p>All of it was gone when he got back to the lodging-house, and found his wife + established in their new room.<a id="Page_75" name="Page_75"></a></p> + <h2><a id="VI" name="VI"></a>VI</h2> + <p>"The Acadia Theater! So be it. They're all one to me."</p> + <p>Mavis had chosen this famous music hall because, as she explained, Chirgwin was + performing at it, and her aunt had always said that Chirgwin was the most + excruciatingly funny of all music-hall artists.</p> + <p>"So be it. Half a minute, though." Dale counting his money, dolefully discovered + that it had run very low indeed. "I begin to think we shall have to cut down our + treat a bit."</p> + <p>But Mavis swept away all difficulties. She had brought money—her very own + money—her little emergency hoard; and opening her handbag, and tumbling inside + it, she produced a five-pound note, and smilingly put it on the dressing-table.</p> + <p>"Hulloa! There's more where that comes from." His quick ear had caught the + rustling sound inside the handbag. "There's other notes in there, old lady;" and, + laughing, he tried to snatch the bag from her. "How much? Here's a miser, and no + mistake."</p> + <p>"Never you mind how much your miser's got." Her lips were smiling, her eyes + shining, and with a happy laugh she sprang away from him. "Now, no nonsense. Take me + out, and make a fuss of me."</p> + <p>For a moment he stood still, admiring her. She was dressed in her very best Sunday + clothes, and, to his eye at least, she looked quite entrancingly nice. Her <a + id="Page_76" name="Page_76"></a>straw hat was full of artificial roses that any one + might have sworn were real; her unbuttoned jacket disclosed the delicate finery of a + muslin blouse; her long skirt, held up so gracefully by the unoccupied hand, was made + of veritable silk. She just looked tip-top—a picture—to the full as much + a lady as the young dames he had been lately observing; and yet, wonder of wonders, + she was his property.</p> + <p>"By Jupiter, I must have another hug—and then off we go."</p> + <p>"No," she said archly, and yet decidedly. "No more kisses till bedtime. I'm all + ready to show myself to company, and I don't wish to be rumpled."</p> + <p>They rode like a gentleman and a lady in a hansom cab; they dined like a duke and + a duchess at the Criterion restaurant; and they were both as happy and light-hearted + as schoolboys on the first day of their holidays. Like children they made silly + little jokes which would have been jokes to no one but themselves. He caused + immoderate laughter in her by assuming the airs of a man about town, by affecting a + profound knowledge of the French names for all the dishes on the table d'hote menu, + and by describing how offended he would now be if any one should detect that he was + not a regular London swell; and she, by whispered criticism of a stout party at a + distant table, sent such a convulsion of mirth through him that he choked badly while + drinking wine. He had insisted on ordering the wine, and in making Mav take her share + of it, although she vowed that the unaccustomed stimulant would fly to her head.</p> + <p>"Rot, old girl. You dip your beak in it—it's mostly <a id="Page_77" + name="Page_77"></a>froth and fizz, and no more strength than the lager beer, as far + as I can make out."</p> + <p>"How much does it cost?"</p> + <p>"Shan't tell. Yes, I will," and he roared with laughter, "since it's you that's + paying for it. Best part of seven shillings."</p> + <p>"Oh, Will, it's <i>wicked</i>!"</p> + <p>"Bosh! This is the time of our lives;" and he chaffed her again about being a + secret capitalist. "Blow the expense. Let the money fly. And, Mav, I on'y borrow it. + This is all my affair really."</p> + <p>"No, no. You'll spoil half my pleasure if you don't let me pay."</p> + <p>But his money or her money—what did it matter? They two were one, reunited + after a cruel, most bitterly cruel separation; her face was flushed with joy more + than with wine, and her love poured out of her eyes like a stream of light.</p> + <p>They walked from the restaurant to Leicester Square, arm in arm, proud and joyous, + enjoying the lamplight and noise, not minding the airless heat; but when they reached + the entrance of the music hall—where he had stood gaping, solitary and sad, a + few nights ago—Mavis met with disappointment.</p> + <p>"Oh," she said, "what a shame! They've changed the bill. Chirgwin's name is gone. + He was acting here Friday night."</p> + <p>"How d'you know that?"</p> + <p>She followed him into the vestibule, and he asked her again while they waited in + the crowd by the ticket office.</p> + <p>"I read it in the paper. Aunt and I were talking of him; and I—I had the + curiosity to look at the advertisements—not <a id="Page_78" + name="Page_78"></a>dreaming that I should come so near seeing him."</p> + <p>"Never mind," cried Dale, in his jovial, far-carrying voice; "there'll be a many + as good as him."</p> + <p>"Hush," she whispered. "If you talk like that, they'll know we come from the + country;" and she squeezed his arm affectionately. "I don't mind a bit, + dear—but there's no one so clever as Chirgwin. Really there isn't."</p> + <p>She at once forgot her trifling disappointment. Placed side by side in + extravagantly expensive seats of the stately circle, surrounded by ladies and + gentlemen in evening dress, they both gave themselves wholly to the pleasure of this + unparalleled treat. All the early items of a long program astounded or charmed him; + and her enjoyment was enhanced by recognizing how completely he had thrown off the + narrowness or prejudice of village life. Listening to his laughter at almost indecent + jokes, his ejaculations of wonder when conjurers showed their skill, his enthusiastic + clappings after acrobats had proved their strength, she understood that all his + natural sternness was temporarily relaxed; he would not allow himself to be disturbed + by any semi-religious notions of propriety or impropriety; he was just a jolly + comrade for an evening's sport.</p> + <p>"Brayvo! Brayvo! By Jupiter—wouldn't 'a' credited it without the evidence of + my own eyes." The gorgeous curtains had just descended upon a narrow parlor, which a + Japanese necromancer had literally filled to overflowing with colored cardboard boxes + produced from the interior of one single top hat. "See! Watch 'em, Mav." Footmen were + coming in front of the curtains <a id="Page_79" name="Page_79"></a>to remove the + plethora of cardboard boxes. "They're real boxes, Mav."</p> + <p>Sweet music, happy laughter, brilliant light—the evening glided + entrancingly, like a dream in which neither Greenwich nor any other time is kept.</p> + <p>During the interval before the ballet he took her out of the circle, strolled with + her up and down the promenade, and gave her an American drink in a refreshment + saloon. It was appallingly hot, and they were both longing to quench their thirst + with something big and cold. A magnificent waiter brought them bigness and coldness + in tall tumblers with straws, and they sat on a velvet divan and sucked + rapturously.</p> + <p>Standing or seated at tables, there were young bloods with white waistcoats and + cigarettes, and young ladies with rich gowns and made-up faces; through a gilded + doorway one had a vista of the thronged promenade; the air was hot, exhausted, + pungent with tobacco smoke; and amid the chatter of voices, the clink of glasses, the + rustle of petticoats, one could only just hear the great orchestra playing chords of + some fantastic march.</p> + <p>Suddenly Mavis felt a vaguely pleasant confusion of mind, as though the icily cold + liquid, as she slowly absorbed it through the straw, was freezing her intelligence. + She could not for a few moments understand what Dale was whispering at her ear.</p> + <p>"Between you and me and the post, Mav"—And he told her that, according to + his opinion, all these women parading up and down were no better than they ought to + be. They were of course, socially, much higher than the common women of the streets, + but he considered them to be, morally, on the same level: although <a id="Page_80" + name="Page_80"></a>they did not accost strangers, they were all willing to scrape + acquaintance with any one who looked as if he had money in his pocket. "Yes, London's + a bit of an eye-opener, old girl." Then he laughed behind his hand, and said that she + was probably the only respectable woman and virtuous wife in the whole of the + theater.</p> + <p>Mavis, although trying to listen, answered at random.</p> + <p>"Will, I do believe there's spirits in this stuff—yes, and strong spirits + too."</p> + <p>"Oh, bosh. It's just a refresher. Mostly crushed ice, and a few drops of + sirup."</p> + <p>Mavis, however, was quite correct. At the bottom of the glass, and below the light + sirupy mixture, there lurked liqueurs of which the potency was only rendered doubtful + because of their low temperature. The beginning of the long drink was absolutely + delicious, so soothing and so cooling; but at the end of it was as if one had filled + one's self with insidious quick-running flame.</p> + <p>Mavis put down her empty tumbler, and looked at it reproachfully.</p> + <p>"Will, it has made me come over all funny. My head's swimming."</p> + <p>When they got back to their seats and were watching the ballet, he too felt the + consequences of guileless straw-sucking; but with him the after effects were entirely + pleasurable. He felt invigorated, peaceful, massively grand.</p> + <p>He sat placidly enjoying the beauty of the scene, the grace of the dancers, the + vibrations of the music. The stage was dark at first, and one could merely make out + <a id="Page_81" name="Page_81"></a>that it pictured a wildly-imagined grove in the + land of dreams; then it grew brighter, and one saw preposterous + giant-flowers—foxgloves so big that when they opened there was a human face in + each quivering bell. And the flowers came out of the earth and danced; children + dressed up as birds, brown boys like beetles, slim girls like butterflies, all came + dancing, dancing; with more light every moment, till the dazzle and the blaze seemed + to drive away the little people;—and then quite glorious forms appeared, + pirouetting, almost flying—pink-limbed houris, fairies, nymphs—"call 'em + what you please—a fair knock-out."</p> + <p>"It makes me go round and round," whispered Mavis.</p> + <p>He sat grave and silent—just nodding his head in approval of all he saw, not + troubling to applaud any further, impassive as some Eastern sultan for whom slaves + and courtiers had made a mask.</p> + <p>Then gradually his mind seemed half to detach itself from the thraldom of external + objects. These novel sense impressions, pouring into him, joined themselves to old + memories, and, mingling, made up a fuller stream of joy. He seemed to be able to + think of five or six things at once; but, as the undercurrent of every thought, there + was the same deep-flowing comfort, of which the source lay in his relief at the + escape from danger. Those fairies flashing about under the branches of sham trees + momentarily evoked the ancient haunting distress of his youth, and out of this + thought came the lofty conception of Mavis as his guardian angel. How persistently + the first of those fancies lingered—after so many years! Bother the fairies or + nymphs, or whatever they were. Household angels <a id="Page_82" + name="Page_82"></a>are what a man wants to bring him contentment; and keep him + straight, day by day, and week by week.</p> + <p>Before the ballet was over, he became bored with it. Too long! Enough is as good + as a feast. They were singing now as well as dancing.</p> + <p>The massive, voluminously quiescent sensation induced by the liqueurs had passed + away, and in its place came increased weariness of the spectacular entertainment. The + light, and the music, and the half-naked women, who still danced and pranced, were + affecting his nerves unpleasantly now. He looked away from the stage, and stared at + the audience. Behind him, as he knew, there were all those hussies with painted faces + offering themselves for hire. And wherever he looked, he seemed to see evidences of + amorous traffic. When you examined it attentively, the entire audience seemed to + resolve itself into an endless repetition of the same small group of two persons of + two sexes, each soliciting the other's favor; a man and a woman sitting close + together, the couple, the factorial two—everywhere, all round the circle, along + the three visible rows of stalls, and again in the private boxes. Those wealthy men + in the boxes were unquestionably accompanied by their mistresses and not by their + wives or sisters. Through the vibrating music and the super-heated atmosphere, on a + river of vivid light, they were all drifting fast toward the night of love that each + pair had arranged for itself.</p> + <p>And they too would have their night of love. He looked at his wife, and felt his + pulses stirred as much now as in the far-off days of courtship—more, because + then there was no experience of facts to strengthen his imagination. He gently + pressed her arm, and thrilled <a id="Page_83" name="Page_83"></a>at the mere contact. + She was leaning back, fanning herself with her program, and he observed the roundness + and whiteness of her neck, the flesh of her shoulder showing through the transparent + sleeve of her blouse, the moistness and warmth of her open lips.</p> + <p>Yet she had told him at Rodchurch Road Station that she was attractive only to his + eyes, and that she could never again arouse desire in other men. What utter nonsense! + She was simply adorable.<a id="Page_84" name="Page_84"></a></p> + <h2><a id="VII" name="VII"></a>VII</h2> + <p>They took a cab to drive back in, and he almost carried her up to their bedroom. + It was on the same floor as the other room, with the same marvelous bird's-eye view + of the starlit sky and the lamplit town. He had got her to himself at + last—here, high above the world, half-way to heaven. There seemed to him + something poetical, almost sublime in their situation: they two alone, isolated, + millions of people surrounding them and no living creature able to interfere with + them.</p> + <p>As he knew, they were the only lodgers on this top floor; and so one need not even + trouble to avoid making a noise. He gave full voice to his exultation.</p> + <p>"There, old lady." He had opened the window as wide as it would go, and he told + her to look out. "The air—what there is of it—will do you good."</p> + <p>"Oh, I couldn't," and she recoiled.</p> + <p>"Giddy?"</p> + <p>"<i>Giddy</i> isn't the word. Oh, Will, why did you let me drink that + stuff—after drinking the wine?"</p> + <p>"I thought you'd got a better head-piece. Look at <i>me</i>. I could 'a' stood two + or three more goes at it, and bin none the worse." And he chaffed her merrily. + "Here's a tale—if it ever leaks out Rodchurch way. Have you heard how Mrs. Dale + behaved up in London? Went to the theater, and drunk more'n was good for <a + id="Page_85" name="Page_85"></a>her. Came out fair squiffy—so's poor Mr. Dale, + he felt quite disgraced."</p> + <p>She was not intoxicated in an ugly way; her speech, her movements were unaffected, + and yet the alcohol was troubling her brain. She looked like a child who has been + overexercised at a children's party, and who comes home with eyebrows raised, eyes + glowing and yet dull, and cheeks very pale.</p> + <p>"Oh, dear, I <i>am</i> tired," and she sat down on a chair by the chest of + drawers, and slowly took off her hat.</p> + <p>But she got up again and pushed Dale away, when he offered to help her in + undressing.</p> + <p>"No, certainly not. What are you thinking of?" and she began to hum one of the + pretty airs they had heard at the theater. "But, my word, Will," and she stopped + humming, and laughed foolishly, "I shan't be sorry to get out of my things. It + <i>is</i> hot. This is the hottest night we've had."</p> + <p>"Ah, you feel it. I've got acclim'tized."</p> + <p>He undressed rapidly, and lighting the briar pipe which he had not cared to smoke + in the genteel society at the theater, he lay on the outside of the bed.</p> + <p>"Better now, old girl?"</p> + <p>"Yes. I'm all right, Will. Dear old boy—I'm all right."</p> + <p>Lying on the bed and immensely enjoying his delayed pipe, he watched her. She + wandered about the room, moved one of the two candles from the mantel-shelf to the + chest of drawers, put her blouse on the seat of a chair and her skirt across the back + of it. Then with slow graceful movements she began to uncoil her hair, and as her + smooth white arms went up and down, the candlelight sent gigantic wavering shadows + across <a id="Page_86" name="Page_86"></a>the wall-paper to the ceiling. Beneath one + of her elbows he could see right out through the open window into a dark void. From + his position on the bed nothing was visible out there, but he could fill it if he + cared to do so—the scattered dust of street lamps below and the scattered dust + of solar systems above.</p> + <p>Soon he puffed lazily, drowsily; then he nodded, and then the pipe fell from his + mouth.</p> + <p>"Hullo!" And muttering, he roused himself. "I must 'a' dropped off. Might 'a' set + the bed on fire."</p> + <p>Mavis, in her chemise and stockings now, with her hair down, was still at the + dressing-table. She did not turn when he spoke to her. While he dozed she had fetched + the other candle, and in the double light she was staring intently at the reflection + of her face in the looking-glass.</p> + <p>Dale slipped softly off the bed, moved across to the dressing-table, and with + explosive vigor clasped her in his arms.</p> + <p>"Oh, how you frightened me!" She had given a little squeal, and she tried to + release herself. "Let me go—please."</p> + <p>"Rot!" And he lifted her from the ground, and carried her across to the bed.</p> + <p>"Will—let me go. I—I'm tired;" and she began to cry. "Be kind to me, + Will." The words came in feeble entreaty, between weak sobs. "Be kind to me—my + husband—not only now—but always."</p> + <p>She sobbed and shivered; and he, holding her in his arms, soothed her with gentle + murmurs. "My pretty Mav! My poor little bird. Go to sleepy-by, then. Tuck her up, and + send her to sleep, a dear little Mav." At the touch of her coldly trembling limbs, at + the sight <a id="Page_87" name="Page_87"></a>of her tears, all the sensual desire + lessened its throb, and the purer side of his love began to subjugate him. That was + the greatest of her powers—to tame the beast in him, to lift him from the + depths to the heights, to make him feel as though he was her father instead of her + lover, because she herself was pure and good as a child. "There—there, don't + cry, my pretty Mav."</p> + <p>And she, melting beneath the gentleness and tenderness of his caresses, wept in + pity of herself. "Yes, I'm tired—dead-tired." And the tears flowed unchecked, + blotting out emotion, reason, instinct, swamping her in floods of self-pity. "Let me + sleep—and let me forget. Oh, let me forget what I've gone through these last + two days."</p> + <p>"Anyways, it's over now."</p> + <p>"Yes, it's over. Oh, thank God in Heaven, it's over and done with."</p> + <p>"Just so." And there was a change in the tone of his voice that she might have + noticed, but did not. "Just so—but you're talking rather strange, come to think + of it."</p> + <p>His arms slowly relaxed, and he let her slide out of his embrace. She sank down + wearily upon the pillow, closed her eyes, and for a little while went on talking + drowsily and inconsecutively.</p> + <p>"Shut up," he said suddenly. "Hold your tongue. I'm thinking."</p> + <p>Then almost immediately he turned, and, with his hands upon her shoulders, looked + down into her face.</p> + <p>"Why didn't you go to church yesterday?"</p> + <p>"What did you say, Will?"</p> + <p>"I said, why didn't you go to church yesterday?"</p> + <p>"Oh—I really didn't care to go."<a id="Page_88" name="Page_88"></a></p> + <p>"That wasn't like you—you so fond of the Abbey Church. Did your Aunt + go?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"You said this afternoon she didn't go."</p> + <p>"She did go. I remember now."</p> + <p>"Ah! Another thing! That actor-feller—what d'yer call 'im—him that you + counted on and didn't find—Chugwun!"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"You see the name in the paper?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"You didn't aarpen t'see it on the boards outside the theater?"</p> + <p>"No."</p> + <p>She was wide awake and quite sober now. But her limbs were trembling again, and + her eyes seemed preposterously large as they stared up at him from the white face. + "Will!" And she spoke fast and piteously; "don't look at me like this. What's come to + you? Why do you ask me such a pack of questions?" And she tried to laugh. "At such a + time of night!"</p> + <p>"Bide a bit, my lass. I'm just thinking."</p> + <p>Where had the thoughts come from?—out of blank space?—from nowhere? + Yet here they were, filling his head, multiplying, expanding, making his blood rattle + like boiling water in a tube as it rushed up to nourish their monstrous growth.</p> + <p>"Will, let go my shoulders. You hurt. Get into the bed—and be sensible. I'll + answer all questions in the morning."</p> + <p>"No, I think I'll have the answers now."</p> + <p>He went on questioning her, and his hands growing <a id="Page_89" + name="Page_89"></a>heavier crushed her shoulders so that she thought he would break + the bones and joints.</p> + <p>"What train did you come up by this morning?"</p> + <p>"The nine o'clock."</p> + <p>"What! D'you mean you went right across from North Ride to Rodchurch Road?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no. I caught it at Manninglea Cross."</p> + <p>"Did you, then? An' s'pose I was to tell you the nine o'clock don't stop at + Manninglea Cross!"</p> + <p>"Will! Loosen your hands. It does stop—it did stop there this morning."</p> + <p>"Yes, it did stop—and so it does all mornings. But a fat lot you know about + it. And for why? You weren't in it."</p> + <p>"I was—I really was. Will—don't go on so cruel."</p> + <p>"Oh, but I <i>am</i> going on." He had lowered his face close to hers, and his hot + breath beat upon her cold cheeks. "Now, give me the explanation of what you let slip + about going through so much these last two days. What was the precise sense o' + <i>that</i>?"</p> + <p>"I only meant I've been so anxious."</p> + <p>"Yes, but yer bin anxious best part o' four weeks. What was the mighty difference + in yesterday or day before?"</p> + <p>"I didn't mean any difference. I scarce knew what I was saying—or what I'm + saying now."</p> + <p>"Oh! Just a remark let fall without a scrap o' sense in it!"</p> + <p>Staring up at him, it was as if she saw the face of a stranger. His eyes were half + closed and glittering fiercely; his lips protruded as if grotesquely pouting to + express scorn, and on each side of the distended nostrils <a id="Page_90" + name="Page_90"></a>a deep vertical wrinkle showed like the blackened gash of a knife + wound.</p> + <p>"Will, dear, I meant nothing at all."</p> + <p>"You're lying."</p> + <p>Abruptly he took his hands from her shoulders, got off the bed, and went to the + chest of drawers. Her handbag was on the drawers; and when she saw him pick it up she + sprang after him, clutching at his hands and imploring.</p> + <p>"You'll find nothing there. Nothing that I can't explain;" and she made a + desperate gurgling laugh. "Why, Will, old man, it is you that's drunk, yourself, + after chaffing me? No, you shan't. No, Will, you shan't."</p> + <p>He gave her a back-hander that sent her reeling. It was the first time he had + struck her, and he delivered the blow quite automatically, the thought that she was + preventing him from opening the bag and the action that got rid of her interference + being all one process. His hand had remained open, but he swung it with unhesitating + force; and now, as he plunged it into the bag, he saw that there was blood on it.</p> + <p>Before he had extracted all the contents of the bag she was back again, once more + clinging, clutching, and impeding. He did not strike her again—merely shook her + off so violently that she fell to the floor, where she lay for a moment.</p> + <p>In the inner pockets of the bag there were three five-pound notes, together with a + tooth-brush and several small articles wrapped up in paper. These he laid on one + side, while he carefully examined all the odds and ends that had been packed loose in + the bag. Three or four pocket-handkerchiefs, a new piece of scented soap, <a + id="Page_91" name="Page_91"></a>a pair of nail-scissors—as he looked at each + innocent article, he gave a snort.</p> + <p>She had come back, but she had not risen from the ground; while he slowly pursued + his investigations she kept quite still, crouching close to his legs, silently + waiting.</p> + <p>She could not see what he was doing, but presently she knew that he had begun to + unfold the paper from the things she had hidden in the pocket.</p> + <p>"Ah," and he snorted. One of the bits of paper held hairpins; another a side-comb; + and another, a bit of trebly folded paper, proved to be an envelope—the + envelope of one of the letters that he had sent to her at North Ride Cottage. He + looked at the postmark. The postmark told him that the envelope belonged to a letter + he had written four days ago.</p> + <p>Then he found what she had put in the envelope before she folded it. It was the + return half of a railway ticket, from London to Rodchurch Road—he turned it in + his fingers and examined the date on the back of it.</p> + <p>"Last Friday, my lady. Not to-day by any means—and not Manninglea Cross. + Issued at Rodchurch Road o' Friday last—the day you come up to London."</p> + <p>"Yes, Will, I won't pretend any more."</p> + <p>She had put her arms round his legs and lifted herself to a kneeling position. "I + <i>did</i> come Friday. But don't be angry with me. Don't fly out at me, and + I—I'll explain everything."</p> + <p>"May I make so bold 's t'a' ask <i>why</i> you come, without my permission begged + for nor given?"</p> + <p>His voice was terrible to hear, so deep and yet so harsh, and vibrating with such + implacable wrath.</p> + <p>"Will, I did it for your sake. I thought if I asked <a id="Page_92" + name="Page_92"></a>permission, you'd say no. So I dared to do it myself—feeling + certain as life that you were done for if no help came—and I thought it was my + duty to bring you the help if I could."</p> + <p>"Go on. I'm listening, an' I'm thinking all the time."</p> + <p>"I thought—Auntie thought so too—she advised it—that Mr. + Barradine knowing me so long, ever since I was a girl, if I went direct to + him—"</p> + <p>"Ah!" And he made a loud guttural noise, as if on the point of choking. + "Ah—so's I supposed. Then I got a bull's-eye with my first thought to-night. So + you went to him. Where?"</p> + <p>"At his house."</p> + <p>"Yes, right into his house. By yourself?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"You didn't think to bring your aunt with you. Two was to be comp'ny at Mr. + Barradine's. So in you go—alone—without my leave—behind my + back."</p> + <p>"Will—remember yourself, my dear one. You won't blame, you can't blame me. + But for him, you were done for. All could see it, except you. I asked for his help, + and I got it."</p> + <p>"But your next move! We're talking about Friday, aren't we? Well, after you'd bin + to Mr. Barradine, what next?"</p> + <p>"Then I hoped he'd help us."</p> + <p>"Yes, but Friday, Saturday, Sunday? Had yer forgotten my address—or didn' + 'aarpen to remember that <i>I</i> was in London, too?"</p> + <p>"I was afraid of your being angry. I thought I'd better wait."</p> + <p>"<i>Where</i>?"<a id="Page_93" name="Page_93"></a></p> + <p>She looked up at him, but did not answer.</p> + <p>"You've played me false. You've sold yourself to that fornicating old devil. + You—"</p> + <p>And with a roar he burst into imprecations, blasphemies and obscenities. It was + the string of foul words that, under a sufficient impetus, infallibly comes rolling + from the peasant's tongue—an explosion as natural as when a thunderbolt + scatters a muck-heap at the roadside.</p> + <p>Then, snarling and growling like an animal, he stooped and cuffed her.</p> + <p>"Will!" "Will!" She repeated his name between the blows. She did not utter a word + of complaint, or make an effort to escape. Brave and unflinching, though almost + stunned, she raised her white blood-stained face for him to strike again each time + that he buffed it from him. "Will!" "Will!"</p> + <p>But her courage and submissiveness were driving him mad, had changed suspicion to + certainty. Only guilt could make her take her punishment this way. Nevertheless she + must confess the guilt herself. Even in his fury, he remembered to hold his hand open + and not clench it—like a cruelly strong animal, tormenting its prey before + killing, careful to keep it alive.</p> + <p>"Answer me. Go on with your tale."</p> + <p>"Then stop beating me, and I'll tell you."</p> + <p>He stayed his hand, poised it, and she seized it and clung to it.</p> + <p>"Will—as God sees me—I did it for your sake—only to help you. I + couldn't get the help unless I sacrificed myself to save you."</p> + <p>Wrenching his hand away he knocked her to the ground, and she lay face downward. + But this blow <a id="Page_94" name="Page_94"></a>was nothing, purely automatic, like + his first blow, not bringing with it that faint sense of something refreshing, the + momentary appeasement of his agony. For in truth the torture that he himself suffered + was almost unendurable. Yet up to now his pain, though so tremendous, was + unlocalized; it came from a fusion of all his thoughts, and perhaps each separate + thought, when it became clear, would bring more pain than all the thoughts + together.</p> + <p>The world had tumbled about his ears; his glorious life had shriveled to nothing; + his pride was gone, his love was gone, his trust in man and his belief in man's + creator; and for a few moments one thought grew a little clearer than the rest. The + end of all this must be death—nothing less. He was really dead already, and he + would not pretend to go on living. He would finish her, and then finish himself.</p> + <p>Turning his head, he looked at the window; and the open space out there seemed to + whisper to him, to beg to him, and to command him. Yes, that way would be as good as + another—strangle her, pitch her out, and jump out after her.</p> + <p>"Will!" She had once more scrambled to her knees. "I've loved you faithfully. I've + never loved any one but you."</p> + <p>He did not hit her. Grasping the arm that she was stretching toward him, he + dragged her upward, seized her round the body, and carried her to the bed.</p> + <p>"Now we'll go to work, you and I." He had thrown her down on her back, and he held + her with both his hands about her throat. "Now"—and the sudden pressure of his + hands made her gasp and cough—"we'll begin at the beginning."<a id="Page_95" + name="Page_95"></a></p> + <p>"Do you mean to murder me?"</p> + <p>"Prob'ly. But not till I've 'ad the truth—and I'll 'aarve it to the last + word, if I tear it out o' yer boosum."</p> + <p>"You'll kill me if I tell you."</p> + <p>"See that winder! That's yer road—head first—if you try to lie to + me."</p> + <p>Then she told him the whole sickening story of her relations with Mr. Barradine. + He had debauched her innocence when she was quite a young girl; she had continued to + be one of his many mistresses for several years; then he grew tired of her, and, his + attentions gradually ceasing, he had left her quite free to do what she pleased. She + had never liked him, had always feared him. The long intermittent thraldom to his + power had been an abomination to her, and it was martyrdom to return to him.</p> + <p>"Only to save you, Will. And he wouldn't help unless I done it. It was as much a + sacrifice for you as if I'd been hung, drawn, and quartered for your sake."</p> + <p>"And why did you sacrifice yourself in the beginning, before ever you'd seen my + face?"</p> + <p>"Auntie made me. It was Auntie's fault, not mine. I told her I was afraid of + him."</p> + <p>"Your aunt had been that gait with him herself, in her time?"</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't know."</p> + <p>"Yes, I twigged that—and then the mealy-mouthed, filthy hag came over me. I + on'y guessed, but <i>you</i> knew. Answer me;" and his grip tightened on her throat, + and he shook her. "Answer."</p> + <p>"Oh, I suppose so."<a id="Page_96" name="Page_96"></a></p> + <p>"And that cousin—the one he paid for in foreign parts?"</p> + <p>"I suppose so."</p> + <p>"Those rooms at the Cottage. They were furnished and set out for you and him to + take your pleasure."</p> + <p>"He used them for other women—once or twice."</p> + <p>"What other women?"</p> + <p>"Girls from London."</p> + <p>As he questioned her and listened to her answers his passion took a rhythm, upward + and downward, from blind wrath to black sorrow; and it seemed that the points reached + by the rising curves were becoming less high, while the descending curves went lower + and lower, through sorrow into shame, and still down, to fathomless depths of + despair. He had heard all that it was necessary to hear. His life that he had thought + marvelous and splendid was ridiculous and pitiful; what he had fancied to be success + was failure; all that he had been proud of as being gained by his own merit had been + brought to him by his wife's disgrace. What more could he learn?</p> + <p>Yet he went on questioning her.</p> + <p>She swore that she had loved him, that she had quite done with the other when she + married him, had been true to him in thought and deed ever since their marriage. But + she had been tempted two or three times, through her aunt. Mr. Barradine had desired + that she should understand with what affection he always regarded her, and he invited + her to meet him; and it was the knowledge that he had come to covet her again that + made her sure she could get him to do anything for her. At the same time the + knowledge terrified her; and when Dale's trouble began, and <a id="Page_97" + name="Page_97"></a>things with him seemed to be going from bad to worse, she felt as + if a sort of waking nightmare was drawing nearer and nearer.</p> + <p>She wrote to Mr. Barradine, simply asking him to exert this influence on behalf of + her husband; and the reply—the letter that she tore up—was in these + words: "I will do what I can; but why don't you come and ask me yourself?" Of course + she knew what that meant.</p> + <p>It was at the railway station, when bidding Dale good-by, that she made up her + mind to save him at all costs. When he refused to act on Ridgett's advice, when he + showed himself so firm, so unyielding, she knew that he was a man going to his doom, + unless she could avert the doom.</p> + <p>"And, Will—believe it or not—no woman ever loved a husband truer than + I loved you at that moment. To see you there so brave and strong and good—and + yet certain sure to ruin yourself! Well, I couldn't bear it. And if it was to do + again, I'd do it."</p> + <p>Slowly he withdrew his hands from her throat, and clasped them together with all + his strength. Turning for a moment, he glanced at the open window. The space seemed + to have contracted and darkened, so that it looked black and small as a square grave + cut out for a child. But if not by the window, what other end to it all would he + find? He could not go on like this—with a to-morrow and a day after, and weeks + and months to follow.</p> + <p>He turned, and in speaking to her, unconsciously used her name.</p> + <p>"Could you think, Mavis, I cared for my job better'n my honor?"<a id="Page_98" + name="Page_98"></a></p> + <p>"I thought you'd never know. And I loved you, Will—only you—no one + else."</p> + <p>He scarcely seemed to listen to the answer. He turned from her again; and went on + talking, as if to himself or the far-off stars, or the invisible powers that mold + men's destinies.</p> + <p>"'Aardn't I my fingers and brains—to work for you? Would I care—so's + you could be what I thought you were—whether I broke my back or burst my heart + in working for you? Besides, t'wouldn't 'a' bin that. What was it but the loss of the + office—a step back that I'd soon 'a' recovered."</p> + <p>He groaned; then suddenly he unclasped his hands and brandished them. The rhythmic + beat of his rage came strong and high, and with savage energy he seized her + again.</p> + <p>"It's half lies still. The money? How does that match? He gave it to you. Deny it + if you dare."</p> + <p>"Yes, I tried not to take it. He forced it on me."</p> + <p>"Lies! It was the bit for yourself when you drove your bargain—nothing to do + with me—you—you. The price of your two or three nights of love."</p> + <p>"No, I swear. He forced the money as a present. The price he paid was his help to + you. As God hears me, that's the truth."</p> + <p>Then, answering more and more questions, she resumed her story.</p> + <p>After Dale's departure she went over to North Ride, thinking that Mr. Barradine + was at the Abbey, and that he would come to her at the Cottage. She sent a letter + inviting him to do so. There was no answer for four days. Then Mr. Barradine wrote to + her from London; and she went up on Friday afternoon, and <a id="Page_99" + name="Page_99"></a>saw him at Grosvenor Place. "He said he'd engaged rooms for me at + an hotel, and I was to go there; and I went there."</p> + <p>"What hotel?"</p> + <p>"The Sunderland Hotel—Alderney Street."</p> + <p>"Go on."</p> + <p>"I waited in the rooms."</p> + <p>"Rooms! You mean one room, you slut!"</p> + <p>"No, there were four rooms—a grand suite."</p> + <p>"Go on."</p> + <p>"He said he would come to me next day, or Sunday at latest. And he didn't come on + Saturday—I stopped indoors all day, afraid to go out for fear of meeting + you—and he didn't come till Sunday, after lunch."</p> + <p>"Ah! How long did he stay?"</p> + <p>"Till early this morning. Will, let me be—I'm done. You're throttling + me."</p> + <p>"Go on. I'll 'aarve it all out of you. Begin at the beginning. It's Sunday + afternoon we're talking of—ever since lunch time. There's a many hours to amuse + yourselves."</p> + <p>"After dinner he made me dress up."</p> + <p>"What d'you mean?"</p> + <p>"He had brought things in his luggage—fancy dress."</p> + <p>"What dresses?"</p> + <p>"Oh, boy's things—things he'd bought in Turkey, on his travels. He made me + act that I was his page—and bring the coffee, and sit cross-legged on the + ground."</p> + <p>"Go on."</p> + <p>"No—what's the use?" She was crying now. "Oh, God have mercy, what's the + use?"<a id="Page_100" name="Page_100"></a></p> + <p>"Go on."</p> + <p>"No. Kill me, if you want to, and be done with it. I don't care—I'm tired + out. What I've gone through was worse than death. I'm not afraid of dying."</p> + <p>She would tell him no more; she defied him; and yet he did not kill her. She lay + weeping, moaning, at intervals, repeating that desolate phrase, "What's the use? Oh, + what's the use?"</p> + <p>Irremediable loss—it sounded in her voice, it crept coldly in his burning + veins, it came spreading, flooding, filling the whole earth in the first faint + glimmer of dawn. He sat on the edge of the bed, let his hands fall heavy and inert + between his knees, and for a long time did not change his attitude.</p> + <p>Just now, looking down at her, he had felt a sickness of loathing. He hated her + for the musical note of her voice, the tragic eloquence of her eyes, and above all he + hated her for her nakedness. The almost nude sprawling form seemed to symbolize the + unspeakable shame of his sex. This was the disgusting female, round and smooth, white + and weak, with tumbling hair and lying lips, the lewd parasite that can drag the + noble male down into hell-fire. Now he looked at her with comparative indifference, + and felt even pity for the broken and soiled thing that he had believed to be clean + and sound.</p> + <p>The fusion of his thoughts was over. One thought had split away from all the rest, + and every moment was becoming more definite, more logical, more full of excruciating + pain. He thought now only of his enemy, of the human fiend who had destroyed Mavis + and himself.</p> + <p>At least she had been innocent once. She was clean <a id="Page_101" + name="Page_101"></a>and good—really and truly the candid child that she had + never ceased to seem to be—when that sliming, crawling reptile first got his + coils about her. As he thought of the maddening reality, his imagination made + pictures that printed themselves, deep and indelible, on the soft recording surfaces + of his brain. Henceforth, so long as blood pumped, nerves worked, and cells and + fibers held to their shape, he would see these pictures—must see them each time + that chance stirred his memory of the facts for which they stood as emblems.</p> + <p>And with his rage against the man came more and more detestation of the crime + itself. At the very beginning it had no possible excuse in honest love. There was + nothing belonging to it of nature's grand instinct. It had not the inexorable + brutality of primitive passion. Here was an old, or an elderly man, not driven by the + force of normal, full-blooded desire, but craftily plotting, treacherously abusing + his power, because he was rotten with impure whims—befouling youth and + innocence just to obtain a few faint voluptuous thrills.</p> + <p>Then the brain-pictures flashed out with torturing clearness, and Dale saw the + criminal renewing the outrage after long years. He was quite old, shaky, infirm, and + yet strong enough to consummate the final act of his infinite wickedness. And Dale + saw those yellow-white hands, with their nauseating blotches, their glistening blue + knobs, and their jeweled rings, as they took possession again of the victim to whom + they had once given freedom.</p> + <p>Daylight was coming fast; the flame of the candles had turned so pale that one + could scarcely see it. Dale got off the bed heavily and clumsily, blew out one of <a + id="Page_102" name="Page_102"></a>the candles and carried the other to the fireplace. + There he lighted the corners of the three bank-notes and watched them burning in the + empty grate till nothing was left of them but black and gray powder. Then he put on + his hat and moved to the door.</p> + <p>"What are you going to do?"</p> + <p>"I don't know."</p> + <p>Blindly raging, he passed through the silent, deserted streets, and presently + blundered into Regent's Park. It was all exquisitely pretty in the pure morning + light, with dew-wet grass, feathery branches of trees, and the water of a river or + lake flashing and sparkling; and as he stared stupidly about him, he thought for a + moment that he was experiencing an illusion of the senses. Or was he a boy again safe + in his forest? This sort of thing belonged to the happy past, and could have no + proper place in the abominable present.</p> + <p>He crossed a low rail, walked on a little way toward the water, and then threw + himself face downward on the grass. He knew where he was now—in the present + time, in a public pleasure-ground. London stretched about the park, and beyond that + there was the vast round globe; beyond that again there was the universe; and it + seemed to him that, big as it all was, it was not big enough to hold one other man + and himself.</p> + <p>When, four or five hours later, he came back to the lodging-house he found his + wife dressed and sitting by the bedroom table. She had contrived to wash away nearly + all the marks of violence: one noticed only the swollen aspect of the whole face, an + inflamed eyebrow, and a cut lip. She looked up meekly and fondly as a thrashed + dog.</p> + <p>"Will, have you decided what you will do?"<a id="Page_103" + name="Page_103"></a></p> + <p>"No."</p> + <p>Then, while getting together his things and beginning to pack, he told her that he + would take his fortnight's leave, as arranged, and carefully consider matters. "And + then, at the end of the fortnight, if I'm above ground by that time, I'll let you + know what I've decided."</p> + <p>But, on hearing this, she flopped from the chair to her knees, and clung round him + just as she had clung when he was first questioning her.</p> + <p>"Will, don't be mad and wicked, and go and take your life."</p> + <p>"Why not? D'you think there's vaarlue in it to me now?"</p> + <p>He spoke quite quietly, but he looked gray, haggard, terrible, his clothes all + stained and dirty from his open-air bed.</p> + <p>"Will, for mercy's sake—"</p> + <p>He shook her off, and began to count his money.</p> + <p>"I must keep this," he said. "I'll pay it back later to the right + quarter—along with the equivalent of what I burnt."</p> + <p>When he had finished packing he told her that he would settle with the + lodging-house keeper, and he gave her a few shillings.</p> + <p>"That's enough to get you home with."</p> + <p>Then he picked up his bag and went out.<a id="Page_104" name="Page_104"></a></p> + <h2><a id="VIII" name="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + <p>Mavis had bought a cheap blue veil to protect her face, and being, moreover, + fortunate enough to find an empty compartment in the through coach to Rodchurch Road, + she did not suffer during the journey from too curious observation of strangers. She + was going home, exactly as if nothing had happened. Her husband had said that she was + to go, and what else could she do but obey him?</p> + <p>When the station omnibus pulled up outside the post office, Mr. Ridgett caught + sight of her, and gallantly came to assist her in alighting. Evidently he noticed + nothing strange about her appearance. She at once announced the good news that Dale + had not only been reinstated, but given a couple of weeks' holiday; and Ridgett, + genuinely delighted, squeezed both her hands.</p> + <p>"That's something like. Here, let me carry this upstairs for you."</p> + <p>"No, thank you, please don't trouble. I can manage."</p> + <p>Mr. Allen, the saddler, had come across from his shop, and she told him the good + news too. Mr. Allen hurried down the street to tell others. Soon the whole village + knew that Mr. Dale had triumphed, and that the Postmaster-General was granting him + leave of absence as a special mark of favor.</p> + <p>Mary clapped her hands on hearing the good news, and was rapturously pleased at + seeing her mistress <a id="Page_105" name="Page_105"></a>home again; but she + immediately required explanations.</p> + <p>"Oh, lor, mum, whatever have you done to yourself?"</p> + <p>"I have had an accident," said Mrs. Dale. "I fell down—and it has given me a + bad headache. I don't want any tea. I shall go to bed early, and try to get a good + sleep."</p> + <p>And in truth, she was longing to sleep. After the terrible ordeal of yesterday + sleep seemed to be the one good thing left in the world for her. But, notwithstanding + supreme fatigue, sleep would not come.</p> + <p>Throughout that first night, and again on succeeding nights, she struggled beneath + a suffocating burden of anxiety. In the daylight she had been able to think of + herself, but in the darkness she could think only of her husband. She was haunted by + the expression of his face, by the tone of his voice, when he had asked her if she + supposed that existence was any longer valuable to him, and the sudden instinctive + apprehension that she had felt then now grew so strong that she fought against it + vainly.</p> + <p>He intended to commit suicide. At first she had thought of all those London + bridges, with the dark rivers swirling through their arches and eddying round their + piers; then she became sure that he would not drown himself. He was a vigorous + swimmer—such a death would be impossible to him. No, he would poison himself, + or shoot himself, or hang himself. Perhaps even now it was all over.</p> + <p>In his presence it had seemed impossible to disobey him. Whatever he commanded she + must do. But what pitiful weakness! Why, with instinct prompting <a id="Page_106" + name="Page_106"></a>her, had she not resisted him, refused to let him leave her, + stayed with him in spite of blows, and been there to snatch the cup or the rope from + his hands, to thrust herself between the pistol and his body?</p> + <p>By day she recognized that her anxiety was unreasoning, based on her own emotions, + or at least not logically derived from her knowledge of his character. Of course he + had taken the discovery of her secret far worse than she had ever conceived as + possible, when timorously thinking of untoward hazards that one day or another might + lead to disclosure. But, even then, fully allowing for the effect of his extreme + excitement, would he, so brave and self-reliant a creature, be guilty of an act that + is in its essence cowardly?</p> + <p>She thought of his courage. He was as brave a man as ever breathed, and yet you + could not describe him as reckless or foolhardy. He was wise enough to be chary of + exposing himself to useless risks. So much so that he had more than once surprised + her by keeping quite calm when she had expected and dreaded perilous energy. + Especially she remembered a day out on the Manninglea road when a runaway horse with + an empty cart came galloping toward them, and Dale, instead of attempting to stop it, + put his arm round her waist and hastily drew her well out of the way. In another + hundred yards the runaway went crashing off the road, fell, and smashed the cart into + smithereens.</p> + <p>"Tally-ho! Gone to ground," cried Dale cheerily. "There's a nice little bill for + Mr. Baker to pay." And then he told her that one of the most dangerous things a + pedestrian can do is to interfere with a bolting horse when there's a vehicle behind + it. "Mind you," he added, "I'd have had a try at bringing it to anchor if <a + id="Page_107" name="Page_107"></a>there'd been anybody in the cart. That would have + been another pair of shoes. What you're justified in doing for a fellow human being + you aren't justified in doing to save a few pounds, shillings and pence."</p> + <p>She clung to this thought of his innate common sense. And there was comfort and + hope, too, in another thought. He was a naturally religious man, if not an orthodoxly + religious one. The church service bored him; he only attended it from motives of + policy; but, nevertheless, when you got him inside the sacred edifice, his behavior + was perfect, and you could not watch him on his knees or hear him say "Christ have + mercy upon us, O Lord Christ have mercy on us," without being convinced that he did + truly believe in an omnipotent God and the punishments or rewards that await us on + the other side of the grave. Surely the man who bowed his head like that at the name + of Jesus would not, could not, be the man to take his own life merely because it had + become an unhappy life.</p> + <p>The hope that lay in such thoughts as these helped her to support the strain of + three long waiting days and four long sleepless nights. Then on the fourth day, + Saturday, the strain was relieved.</p> + <p>"Mrs. Dale," said Ridgett, speaking to her from the bottom of the stairs, "would + you be disposed for a little stroll before tea?"</p> + <p>"No, thank you, Mr. Ridgett."</p> + <p>"Have pity on a lonely stranger, and change your mind," said Mr. Ridgett, smiling + up at her.</p> + <p>"No, really not—but thank you for offering it."</p> + <p>"You know, it isn't right the way you shut yourself up this lovely weather."<a + id="Page_108" name="Page_108"></a></p> + <p>"I—I have not been feeling quite myself, Mr. Ridgett."</p> + <p>"No, so your maid told me. But, still, I am afraid it's the way to make yourself + worse, never going out of doors;" and Mr. Ridgett laughed amiably. "I won't press + you—that is, I won't press you to honor me with your company; but I do + respectfully press my advice to get out a bit. You know I feel a responsibility to + look after you in the absence of your lord and master."</p> + <p>"Thank you."</p> + <p>"By the way, I had a note from him this morning."</p> + <p>"From Mr. Dale?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"Oh, had you? Where—" Mavis gripped the baluster rail so tightly that the + slender wooden uprights rattled. She had nearly asked a question which would have + betrayed the fact that she did not know her husband's address. "Did he write from his + lodgings?"</p> + <p>"No, he wrote from a public library. Lambeth—yes, the Lambeth Library."</p> + <p>"What did he say?"</p> + <p>"Only confirmed your report that he wouldn't be back till the twenty-eighth." Mr. + Ridgett laughed again. "And told me that the clocks ought to be wound up Thursday, + and he hoped we hadn't let them run down. We hadn't, you know."</p> + <p>Mavis was inexpressibly relieved; and yet that night she did not sleep any better + than on the preceding nights. The worst anxiety had gone, but so much that was + distressing in her situation remained. Since Will was alive now, he would continue to + live. And that little circumstance of his remembering about the <a id="Page_109" + name="Page_109"></a>clocks was full of promise—that is, promise concerning + himself. It implied that he meant to go on much as usual. He would come back, and be + postmaster as in the past. But what would he do with her?</p> + <p>Would he go for a divorce? Publish her shame? Perhaps, even if he were willing to + spare her, he would not forego the chance of dragging down Mr. Barradine. Feeling as + strongly as he did—and since the world began, surely no one in such + circumstances had ever felt quite so strongly—he would seize upon the overthrow + of Mr. Barradine's reputation as the obvious means of obtaining his own revenge. Then + she thought of what such a scandal would mean to a gentleman of Mr. Barradine's state + and status. Mr. Barradine would move heaven and earth to avert it. He might even get + Will spirited away, never to be found again! One was always reading in the newspaper + of mysterious, inexplicable disappearances. New fears almost as bad as the old fear + began to shake her again.</p> + <p>Of this there could be no question. Mr. Barradine would pay a very large sum of + money to avoid the threatened disgrace. And—in the midst of her acute + apprehension and distress—the plain matter-of-fact idea presented itself: that + if Dale were not rendered irresponsible by jealous ire, one might hope that he would + eventually fall in with Mr. Barradine's views—that he ought, for everybody's + sake, to take his damages, more damages than he would ever get in a court of law, and + then let bygones be bygones.</p> + <p>While dressing of a morning she used to examine the bruises on her neck, her arms, + and her legs. After passing through the stage of blackness and purpleness, <a + id="Page_110" name="Page_110"></a>their discoloration had spread out into faint + violet and yellow; now already this was beginning to fade; and it seemed that as the + ugly marks of his hands disappeared from her skin, the memory of all the causes that + had brought them there began itself to weaken. Certainly the despairing anguish that + she had felt, the submission to his unpardoning wrath, the tacit agreement that the + discovery gave him license to do anything he liked with her, not only then but + throughout the future—all this pertained to a state of mind which could be + coldly recollected, but which could not be warmly revived.</p> + <p>How he had knocked her about! Standing before the toilet-glass and looking at her + bruises musingly, she tried to remember in what part of the room, and at which period + of the long volcanic discussion, each one had been received. All the neck marks could + be accounted for on the bed, when he was holding her down and shaking her; that graze + above the knee, outside the right thigh had come when she rolled over by the chest of + drawers. Raising her eyes in order to see if the lip and eyebrow continued to mend + satisfactorily, she was surprised by the general expression of her face. Positively + she was smiling. The smile vanished at once, but it had been there—a gentle, + melancholy, yet proud little smile. And reflecting, she understood that deep in her + thoughts there was truly pride whenever she dwelt upon her husband's violence. It did + prove so conclusively how immense was his love.</p> + <p>Jealousy is of course the inevitable accompaniment of love; and while it is active + everything else is pushed aside, postponed, or forgotten. And she smiled again, as + she thought what queer creatures men are, how extravagantly <a id="Page_111" + name="Page_111"></a>different from women. She had never understood them, and possibly + never would do so. For instance, how strange that old Will should not for a moment + have been softened by a recognition of her success in extricating him from his + difficulty! One might have expected that gratitude would almost counterbalance anger. + But, no, not for a fraction of a second could he think that, although what she had + done might be wrong, it had been done with the most unselfish intention and had + proved very efficacious.</p> + <p>Then, not in the least expecting that she was about to cry, she burst into + tears.</p> + <p>She had remembered his voice and his look when he said something about honor and + dishonor, and about working for her till he dropped. Noble and splendid love had + spoken in that—such love as few women are lucky enough to get. Oh, surely if he + loved her like that, he could not leave off loving her altogether, and never, never, + want his Mav again.</p> + <p>Sadness and desolation overcame her. She was alone in their dear, dear home, + disgraced, abandoned, heart-broken; and her thoughts for a little while were all + prayers. With each one of them she prayed her husband to go on loving her; to come + back and bruise her limbs, to punish her with fierce glances and cutting words, to + subject her to systematic penitential discipline, if only at the end of it all she + might have his love again.</p> + <p>She sat crying most bitterly; and then, when at last she dried her eyes, and went + down-stairs to gratify Mary by pretending to eat some breakfast, a supremely + commonplace and yet poignantly sad reflection brought another flood of tears. What + wretched little chances <a id="Page_112" name="Page_112"></a>can produce the most + tragically terrific upheavals! Had she not bought a return railway ticket, the whole + disaster might have been averted. But for that horrible square inch of pink + cardboard, all would have been well, her ordeal would not have been suffered in vain. + The wickedly strong intoxicant had of course begun the mischief by making her blurt + out those imbecile words that first set Will on the rampage; but it was the knowledge + of the telltale ticket, close at hand, unguarded, certain to be found if looked for, + that had unnerved her so completely. Otherwise, as she now believed, she could have + held her own under his rapid fire of questions. She could have laughed off his + accusations as absurd—or, at the worst, she could have gained time to think of + plausible explanations. But the ticket simply paralyzed her.</p> + <p>And she had known that she was running a risk when she made up her mind to keep + it. She bought it without any thought at all—a stupid thing to do, considering + that the cost was the same as two single fares. Not so stupid, however, as the + thrifty idea that if she and Will traveled home in different trains, she might after + all use her return half. Oh, fatal economy! In scheming to avoid the loss of five + shillings she had wrecked all her peace and comfort.</p> + <p>On this Sunday she would have liked to go to church, but a dread of loquacious and + inquisitive neighbors kept her a prisoner in the house.</p> + <p>On Monday morning she almost determined to go out for a walk but her courage again + failed her. Until noon the village street was dull and lifeless, with only one or two + people visible at a time, and yet she dared not go down and walk through it. Were she + to show <a id="Page_113" name="Page_113"></a>herself, all the idle shopkeepers would + issue from their shops, to congratulate her on the postmaster's victory, to inquire + where he was spending his holiday and why she hadn't gone for the holiday with + him.</p> + <p>Nearly all day she sat by the window of the front room, staring at the trite and + familiar scene, and encouraging her thoughts to wander away from her misery whenever + they would consent to do so. A butcher's boy leaned his bicycle against the curbstone + in so careless a fashion that it immediately fell down; Mr. Bates the corn merchant + passed by with an empty wagon; then Mr. Norton the vicar appeared, going from house + to house, distributing handbills of special services. And she wondered if he and his + wife had ever had a hidden domestic storm in their outwardly tranquil existence. Mrs. + Norton must have been quite pretty once, and perhaps at that period she caused Mr. + Norton anxieties. But if she had ever needed forgiveness for some indiscretion or + other, she had obviously obtained it; and again the thought came strong and clear + that people who hold conspicuous positions—such as vicars, tax-collectors, + postmasters, and so on—owe a duty to the world as well as to themselves. They + must hush things up, and preserve appearances: they can not wash their dirty linen in + public.</p> + <p>After twelve o'clock there was much more to look at. The children came shouting + out of school, laborers passed to and fro on their way to dinner, and with horns + loudly blowing, three heavily-laden chars-a-bancs arrived one after another from + Rodhaven. The tourists filled the street, and for about two hours the aspect of + things was lively and bustling. Then the horns sounded again, the huge vehicles + lumbered <a id="Page_114" name="Page_114"></a>away, and the whole village relapsed + into drowsiness and inertia. Literally nothing to look at now.</p> + <p>But before tea time that afternoon she saw something in the street that held her + breathlessly attentive as long as it remained there. It was Mr. Barradine, riding + slowly toward her between the churchyard and the Roebuck stables. She shrank back + behind the muslin curtain of her window, and, watching him, passed through an + extraordinarily rapid sequence of emotions.</p> + <p>The horse was a chestnut, and it stepped lightly and springily. As she thought of + how and when she had last seen its rider, she felt a sensation that was like + helplessness, shame, and fear all mingled. It was as though her whole body, muscles, + flesh and nerves, quailed and grew weak at the mere sight of him; as though inherited + instincts were controlling her, and would always control her whenever she was in his + presence; as though she the descendant of serfs must infallibly submit to the + descendant of lords—must forever fear the man who had been her master even when + he was her lover. Rationally she hated him for the harm that he had done her, but + instinctively she feared him for the further harm that he might yet have power to + do.</p> + <p>And together with the hatred and the fear, there was a pitiful sneaking + admiration. He looked so grand and unruffled—so old, and yet sitting the + skittish, high-mettled horse so firmly; so feeble, and yet full of such an absolute + confidence in his power to rule and subordinate, accustomed for forty years to the + unfailing subjection of such things as servants, horses, and women. Her heart bumped + against her stays, and her <a id="Page_115" name="Page_115"></a>face became red and + then white, when she thought that he intended to stop at the post office and ask for + her. But he rode on—gave one glance up toward the windows from which she shrank + still further, and rode by, right down the street, with the horse swishing its long + tail and seeming to dance in a light amble.</p> + <p>Then, as soon as he disappeared, the spell was broken.</p> + <p>In all that she had confessed to her husband she had been sincere; but hers was a + simple and easy going nature, and exaltation could not be long sustained. After + excitement she returned rapidly to a passive and unimaginative level; and now, + quietly brooding, she could not do otherwise than justify herself for all that had + happened.</p> + <p>At the end of everything she felt a deep-seated conviction that she was in truth + blameless. She was not a bad woman. Therefore it would be wicked to treat her as a + sinner and an outcast. Sinners did wrong because they enjoyed the sin; but she had + never been vicious, or even selfishly anxious for pleasure. Pleasure! She had never + cared for that sort of thing. Girls of her own age used to talk to her about it, and + what they said was almost incomprehensible. She had never had such feelings, however + faintly.</p> + <p>No, her only fault had been in giving way to the people who had charge of her, and + who were too strong to be resisted. Just at first she had been flattered and pleased + when Mr. Barradine had begun to take notice of her—patting her, and holding her + hand, and saying he admired her hair; but she had not in the least known where all + this was leading. What she told Will was substantially correct as to the + beginning—but <a id="Page_116" name="Page_116"></a>of course her eyes had been + opened before anything definite occurred. Then she had told Auntie that she was + afraid; and then it was that Auntie ought to have saved her, and didn't. Far from it. + Auntie, who in early days had been severe enough, now became all smiles, treating her + deferentially, saying: "If you play your cards properly you'll set us all up as large + as towers. Don't lose your head. For goodness' sake, don't be wild and foolish, and + go offending him so that instead of coming back again he'll look elsewhere."</p> + <p>Then later, when she had, as it were, sacrificed herself on the family altar, she + was indignant at finding that he had nevertheless looked elsewhere. There were + others—and she said she would never forgive him. Yet she did forgive him. + Finally, there came the outrage of his stopping at the Cottage with somebody else. + Her aunt had sent her out of the way, but she heard of it; and this time she + determined to be done with Mr. Barradine. And yet again she forgave him.</p> + <p>Then she discovered, without any explanations, that <i>he</i> had done with her. + He was paternal and kind, but she had become just nobody; and her aunt was very + angry, saying that she had played her cards badly instead of well. That was about the + time that Dale had been two years at Portsmouth. She liked Dale from the first + because he was honest and good, and because he seemed to offer her an escape from an + extremely difficult position. But if she had been a nasty girl, she would not have + made such a marriage; instead of being anxious to secure respectability, however + humble, she would have followed Auntie's suggestions and looked out for another + protector instead of for a husband. And she had wanted to tell Dale <a id="Page_117" + name="Page_117"></a>the whole truth; but there again she had been overruled. Auntie + forbade her to utter a whisper or hint of it; she said that Mr. Barradine would never + pardon such a betrayal of his confidence, whereas if a properly discreet silence were + preserved he would give the bride a suitable wedding present, as well as push the + fortunes of the bridegroom. "Besides," said Aunt Petherick, "a nice hash you'll make + of it if you go and label yourself damaged goods before you're fairly started. Why, + it would be just giving Dale the whip-hand over you for the rest of your days." + Looking back at it all, Mavis felt that this argument was irrefutable.</p> + <p>After marriage she began to love Will most truly and devotedly—but not for + his embraces, which did not even stir her pulses, which only made her tenderly happy + that she could make him happy. Now after eleven years her feeling toward him was all + unselfish and beautiful, a gentle and deep affection, without a taint of anything + that one would not call really <i>lady-like</i>. The passion and boisterousness were + all on his side.</p> + <p>And thinking of things that she had never told Will, she wondered if this calmness + of temperament, or perhaps unusual failure in response, was but another fatal + consequence of the Barradine slavery. If so, what cause she had to hate and curse + him! The episode with him was simply an irksomeness: it had frozen her instead of + warming her, checked her expansion, and perhaps, breaking the cycle of normal + development, made her imperfect as a woman.</p> + <p>Perhaps this was the real reason why she had remained childless. She represented + completed womanhood <a id="Page_118" name="Page_118"></a>in this respect at least, + that she desired to be a mother. The possession of children was the one thing that + made her envious of other women. The idea of having a child of her own made her + almost faint with longing—a baby to nurse, a little burden to wheel about in a + perambulator, a companion to prattle to her all day while Will was busy down-stairs. + If the hope of such joy had been taken from her by Mr. Barradine, oh, how + immeasureably great was her cause for hatred!</p> + <p>She sat staring at the distant point where he and his horse had just now vanished, + and for a little while her thoughts were like curses. Any attributes of grandeur were + transitory illusions; he was wholly mean and base: he was the embodied principle of + evil that had spoiled the past and that still threatened the future. She wished that + he might eventually suffer as much as he had made her suffer. She wished that he + might be racked with rheumatism, burned up with gout, tortured with every conceivable + painful disease. She wished him dead and crumbling to dust in his coffin.</p> + <p>After tea she came back to the window and stayed there till nightfall.</p> + <p>Little by little the street became dim and vague. Two or three futile oil lamps + were lighted, and the shop fronts shone brightly, but all the rest grew dark, like a + river or a canal instead of a street. One heard voices, and then people showed + themselves momentarily as they passed through the lamplight.</p> + <p>While she watched them passing, her thoughts drifted into generalized sadness.</p> + <p>The shutters went up at the saddler's, and she saw Mr. Allen for a moment—a + long, thin man, looking too tall for the frame of the lamplit doorway. Mr. Allen <a + id="Page_119" name="Page_119"></a>used to have a fine business but he was spoiling it + by his folly. It had been his custom to go to neighboring meets of hounds and ask the + young gentlemen if the saddles he had made for them were satisfactory, insinuate his + fingers between saddle-tree and hunter's withers to see if there was plenty of room, + and generally render himself obsequiously agreeable. That was good for trade. But + then the hunting gradually fascinated him, and he followed on foot throughout the + season, halloaing hounds to wrong foxes, standing on banks and frightening horses, + being a nuisance to the gentlemen, and coming home to boast that although he was + fifty he had walked twenty-seven miles in the day. And his trade was all going or + gone, and he not seeming to care. His wife let lodgings to make up a bit. Very + sad.</p> + <p>Candle-light showed in a window of the house next door to the saddler's, and Mavis + thought of these neighbors—two sisters, old maids—who had a very, very + little money of their own and who endeavored to add to what was barely enough for + necessities by selling butterfly nets, children's fishing-rods, stamp albums, and + picture post-cards. Two years ago the elder sister tumbled down-stairs and injured + her spine; and since then she had been bedridden, lying in the upper room at the back + of the house, with nothing to amuse her but a view of the graveyard behind the + church. Mavis had been to see her one day this summer, had sat by the bed, and read + her a chapter out of the New Testament and then the weekly instalment of a novel in + the <i>Rodhaven District Courier</i>. Extremely sad.</p> + <p>Then livid-faced, matty-haired Emily Frayne passed by, carrying a brown-paper + parcel. This poor overworked <a id="Page_120" name="Page_120"></a>girl was the only + daughter of Frayne the tailor, who was a confirmed drunkard. All day long she was + kept toiling like a slave, cutting out, beginning and finishing gaiters, breeches, + and stable-jackets, doing all the work that was ever done at Frayne's; and at night + she went round trying to get orders, delivering the goods that she had completed, and + being forced to support the impudence and familiarity of coachmen and grooms, who + chucked her under the chin and said they'd give her a kiss for her pains because they + weren't flush enough to stand her a drink. All painfully sad.</p> + <p>There was a dreadful lot of tippling at Rodchurch: in fact, one might say that + drink was the prevailing fault of the village. The vicar publicly touched on the + matter in his sermons, and privately he often said that Mr. Cope, the fat landlord of + The Gauntlet Inn, was greatly to blame. The tradesmen had a little club at the + Gauntlet, where Cope employed a horrid brazen barmaid who sometimes sang comic songs + to the club members. Mrs. Cope felt strongly about the barmaid, and quite took the + vicar's side in the dispute the day that Cope came out of the tap-room and was so + rude and abusive to the reverend gentleman. Mrs. Cope said she'd be glad if Mr. + Norton brought her husband to book before the magistrates and got his license taken + away.</p> + <p>Dale openly expressed contempt for this boozing Gauntlet club, refused to take up + his membership when elected, and had received a complimentary letter from the vicar + thanking him for the fine example he had set for others. No, dear old Will, though he + liked his glass of beer as well as anybody, would often go a <a id="Page_121" + name="Page_121"></a>whole week on tea and coffee; and she thought what a merit his + sobriety had been. Merely considered as economy, it was a blessing. It is always the + drink, and never the food, that runs away with one's household money.</p> + <p>Mr. Silcox the tobacconist hurried through the lamplight, unquestionably on his + way to the Gauntlet. Silcox was a chattering foolish creature who had lost his own + and his widowed mother's savings in a ridiculous commercial enterprise—a + promptly bankrupt theater company over at Rodhaven—and it was thought that the + workhouse would be the end for him and Mrs. Silcox. But early this summer people had + been startled by hearing that the <i>Courier</i> had appointed Silcox as their + reporter; and local critics were of opinion that Silcox had taken very kindly to + literature, and that he was shaping well, and might perhaps retrieve the past in + making name and fortune. Dale, who used to chaff Silcox rather heavily, was at + present quite polite to him. It had always been Will's policy to stand well with the + press, and there was no doubt that during the recent controversy Silcox had + endeavored to render aid with his pen.</p> + <p>Lamplight moving now—a cart coming down. Mavis, peering out, saw that it was + old Mr. Bates again, in a gig this time, going home to his pretty little farm two + miles off on the Hadleigh Road. Fancy his being still at it so late, only finishing + the day's work long after so many younger men had done. Mr. Bates was reputed + rich—a highly respected person; but the sorrow of his old age was a bad, bad + son. Richard Bates raced, and habitually ran after women—that is, when he + possessed the use of his legs and was able to <a id="Page_122" + name="Page_122"></a>run. But he was a heavy drinker, and it was no unusual thing for + the helpers at the Roebuck stables to have to get out a conveyance at closing time + and drive Richard, speechless, motionless, to Vine-Pits Farm. He never went to the + Gauntlet, but always to the Roebuck—beginning the evening in the hotel + billiard-room, trying to swagger it out at pool with the solicitor and the doctor, + then drifting to the stable bar, and finishing the evening there, or outside in the + open yard. One could imagine the feelings of the old father, waiting up all alone, + knowing from experience what the sound of wheels implied after ten o'clock. Will said + once that he believed Mr. Bates was glad Mrs. Bates hadn't been spared to see it.</p> + <p>And Mavis, moving at last from the window, thought that she was not the only sad + inhabitant of Rodchurch. There is a cruel lot of sorrow in most people's lives.<a + id="Page_123" name="Page_123"></a></p> + <h2><a id="IX" name="IX"></a>IX</h2> + <p>The second week of the fortnight was passing much quicker than the first week. By + a most happy inspiration Mavis had hit upon a means of filling the dull empty time. + On Tuesday morning she told Mary that they would turn the master's absence to good + account by giving the house an unseasonal but complete spring cleaning, and ever + since then they had both been hard at work.</p> + <p>The work gave exercise as well as occupation; it furnished a ready excuse for + declining to go over and see Mrs. Petherick or to allow a visit from her; and, + moreover, it had a satisfactory calming effect on one's nerves. While Mavis was + reviewing pots and pans, standing on the high step-ladder to unhook muslin curtains, + and, most of all, while she was going through her husband's winter underclothes in + search of moths, it seemed to her that she was not only retaining but strengthening + her hold on all these inanimate friends, and that they themselves were eloquently + though dumbly protesting against the mere idea of forcible separation. When she sat + down, hot and tired, in the midst of shrouded masses of furniture, to enjoy a picnic + meal that Mary had set out on the one unoccupied corner of a crowded table, she was + able to eat with hearty appetite; and yet, no matter how tired she might be by the + end of the day, she could not sleep properly at night.<a id="Page_124" + name="Page_124"></a></p> + <p>If she slept, a dream of trouble woke her. As she lay awake her trouble sometimes + seemed greater than ever. It was as though the spring cleaning, which by day proved + mentally beneficial, became deleterious during these long night watches. The neater, + the cleaner, the brighter she made her home, the more terrible must be a sentence of + perpetual banishment.</p> + <p>On Friday afternoon the work was nearly over. Kitchen utensils were like shining + mirrors; the flowers of the best carpet were like real blossoms budding after rain; + and Mavis on the step-ladder, with a smudged face, untidy hair, and grimy hands, had + begun to reinstate the pictures handed to her by Mary, when Miss Yorke came knocking + abruptly at the parlor door.</p> + <p>"A telegram, ma'am."</p> + <p>"All right."</p> + <p>Mavis had come down the ladder, and as she opened the yellow envelope she began to + tremble.</p> + <p>"Answer paid, ma'am. Shall I wait?"</p> + <p>"No. I—I'll—No, don't wait."</p> + <p>It was from Dale. She had sat down on the lowest step of the ladder, and was + trembling violently. "Oh, how dreadful!" She muttered the words mechanically, without + any attempt to express her actual thought. "How very dreadful!"</p> + <p>"What is it, ma'am? Bad news?"</p> + <p>"Oh, most dreadful. But perhaps a mistake. I'm to find out;" and she stared + stupidly at the paper that was shaking in her fingers. Then, spreading it on her lap, + she read the message aloud:—</p> + <blockquote> + <p>"Evening paper says fatal accident to Mr. Barradine. Is this<a id="Page_125" + name="Page_125"></a> true? Wire Dale, Appledore Temperance Hotel, Stamford Street, + S.E."</p> + </blockquote> + <p>Then she jumped up, ran into the front room, and looked out of the window. A + glance showed her that the village was in possession of some sensational tidings. + There was a knot of people standing in front of the saddler's, and + another—quite a little crowd—in front of the butcher's; all were talking + excitedly, nodding their heads, and gesticulating.</p> + <p>She ran down-stairs and joined the group at the saddler's.</p> + <p>"I never cared for the look of the horse," Allen was saying sententiously. "And I + might almost claim to have warned them—no longer ago than last March. The + stud-groom was riding him at a meet, and I said, 'Mr. Yeatman, you aren't surely + going to let Mr. Barradine risk his neck with hounds on that thing?' 'No,' he said, + 'Mr. Barradine has bought him for hacking.' 'Oh,' I said, 'hacking and hunting are + two things, of course, but—'"</p> + <p>Then somebody interrupted.</p> + <p>"Chestnut horse, wasn't it?"</p> + <p>"Yes," said Allen, "one of these thoroughbred weeds, without a back that you can + fit with to anything bigger than a racing saddle; and I've always maintained the same + thing. A bit of blood may do very well for young gentlemen, but to go and put a + gentleman of Mr. Barradine's years—"</p> + <p>"Mind you," interposed a Roebuck stableman, "Mr. Barradine liked 'em gay. Mr. + Barradine was a horseman!"</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine <i>liked</i> gay horses. Mr. Barradine <i>was</i><a id="Page_126" + name="Page_126"></a> a horseman. That tremendous sound of the past tense answered the + question that Mavis was breathlessly waiting to ask.</p> + <p>"Shocking bad business, isn't it, Mrs. Dale?"</p> + <p>She did not reply; but nobody noticed her silence or agitation. They all went on + talking; and she only thought: "He is dead. He is dead. He is dead." She was + temporarily tongue-tied, awestricken, full of a strange superstitious horror.</p> + <p>Presently Allen spoke to her again. "There'll never be such another kind gentleman + in <i>our</i> times, Mrs. Dale; nor one so open-handed. And it's not only the gentry + that's going to mourn him. The pore hev lost a good friend."</p> + <p>"Yes," she whispered. "Indeed they have. Indeed they have."</p> + <p>Miss Waddy came out of her absurd little post-card shop and kept saying, "Oh, + dear!" She, like almost everybody else in the village except Mavis Dale and Mary, had + known the news for hours; but she was greedy for the more and more particularized + information that every newcomer brought with him along the road from Manninglea.</p> + <p>"How was the body taken to the Abbey?"</p> + <p>"Sent one of the carriages."</p> + <p>"Oh, dear!"</p> + <p>They continued to talk; and Mavis, listening, for a few moments felt gladness, + nothing but gladness. He had gone out of their lives forever. There could be no + divorce. Now that he was dead, she would be forgiven. Then again she felt the horror + of it. The thing was like an answer to her secret prayer or wish—like the + mysterious overwhelming consequence of her curse.<a id="Page_127" + name="Page_127"></a> It was as though in cursing him she had doomed him to + destruction.</p> + <p>"They caught the horse last night, didn't they?"</p> + <p>"Yes. Some chaps at Abbey Cross Roads see un go gallopin' by, and followed un up + Beacon Hill. Catched un in the quag by th' old gravel pits."</p> + <p>"Oh, dear!" said Miss Waddy.</p> + <p>Little by little Mavis pieced the story together. Mr. Barradine had been out + riding late yesterday, and the riderless horse had given the alarm some time about + nine o'clock in the evening. But, although a wide-spread search continued all through + the night, the body was not found until past noon to-day.</p> + <p>They had found it at Kibworth Rocks. These rocks, situated in Hadleigh Wood, about + two miles from the Abbey, were of curious formation—a wide mass of jagged + boulders cropping out unexpectedly from the sandy soil, some of them half hidden with + bracken, while others, the bigger ones, rose brown and bare and strange. They + provided a redoubtable fortress for foxes, and contained what was known as the + biggest "earth" of the neighborhood. Not far off, the main ride passed through the + wood, making a broad sunlit avenue between the gloomy pines; but no one without local + knowledge would have suspected the existence of the rocky gorge or slope, because, + although only at a little distance, it was quite invisible from the ride.</p> + <p>The body had been discovered lying in a narrow cleft, the head fearfully battered; + and how Mr. Barradine came by his death was obvious. He had been riding through or + near the rocks, and the horse, probably stumbling, had thrown him; and then, + frightened and struggling away, had dragged him some considerable <a id="Page_128" + name="Page_128"></a>distance, until the rocks held him fast and tore him free.</p> + <p>What remained doubtful was how or why Mr. Barradine approached the rocks. Of + course, his horse might have shied from the ride and taken him there before he could + recover control of it; or, as perhaps was more probable, Mr. Barradine might have + ridden from the safe and open track in order quietly to examine what was called the + main earth, and, if fortunate, gratify himself with a glimpse of two or three lusty + fox cubs playing outside the burrows.</p> + <p>However, as Mr. Allen sagely observed, such conjectures were at present idle. + These and all other matters would be cleared up at the inquest.</p> + <p>"Oh, dear!" said Miss Waddy. "Will there have to be an inquest?"</p> + <p>"Certainly there will," said Mr. Allen.</p> + <p>"Yes, that's the law always," said somebody else.</p> + <p>"Surely not," said Miss Waddy, "in the case of such a well-known gentleman as Mr. + Barradine."</p> + <p>"It would be the same," said Allen, "if it was the Prince of Wales, or the + Archbishop of Canterbury. Coroner's Court sits on everybody who doesn't die in his + bed certified by his doctor."</p> + <p>"And it rained, too, last night," said Miss Waddy.</p> + <p>"Yes, there was some heavy showers."</p> + <p>"Fancy the poor gentleman lying out in the rain. Oh, dear!"</p> + <p>Mavis Dale left them talking and went back to the post office. In her agitation + she had forgotten about the reply telegram to her husband. She got Mr. Ridgett to + write the message—her hands were trembling so that she could scarcely hold the + pencil.<a id="Page_129" name="Page_129"></a></p> + <p>"Very sorry, I'm sure," said Mr. Ridgett sympathetically. "This was the party you + told me of—the gentleman that was giving his support to Mr. Dale?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"Well, well—very sad. How will you word it?"</p> + <p>"Please say—'Report true. Mr. Barradine killed by fall from his horse + yesterday.' And sign it 'Mavis.' No, sign it 'Mav.'"</p> + <p>"Mav!—Ma-v!" Mr. Ridgett looked round, smiling. "That's hubby's pet name for + you, isn't it? Upon my word, you two <i>are</i> a pair of love-birds.... There, off + it goes. Good night, Mrs. Dale. I'm truly sorry that you've been deprived of such a + friend."</p> + <p>She went up-stairs to her bedroom, and did not come out of it that evening. For a + long time she sat on the bed sobbing and shivering. She was glad really, and she knew + that she was glad, and yet all the blood in her body seemed to be running coldly + because of unreasoning superstitious fear. It was as though she had seen a ghost, and + as though the ghost, while imparting to her a piece of surprisingly good news, had at + the same time almost frightened her out of her wits. It is so wicked, so impiously + wicked to wish for the death of a fellow creature. But what are wishes? Common sense + revolts from the supposition that thoughts can kill. Why, if they could, half the + population of the world would succumb beneath the impalpable weapons wielded by the + other half. It is only toward nightfall, when rooms begin to grow dark, and the + deepening shadows give queer shapes to furniture, curtains, and other familiar + objects, that one can be foolish enough to entertain such fancies.</p> + <p>She told Mary to bring the candles, and to run out <a id="Page_130" + name="Page_130"></a>and buy a night-light. Then Mary helped her to undress and to get + to bed; and she slept dreamlessly. The feeling after all was one of unutterable + relief. Mr. Barradine <i>was</i>! Never again would her flesh shrink at the sight of + him; never again could those lascivious hands touch her.</p> + <p>Next day, between dinner-time and tea-time, while she was giving final touches to + the well-cleaned parlor, she heard her husband's voice just outside the door. He had + come up-stairs very quietly and was speaking to Mary on the landing.</p> + <p>"Will, Will!" With a cry of delight, Mavis rushed out to welcome him. "Oh, thank + goodness, you've come home." She boldly took his arm, drew him into the parlor and + shut the door again. "Will—aren't you going to kiss me?"</p> + <p>"No." And he disengaged himself and moved away from her. "No, I can not kiss + you."</p> + <p>"Oh, Will. Do try to forget and forgive." She stood stretching out her hands + toward him imploringly, with eyebrows raised, and lips quavering.</p> + <p>"I can never forget," he said, after a moment's pause.</p> + <p>Then she tried to make him say that things would eventually come all right, that + if he could not pardon her and take her to his heart now, he would do so some time or + another. He listened to her pleadings impassively, stolidly; his attitude was stiffly + dignified, and it seemed to her that, whatever his real frame of mind might be, he + had determined to hide it by maintaining an impenetrably solemn tone and manner.</p> + <p>"Will, you've come home, and I'm grateful for it. But—but I do think you're + cruel to me. Especially <a id="Page_131" name="Page_131"></a>considering what's + happened, I did hope you'd begin to think kinder to me."</p> + <p>"Mavis," he said solemnly, "it is the finger of God." And he repeated the phrase + slowly, with a solemnity that was almost pompous. "It is the finger of God. If that + man had not chanced to die in this sudden and startling way, I could never have come + home to you. It was the decision I had arrived at before I read of his accident in + the paper. Otherwise you'd 'a' never set eyes on me. Now all I can say is, you and I + must trust to the future. It will be my endeavor not to look back, and I ask you + equally to look forward."</p> + <p>She was certain that this was a set speech prepared beforehand. She knew so well + the faintly unnatural note in his voice when he was reciting sentences that he had + learned by rote: she who had helped in so many rehearsals before his public + utterances could not be mistaken. However, she had to be contented with it. And, + stilted and stiff as it was, it certainly seemed to imply that she need not + relinquish hope.</p> + <p>He added something, in the same ponderous style, about the probability of its + being advisable to put private inclinations on one side and attend the funeral of the + deceased in his public capacity of postmaster. This mark of respect would be expected + from him, and people would wonder if he did not pay it. Then he left the parlor, and + again spoke to Mary.</p> + <p>Mavis, listening, heard him give orders that an unused camp bedstead should be + brought down from the clerk's room and made up in the kitchen. He told Mary that he + wished to sleep by himself because he felt twinges of rheumatism and was afraid of + disturbing the mistress if the pain came on during the night.<a id="Page_132" + name="Page_132"></a> And Mavis noticed that all the time that he was talking to Mary + his voice sounded perfectly natural.</p> + <p>Then he went down-stairs, speaking again when he was half-way down.</p> + <p>"How goes it, Miss Yorke? Is Mr. Ridgett in the office?"</p> + <p>And this time it was absolutely his old voice—rather loud, rather + authoritative, but really quite cheerful.</p> + <p>Thinking of his manner to her and his manner to others, she believed that she + could now understand all that he intended. She was to be held in disgrace perhaps for + a long time, but appearances were to be kept up. No breath of scandal was to tarnish + the reputation of the Rodchurch postmaster; the curious world must not be allowed the + very slightest peep behind the scenes of his private life; and she, without explicit + instructions, was to assist in preventing any one—even poor humble + Mary—from guessing that as husband and wife they were not as heretofore on the + best possible terms.</p> + <p>Down below in the sorting-room Dale greeted Mr. Ridgett very heartily.</p> + <p>"Here I am. May I venture to come in a minute? I'm only a visitor till Monday, you + know." And he told Ridgett how he had taken a liberty in returning before the + stipulated date; but he had written to headquarters explaining the circumstances, and + he had no doubt they would approve. "There's the funeral, you know. Though I suppose + that won't be till Tuesday or even Wednesday. But there's the inquest. And I felt it + like a duty to attend that too."</p> + <p>"Yes, I suppose this is a bit of a blow to you—knowing <a id="Page_133" + name="Page_133"></a>him so long. Your good lady was mightily upset."</p> + <p>"So she had cause to be," said Dale gravely.</p> + <p>"He'd always shown himself a real friend?"</p> + <p>"The best friend anybody ever had," said Dale with impressive earnestness. Then, + going, he returned to speak in a confidential whisper close to Mr. Ridgett's ear. "It + was he who did the trick for me up there. But for <i>him</i>, I was to be hoofed out + of this, as sure as eggs."</p> + <p>"Really! Well, I'll tell you frankly, I'm not surprised to hear it. Ever since the + little Missis came home with the happy tale, I've been wondering what miracle pulled + you through so grand with them."</p> + <p>Then Dale went out and down the street, talking to everybody he met.</p> + <p>The village received him with tranquil indifference. No one congratulated him. The + greater excitement had obliterated all memory of the less: not a soul seemed to + recollect the famous controversy, the postmaster's campaign against detractors, his + long absence or his brilliant success. Kibworth Rocks, the drawn blinds of the Abbey + House, the decorations of the Abbey Church—these were the only things that + Rodchurch could now think of, or talk about.</p> + <p>The inquest, held on Monday in one of the state rooms at the Abbey, brought to + light no new facts that were of the least importance. All sorts of people gave + evidence, but no one had anything to say that was really worth saying. Mr. Allen, it + appeared, had "acted foolish" and been reproved by the Coroner, first for irrelevance + and then for impertinence.</p> + <p>Allen had attempted to persuade the Court that the <a id="Page_134" + name="Page_134"></a>prime cause of the accident was simply this, that poor Mr. + Barradine's saddle was made by a London firm instead of by him—Allen. He + pooh-poohed the stud-groom's statement that Mr. Barradine had an ineradicable + objection to patent detachable stirrups, and maintained that he would have been able, + in five minutes' quiet conversation, to prevail on the deceased gentleman to adopt a + certain device which was known to Allen but to nobody else in the trade; and then he + attempted to read a written paper in which he advocated the superiority to the modern + plain flap of the ancient padded knee-roll as a means of rendering the seat more + secure for forehand stumbles.</p> + <p>"It was laughable—but for the occasion—to hear him spouting out his + nonsense, until Doctor Hollis told him straight he wouldn't put up with it any + longer."</p> + <p>Dale gave this account of the proceedings to Mavis and to Mr. Ridgett, who had + come up to take high tea on the eve of his departure just as he had done on the day + of his arrival.</p> + <p>"But I admit," said Dale, conscientiously, "there was one bit of sense in Allen's + remarks. He convinced me against trusting to these blood animals. They're too + <i>quick</i>, and they're never <i>sure</i>. The grooms an' all spoke up to Mr. + Barradine's knowledge of his ridin' gen'rally; but it stands to reason, when you're + past sixty your grip on a horse isn't the same thing as what it once was. Say, your + mount gets bounding this way, that way;" and with his body and hands he indicated the + rapid lateral movements of a horse shying and plunging. "Well, it's only the grip + that can save you. You aren't going to keep in your saddle by mere balance—and + <a id="Page_135" name="Page_135"></a>it's balance that old gentlemen rely on best + part of the time."</p> + <p>Mavis listened wonderingly and admiringly. When her husband spoke of the dead man, + his voice was grave, calm and kindly. No one on earth could have detected that while + the man lived, he had been regarded with anything but affection. She thought of that + epithet that people so often echo—Death the Leveler. Could one hope that + already, although Will might not know it, might not be willing to know it, death had + taken from him all or nearly all of his anger and resentment? If it was only just + acting—the stubborn effort to keep up appearances—it was marvelous. Then + she sighed. She had remembered that Will never did things by halves.</p> + <p>She felt almost gay, certainly quite light-hearted, when driving out with him to + the funeral. It was such a glorious day, not a bit too hot, with a west wind sweeping + unseen through the limpid sky; and the whole landscape seeming animated, everywhere + the sound of wheels, the roads full of people all going one way. She simulated + gravity, even sadness, as they passed the dark pines near Hadleigh Wood; but in truth + she was quite undisturbed by her proximity to the fateful spot. It seemed to her that + with the murmur of the wheels, the movement of the air, the progressive excitement of + every minute, all the tragic or gloomy element of life was rolling far away from + her.</p> + <p>The scene presented at the Abbey struck her as magnificent. She had never seen so + many private carriages assembled together, and she would not have guessed that the + whole county of Hampshire contained <a id="Page_136" name="Page_136"></a>so many + policemen. There were soldiers also—members of some volunteer or yeomanry corps + of which the deceased was honorary colonel. Their brilliant uniforms shone out + dazzlingly on a background of black dresses and coats.</p> + <p>Naturally there was not space in the church for all this vast concourse. The + nobility, gentry, and other ticket-holders were admitted first, and then there came + an unmannerly rush which the constables checked with difficulty. Mavis and Dale were + just inside the door; and Mr. Silcox close by, whispering, and pointing out several + lords and ladies near the chancel steps. The service was long but very beautiful, + with giant candles burning by the draped bier, organ music that seemed to swell and + rumble in the pit of one's stomach, and light voices of singing boys that made one + vibrate as if one had been turned into glass—all stirring one to a quite + meaningless regret, not for the man who lay deaf and dumb and blind beneath the + velvet pall, but because of vague thoughts about children who die young and have + wings to hover over those they loved down here below. And, oh, the increasing heat of + the church, the oppressive crush, the heavy odors of flowers and crape and + perspiration! When at last one emerged, and the open air touched one's forehead, it + was like coming out of an oven into a cold bath.</p> + <p>Then the remains were consigned to the family vault in the small graveyard behind + the church—the crowd filling every vista, the bells tolling, and the soldiers + discharging a cannon and making one jump at each regularly timed discharge. Mavis, + turning her eyes in all directions, looked at everything with <a id="Page_137" + name="Page_137"></a>intense interest—at the gentlefolk, now inextricably mixed + up with the tenantry and the mob; at her husband, standing so black and solemn, with + a face that might have belonged to a marble statue; at the puff of smoke that crept + upward when the gun went bang, at the sunlight on the church tower, at the birds + flying so high and so joyous above its battlements. And all at once she saw Aunt + Petherick—the blackest mourner there, with crape veils trailing to the ground, + a red face down which the tears streamed in rivers; sobbing so that the sobs sounded + like the most violent hiccoughs; really almost as much noise as the soldiers' + gun.</p> + <p>Will had seen her too. Mavis noticed his stony glance at Auntie, when the crowd + began to move again.</p> + <p>While he was slowly making his way toward the stables, she got hold of Mrs. + Petherick and had a little chat with her. Auntie had now entirely recovered from her + recent hysterical storm; the redness of her face was passing off, and its expression + was one of anxiety, rather than of grief.</p> + <p>"My dear girl," she said, "I don't yet know what this will mean to me. You know, + he promised the house for my life—but he wouldn't give me a lease. I've nothing + to show—not so much as a letter. I may be turned out neck and crop."</p> + <p>"Oh, Auntie, I should think his wishes would be respected."</p> + <p>"How'm I to prove his wishes?" said Mrs. Petherick, quite testily. "It'll be wish + my foot, for all the lawyers'll care."</p> + <p>"Oh, Auntie!"<a id="Page_138" name="Page_138"></a></p> + <p>"You know, he faithfully promised to provide for me. And now the talk is he never + made a will at all. You can't believe the talk. But, oh, it's awful to me. The + suspense! It'll break my heart to give up North Ride."</p> + <p>"Auntie," said Mavis presently; "if you chance upon Will, don't speak to him."</p> + <p>"Why not?"</p> + <p>She whispered the answer. "He found out about <i>him</i> and me."</p> + <p>"Oh, did he? How did he take it?"</p> + <p>"Awfully badly."</p> + <p>But Mrs. Petherick did not seem to care twopence about the domestic trouble of + Mavis and Will. Her thoughts were engrossed by her own affairs.</p> + <p>"Mavis, I do think this: that if there's a will found, I shall be in it. He wasn't + a liar, whatever he was."</p> + <p>That night there seemed to be a tremendous lot of drunkenness in Rodchurch, and + when the Gauntlet Inn closed you could hear the shouting as far off as the post + office. But next day the village was quietly drowsy as of old: it had got over its + excitement.</p> + <p>Weeks passed, and for Mavis time began to glide. All things in the post office + itself had resumed their ordinary course, and she felt instinctively that up-stairs, + as well as down-stairs, a normal order would rule again before very long. Outwardly + she and Dale were just what they used to be. They were not, however, really living as + husband and wife. She suffered, but made no complaint. All would come right.<a + id="Page_139" name="Page_139"></a></p> + <h2><a id="X" name="X"></a>X</h2> + <p>Mr. Barradine had not died intestate. This fact was made known at the post office + in a sudden and perturbing manner by a letter to Mavis from Messrs. Cleaver, the Old + Manninglea solicitors. Messrs. Cleaver informed her that the London firm who were + acting in the matter of Mr. Barradine's will had instructed them to communicate with + her, because certain documents—such as attested copies of her birth + certificate, marriage certificate, and so on—would presently be required; and + it would be convenient to Messrs. Cleaver, if she could pay them a call within the + next two or three days.</p> + <p>Mavis gave the letter to Dale when they met at breakfast, and he read it slowly + and thoughtfully.</p> + <p>"What do you suppose it means, Will?"</p> + <p>"I suppose it means that you're one of the leg'tees."</p> + <p>"Yes." Mavis drew in her breath. "It came into my mind that it might be that."</p> + <p>"I don't see what else it can be."</p> + <p>His face had become dull and expressionless, and he spoke in a heavy tone.</p> + <p>"I may go over and see Mr. Cleaver, mayn't I?"</p> + <p>"Yes," he said. "But I must go with you."</p> + <p>"When can you get away? I don't think we ought to put it off."</p> + <p>"No. There mustn't be an hour's avoidable delay. I'll take you over this + afternoon."<a id="Page_140" name="Page_140"></a></p> + <p>Then, without another word, he finished his breakfast and went down-stairs. Mavis + was vibrating with excitement, her eyes large and bright, a spot of poppy color on + each cheek; she longed to burst out into all sorts of conjectures, to discuss every + possibility, but she did not dare speak to him again just then.</p> + <p>Though the market town of Old Manninglea was only eight miles distant, the + roundabout journey thither by rail offered such difficulties that Dale hired a + dog-cart from the Roebuck and drove his wife across by road.</p> + <p>Their route for the first four miles was the one they would have followed if they + had been going to the Abbey, and as they bowled along behind a strong and active + little horse Mavis felt again, but in an intensified degree, those sensations of + well-being, of comfort, and hopefulness, that she had experienced when passing + through the same scenery on the day of the funeral. All the country looked so warm + and rich in its fulness of summer tints—corn ready to cut, fruit waiting to be + picked, cows asking to be milked; everywhere plenty and peace; nature giving so + freely, and still promising to give more. It seemed to her that as surely as there is + a law under which the seasons change, sunshine follows storm, and trees after losing + their leaf soon begin to bud again, so surely is it intended that states of mind + should succeed one another, that after sorrow should come gladness, and that no one + has the right to say "I will keep my heart like a shuttered room, and because it was + dark yesterday the light shall not enter it to-day."</p> + <p>About a mile out from Rodchurch they passed the Baptist chapel—a supremely + ugly little building that <a id="Page_141" name="Page_141"></a>stood isolated and + forlorn in a narrow banked enclosure among flat pasture fields—and Mavis, + making conversation, called Dale's attention to the tablet that largely advertised + its date.</p> + <p>"Eighteen thirty-seven, Will! That's a long time ago."</p> + <p>"Yes," he said, "a many years back—that takes one. Year the Queen came to + the throne."</p> + <p>"I wonder why they built it out here—such a way from everybody—such a + tramp for the worshipers."</p> + <p>"In those days all non-conformists were a deal more down-trodden than they are + now. It was before people began to understan' the meanin' o' liberty o' conscience; + and, like enough, that's a bit of evidence."</p> + <p>"How so, Will?"</p> + <p>"Quite likely there wasn't a landlord lib'ral enough to give 'em a patch o' ground + within reach o' th' village. Shoved 'em off as far as they could, to please Mr. + Parson, and not contam'nate his church with the sight of an honest dissenter."</p> + <p>He said all this sententiously and didactically, as one who enjoys speaking on + historical or sociological subjects; but then a cloud seemed to descend upon him, and + he relapsed into gloomy silence.</p> + <p>After another mile they came to Vine-Pits Farm, the home of Mr. Bates the + corn-merchant. It was one of the few stone houses of the district, a compact + snug-looking nucleus from which an irregular wing, rather higher than the main + building, advanced to the very edge of the roadway. A much smaller wing, merely an + excrescence, on the other side, seemed as if it had gone as far as it could in the + direction of making a quadrangle and had then given over the task to <a id="Page_142" + name="Page_142"></a>a broad low wall. The square piece of garden, though untidy and + neglected, derived a great air of dignity from its stone surrounding, and importance + was added to the house by the solid range of outbuildings, barns, and stables. A rick + yard with haystacks so big that they showed above the tops of fruit trees and yews, + three or four wagons and carts, half a dozen busy men, made the whole Bates + establishment seem quite like a thriving little town all to itself.</p> + <p>"It's a funny name, Vine-Pits," said Mavis, still making conversation. "I wonder + why ever they called it that."</p> + <p>"There was formerly a quantity of old pits 'longside the rick-bargan—same as + you see forcing-pits at a market-gardener's—and the tale goes that they were + orig'nally placed there for the purpose of growing grapes on the same principle as + cucumbers or melons."</p> + <p>"What a funny idea!"</p> + <p>"'Twas a failure. Sort of a gentleman farmer had the notion he knew better than + others, and tried it on year after year till he made a laughing-stock of himself. + Anyhow, that's the tale. Mr. Bates has shown me the basis of the pits—built + over now by the buildings you were looking at. Ah, here is the old fellow."</p> + <p>Mr. Bates driving toward them in his gig pulled up, and invited Dale to do so + also.</p> + <p>"How are you, William?" And he took off his hat to Mrs. Dale. "Your servant, + madam. Turn head about, William, and come into my place and take a bit of + refreshment."</p> + <p>"No, thank you, Mr. Bates. Not to-day. Some other time."<a id="Page_143" + name="Page_143"></a></p> + <p>"No time like the present. A cup of tea, Mrs. Dale. I don't care to see those I + count as friends pass my place without stopping."</p> + <p>"I know you mean what you say," said Dale cordially; "but we're for Old + Manninglea—business appointment."</p> + <p>"Then I mustn't hinder you. But look in on your way back. Your servant, + madam."</p> + <p>Mavis liked the fresh clean complexion and the silvery white hair of Mr. Bates, + and there was something very pleasing in his old-fashioned mode of address, his + courteous way of saluting her, and his gentle friendly smile as he spoke to her + husband.</p> + <p>"Will," she said, as they drove on, "I believe Mr. Bates is really fond of + you."</p> + <p>Dale gave a snort; and then after a long pause spoke with strong emphasis.</p> + <p>"I'll tell you, Mavis, what Mr. Bates is. He's a <i>good</i> man, every bit and + crumb of him. There's no one between the downs and the sea that I feel the same + respect for that I do for that old gentleman."</p> + <p>"Yes, Will, I know you've always praised him."</p> + <p>"And since you make the remark, I'll admit its truth. I do verily believe that Mr. + Bates <i>is</i> fond of me." Then he laughed bitterly. "I'm not aware of any one else + I could say it of."</p> + <p>"Oh, Will—there's lots are fond of you."</p> + <p>"No—none. That was one small part of my lesson last month in London. I got + that tip, straight, at the G.P.O."</p> + <p>"Will!"</p> + <p>They were driving now through the woods, and Mavis, glancing from time to time at + her husband's <a id="Page_144" name="Page_144"></a>face, saw that it had become + fearfully somber. She guessed that this indicated an unfortunate turn of thought, and + she talked incessantly in the hope of rendering such thought difficult, if not + impossible.</p> + <p>After crossing the bridge over the stream that runs serpentining through the Upper + Hadleigh Wood on its way to join the Rod River, they were soon at the Abbey Cross + Roads. Here, as they turned into the highroad by the Barradine Arms and the cluster + of adjacent cottages, they had a splendid panoramic view of the Abbey estate rolling + downward on their left in wide, sylvan beauty as far as the eye could see. From this + higher ground, the park showed like an irregular pattern of lighter color on a dark + green carpet, and a few of the main rides were visible here and there as truncated + straight lines that began and ended capriciously; but all the houses and buildings + lay hidden by the undulating woodland. Mavis turned her eyes toward the point where + North Ride Cottage shyly concealed itself, and then she glanced back at Dale. He was + staring straight in front, not looking to left or right, as if focusing the roadway + between the horse's ears.</p> + <p>"It's uphill now, Will, all the way, isn't it? Oh, that's a new cottage. How red + the bricks are!"</p> + <p>They had left all the trees behind them now, and, going up the slope through the + last strip of fields, they soon emerged on the open heath. For a mile or two the + landscape was wildly sad in aspect, just a waste of sand and heather, with naked + ridges and boggy hollows, one or two wind-swept hillocks that bore a ragged crest of + blackened firs, and in the farthest distance massive contours of grassy down rising + <a id="Page_145" name="Page_145"></a>as a barrier to guard the fertile valleys of + another county. It was here that the riderless horse had galloped about and been + hunted by the people from the cross road cottages.</p> + <p>"You <i>have</i> driven well. I think it's wonderful, considering what a little + practise you get.... Look, I believe that's a hawk. Must be! Nothing but a hawk could + stand so still in the air. He can see something down under him, I suppose. Rabbits, + perhaps. Though I don't suppose he'd strike at anything as big as a rabbit, would + he?"</p> + <p>Mavis chattered vigorously, to prevent her husband from brooding on painful + things; but, even while talking, she did not obliterate her own real thoughts. Inside + her there seemed to be a running chorus of unuttered words, and she listened to the + inner voice even when at her busiest with the outward sounding voice.</p> + <p>"Has he truly left me money? If so, how much?" These mute questions were + perpetually repeated. "A hundred pounds? Perhaps more than that. He gave me two + hundred when I married. Suppose he has left me quite a lot of money."</p> + <p>It was not market-day, and the town therefore was not at its best and brightest. + Nevertheless, the appearance of shops, pavements, and nicely dressed young ladies, + had a most exhilarating effect on Mavis when, after putting up the horse and cart, + Dale solemnly conducted her through the High Street to the solicitor's office in + Church Place.</p> + <p>The interview with Mr. Cleaver did not take long, although such weighty concerns + were spoken of. Dale sat on a chair near the wall, his hat held between <a + id="Page_146" name="Page_146"></a>his knees, his eyes lowered; while Mavis sat on a + chair close to the solicitor, talking, flushing, throbbing, gradually ascending a + scale of excitement so feverishly strong that it seemed as if it must eventually + consume her just as fire consumes.</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine had left her two thousand pounds, and this sum was to be paid to her + free of all duties. The will had not yet been proved, but everything was in order and + probate would be granted any day now; minor legacies would then immediately be + cleared off; and, since Mavis would have no difficulty in satisfying the executors as + to her identity, she might really consider the money as safe in her pocket. Mr. + Cleaver, having made this stimulating communication and described the formalities + that she must fulfil, asked a few questions about certain of her relatives.</p> + <p>"Ruby Millicent Petherick. That is a cousin of yours? Yes." And he jotted down a + note of any facts that Mavis could supply. "Still a spinster. About your own age, and + living abroad. Thank you. That is all you can tell me? There seems to be doubt as to + her whereabouts. Your aunt—Mrs. John Edward Petherick—does not know her + address. But she will no doubt present herself in due course."</p> + <p>Then Mr. Cleaver indicated that he need not further detain them, and Dale, rising + slowly and still looking at the crown of his hat, spoke for the first time and in a + very ponderous way.</p> + <p>"This has come as a complete surprise to my wife."</p> + <p>"Yes," and the solicitor smiled, "but not by any means as an unpleasant surprise, + Mr. Dale!"</p> + <p>"No, sir, naturally not. My wife having been connected with the family since + childhood would be naturally <a id="Page_147" name="Page_147"></a>one to be thought + of by the head of the family if wishful to benefit <i>all</i> old friends after he + was called away."</p> + <p>"Quite so," said Mr. Cleaver.</p> + <p>"Will," said Mavis, "we mustn't waste Mr. Cleaver's time by telling him our + history;" and she gave a nervous fluttered laugh.</p> + <p>"Mr. Cleaver," said Dale glumly, "will pardon me for desiring to learn how others + stand, as well as yourself."</p> + <p>"Oh, well," said Mr. Cleaver, "I think it might be premature to go into matters + that do not directly concern Mrs. Dale."</p> + <p>"Yes," said Mavis, nervously, "we mustn't ask for secrets."</p> + <p>"It's just this," said Dale, with stolid insistence. "I do hope he has done + something equally handsome for those relations of my wife whose names you + mentioned—especially for her aunt, Mrs. J.E. Petherick, who is now past her + youth, and to whom it would be a comfort. Also my wife's cousin Ruby, who is earning + her livelihood on the continent by following the profession of a musician. Such a + windfall would come as a blessing to her."</p> + <p>"Mr. Dale," said the solicitor, "I may safely say as much as this. No one who had + the smallest grounds for expecting anything will find himself left out in the + cold."</p> + <p>"Thank you, sir." Dale had raised his eyes, and, while speaking now, in the same + sententious manner, he seemed to be observing Mr. Cleaver's face very closely. "The + fact is, my wife and I had no grounds whatever for expecting to be singled out for + special <a id="Page_148" name="Page_148"></a>rewards. On the contrary, it was never + in my wife's power to render the long and faithful service rendered by the others; so + that if a bequest had fallen to us while others of the Petherick clan—if I may + employ that expression—had bin passed over, it might have bin difficult for us + to benefit to the detriment of the rest of 'em—at least, without causing fam'ly + squabbles."</p> + <p>"Then I'll freely reassure you. Such a contingency will not arise. No," and Mr. + Cleaver's tone became heartily enthusiastic. "It is a beautiful will. You'll see all + the particulars in the newspapers before a week is over, and you'll say that no + critic—however hard to please—could find fault. It is a will that is + bound to attract the attention of the press."</p> + <p>"Then thank you again, sir. And good afternoon—with renewed thanks for the + courteous way you wrote to my wife, and received the two of us to-day."</p> + <p>"Good afternoon." Mr. Cleaver smiled and shook hands good-humoredly. "My + congratulations, Mrs. Dale; and one word of advice, free gratis. Invest your legacy + wisely, and don't confound capital with income. You're going to have two thousand + pounds all told, not two thousand a year, you know."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, sir—I wouldn't be so foolish as to think so."</p> + <p>They had tea at a pastry-cook's in complete silence, and they were half-way home + again before Mavis ventured to rouse her husband from his ominous gloom.</p> + <p>"Will," she said, with an assumption of calmness and confidence, "I didn't at once + catch the drift of what you were saying to Mr. Cleaver, and when I tried to stop you + it was because I was all on edge from <a id="Page_149" name="Page_149"></a>hearing + such a tremendous piece of news. Such a lot more than ever I could have + <i>dreamed</i> of."</p> + <p>He did not answer. Steadily watching the horse's ears, and holding the reins in + both hands with the conscientious care of an unpractised coachman, he drove down the + slope to the Cross Roads and round the corner into the woods.</p> + <p>"No, but I soon saw what was passing through your mind, Will. You wanted to make + quite sure that there would be nothing to cause talk. I don't myself believe people + would have really noticed if I had been the only one. But, of course, as I am one of + several, it stands to reason nobody can say anything nasty."</p> + <p>Still he did not answer.</p> + <p>"Will, you'll let me take the money, won't you?"</p> + <p>"I don't know. I must think."</p> + <p>"Yes, dear, but you'll think sensibly, won't you? Think of the use—to both + of us. If it's mine in name, I count it all as yours every bit as much as mine."</p> + <p>"That's enough now. Don't go on talking about it."</p> + <p>"All right. Are you going to stop at Mr. Bates'?"</p> + <p>"No."</p> + <p>"He was very pressing."</p> + <p>"I've no spirit to tell him—or any one else—what we've heard over + there."</p> + <p>"Will," and she drew close to him, nestling against him as much as she could + venture to do without causing him difficulty in driving, "you said we were to look + forward, not back. Don't get thinking of the past. What's done is done—and it + <i>must</i> be right to be happy if we can."<a id="Page_150" name="Page_150"></a></p> + <p>"Ah," and he gave a snort, "that's what the heathens used to say. I thought you + were a Christian."</p> + <p>"So I am, Will. Christ preached mercy—yes, and happiness too."</p> + <p>"Thought He preached remorse for sins before you reach pardon and peace. But never + mind religion—don't let's drag <i>that</i> in. And leave me alone. Don't talk. + I tell you I want to think."</p> + <p>"Very well, dear. Only this one thing. Keep this before you. Now that he's + dead—"</p> + <p>"I've asked you to hold your tongue."</p> + <p>"And I will. But let me finish. However lofty you choose to look at it, it can't + be wrong to take the money now he's gone."</p> + <p>"I wish his money had gone with him. Look at it lofty or low—take it or + leave it—this cursed legacy reminds me of all I was trying to forget."<a + id="Page_151" name="Page_151"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XI" name="XI"></a>XI</h2> + <p>Full particulars of the disposition of Mr. Barradine's fortune had now been + published, and the world was admiringly talking about it.</p> + <p>The claims of the entire Petherick family would be once for all satisfied. Mrs. + Petherick and that young person who had been sent to learn music at Vienna were each + to receive as much as Mavis Dale; three other Pethericks would get five hundred + pounds apiece; still more Pethericks would be dowered in a lesser degree. Then came + the ordinary servants, with legacies proportionate to terms of + service—everybody remembered, nobody left out in the cold. Then, with nice lump + sums of increasing magnitude, came a baker's dozen of Barradine nephews, nieces, and + second cousins; the Abbey domain was to go to an elderly first cousin; and then, + after bequests to various charities, came the grand item that the local solicitor had + in his mind when he foretold a salvo of newspaper comment.</p> + <p>The residue of the estate, the larger half of all the dead man's possessions, was + to be employed in the establishment of a Home for parentless, unprotected, or + destitute female children. The trustees of this institution were to find a suitable + site somewhere within five miles of the Abbey House, and if possible on the Barradine + property, being guided in their selection of the exact spot by expert advice as to + the character <a id="Page_152" name="Page_152"></a>of the soil, the qualities of the + air, and the facilities for obtaining a supply of pure water. When they had found the + site they were immediately to build thereon, and provide accommodation at the + earliest date for fifty small inmates, each of whom was to be reared, educated, and + finally launched in life with a small dowry. The funds available would be more than + sufficient for the number of children named; and Mr. Barradine expressed the wish + that the number should not be increased if, as he hoped, the income of the Trust grew + bigger with the passage of time. He desired that extension of revenue should be + devoted to improving the comfort and amenities of the fifty occupants, to increasing + their dowries, and to assisting them after they had gone out into the world.</p> + <p>Not only the <i>Rodhaven District Courier</i>, but great London journals also, + experienced difficulty in marshaling enough adjectives to convey their sense of + admiration for such a perfect scheme. Ever since his death the local praise of Mr. + Barradine's amiable qualities had been taking richer colors, and now the will seemed + so to sanctify his memory that one felt he must be henceforth classed with the + traditional philanthropic heroes of England—those whose names grow brighter + through the centuries.</p> + <p>When on Sunday Mr. Norton took for his text those beautiful words, "Suffer little + children to come unto Me," all instantaneously guessed what he was getting at, and by + the time he finished there was scarcely a dry eye that had not been wet at some point + or other of an unusually long sermon. "We have had," he said in conclusion, "a + striking instance of that noblest of all the feelings of the human breast, tenderness + and <a id="Page_153" name="Page_153"></a>care for the weak and helpless; and without + abrogating the practise of our church which forbids us to pray for the souls of those + who have been summoned away from us, I will ask you all before dispersing to-day to + join with me in a few moments' silent meditation on the lesson to be derived from a + kindness that has proved undying—a pity that has the attribute of things + eternal, and, speaking to us from the other side of the grave, may in all reverence + be described as Angelic."</p> + <p>The talk about the vast sums to be expended in charity produced a curious effect + on Mavis Dale. It seemed that her own two thousand pounds was a steadily diminishing + quantity; she was still greatly excited whenever she thought about it, but she could + not feel again the respectful rapture caused by her first thought of its lavishly + generous extent. Perhaps just at first, doing what the solicitor advised her not to + do, she had not altogether discriminated between capital and interest. Dazzled by the + abstract notion of wealth, she had over-estimated concrete potentialities.</p> + <p>Of course William would allow her to accept the legacy. In the early days after + their visit to Old Manninglea she had tormented herself with fears that he would + attempt to force a renunciation of benefits from that quarter, and she had determined + never to yield to so preposterous an exercise of authority; but now she felt certain + that he would not thus drive her to open revolt. He was still somber and silent, but, + however long he remained in this gloomy state, he would not interfere with her + freedom in regard to the money.<a id="Page_154" name="Page_154"></a></p> + <p>Nevertheless, she felt relieved when he explicitly stated that there would be no + further opposition on his part.</p> + <p>"Oh, Will, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear you talk so sensibly about + it."</p> + <p>"It is not willingly that I say 'Yes.' Don't you go and think that."</p> + <p>"No. But you do see we couldn't act otherwise?"</p> + <p>"You must accept it—for this reason, and not for any other reason. Our hands + are tied. If you refuse it, people would wonder."</p> + <p>"Yes—yes. But, Will, you keep saying <i>you</i>, when it's really us. It + will be <i>ours</i>, not just only mine, you must remember."</p> + <p>"Ah, but I doubt if I could ever take you at your word, there."</p> + <p>After this she sang at her household work. She took as a good sign the fact that + he had spoken doubtfully, instead of formally repudiating her suggestion that they + were to share alike in all the good things which the money might bring them. She + thought it must mean that he was very near to forgiving her. Death had now almost + wiped out <i>everything</i>. He was feeling more and more every day what she had felt + from the beginning, that it was palpably absurd to go on harboring resentment.</p> + <p>Free now from exaggerated estimates, with ideas readjusted to the measure of + reality, and her natural common sense at work again, she thought of what the little + fortune might truly do for them. It ought to yield a hundred pounds, twice fifty + pounds a year—roughly two pounds a week coming in unearned. Why, it <i>was + wealth</i>. On top of William's annual <a id="Page_155" + name="Page_155"></a>emoluments such an income would make them feel as if they were + rolling in money.</p> + <p>Visions immediately arose of all sorts of things that would now be within the + scope of their means—choicer meals for William, aprons and caps for Mary, new + curtains and much else new and delightful to beautify the home. Little excursions + too—a regular seaside holiday during leave-time!</p> + <p>Messrs. Cleaver had intimated that the London solicitors were ready to hand over + the money, and Mavis was talking to her husband about its investment.</p> + <p>"I trust your judgment, Will—and I'd like it put in both our names."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, I couldn't quite consent to that."</p> + <p>"I do wish you would. If it's invested well, I make out it ought to bring us a + hundred a year."</p> + <p>"Mavis," he said, thoughtfully, "it might be invested to bring more than that, if + you were prepared to take a certain amount of risk."</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't want any risk."</p> + <p>"An' p'raps the risk, after all, would be covered by the security I'd offer you. + That'd be for your lawyers to decide; it's not for me to urge the safety."</p> + <p>"Will, what is it?"</p> + <p>"I hesitate for this purpose. I want to lead you up to it, so that you shouldn't + turn against the proposal without yourself or your representatives giving it + consideration."</p> + <p>"Will, I wish you'd tell me—I can't bear suspense."</p> + <p>"Then here's the first question. If satisfied of the security, would you lend out + the money on mortgage with a person who has the chance of setting up himself in an + old-established business?"<a id="Page_156" name="Page_156"></a></p> + <p>"What business?"</p> + <p>"I'll tell you in a minute. Take the person first. You haven't asked about + <i>him</i>. In a sense, his character—honesty and straight ways—is a part + of the security. He is somebody you've known for a many years."</p> + <p>"Who is it?"</p> + <p>"Myself."</p> + <p>"Will? What on earth do you mean?"</p> + <p>"Mavis, it's like this—There, bide a bit."</p> + <p>They had been sitting in the dusk after their high tea; and now Mary brought a + lighted lamp into the room, and put it on the table between them.</p> + <p>"All right, my girl. Never mind clearing away till I call for you."</p> + <p>He waited until Mary had gone out of the room, and then went on talking. His face + with the lamp-light full upon it looked very firm and serious, and his manner while + he explained all these new ideas was strangely unemotional. He spoke not in the style + of a husband to a wife, but of a business man proposing a partnership to another + man.</p> + <p>"It seems to me, viewing it all round, a wonderful good chance. An opening that + isn't likely to come in one's way twice. Mr. Bates' son has bin and got himself into + such a mess over a horse-racing transaction that he's had to make a bolt of it. I + can't tell you the facts, because I don't rightly know them; but it's + bad—something to do with checks that'll put him to hidin' for a long day, if he + doesn't want to answer for it in a court o' law. Well, then, the old gentleman being + worn out with private care, wishful to retire, and seeing a common cheat and waster + in the one who ought <a id="Page_157" name="Page_157"></a>by nature to succeed him, + has offered me to take over the farm, the trade, an' the whole bag of tricks."</p> + <p>"But, surely to goodness, Will, you don't think of giving up the post office?"</p> + <p>"Yes, I do. I think of that, in any case."</p> + <p>"But you love the work."</p> + <p>"Used to, Mavis."</p> + <p>"Don't you now?"</p> + <p>"No. Mavis, it's like this." He had raised a hand to shade his eyes, as if the + lamplight hurt them, and she could no longer see the expression of his face. But she + observed a sudden change in his manner. He spoke now much in the same confidential + tone that he had always employed in the old time when telling her of his most + intimate affairs—in the happy time when he brought all his little troubles to + her, and flattered her by saying that she never failed to make them easy to bear. "So + far's the P.O. is concerned, all the heart has gone out of me. The events through + which I've passed have altered my view of the entire affair. Where all seemed leading + me on and on, and up and up, I see nothing before me now."</p> + <p>"Promotion!"</p> + <p>"I don't b'lieve I'd ever get it. The best I could hope for'd be that they'd leave + me here to th' end o' my service life. And besides, if promotion comes tomorrow, I + don't want it."</p> + <p>"Will, let me say it at once. Take the money. I consent. Whatever you feel's best + for you, that's what I want."</p> + <p>He altogether ignored her interruption, and went on in the same tone. "I used to + think it grand, and now it all seems nothing. I do assure you when I <a id="Page_158" + name="Page_158"></a>was down there handing out a halfpenny stamp or signing a + two-shilling order, I used to feel large enough to burst with satisfaction. I felt + 'I'm the king o' the castle.'—That was thrown in my teeth as how I appeared to + others. Well, now, I feel like a brock in a barrel—or not so big as him. Just + something small that's got into the wrong box by accident, and had the lid clapped to + on it. I want room for my elbows, an' scope for my int'lect. I must get the sky over + my head again, and the open roads under my feet. If I stopped down there much longer, + I should go mad."</p> + <p>"Then, my dear, you mustn't stop."</p> + <p>"These last weeks—fairly determined to chuck it—I bin thinking o' the + Colonies as affording advantages to any man who's got capacities in him; but now this + chance comes nearer home, and it lies with you to say if you'll give me the help + required for me to take it."</p> + <p>"Yes," said Mavis, earnestly, "and more glad than words can say to think I'm able + to do so."</p> + <p>Indeed she was delighted. She had been deeply moved by all he told her about his + distaste for the work he used to love, and she recognized that he had been + magnanimous in refraining from reproaches, but rather implying a purely personal + change of ideas as to the cause of disillusionment and depression. So that, jumping + at the opportunity to prove that she counted his inclinations as higher than mere + money, she would have accepted any scheme, however unpromising; but in fact the + enterprise appeared to her judgment as quite gloriously hopeful. Every moment + increased the charms that it presented; above all, its complete novelty fascinated, + and with surprising <a id="Page_159" name="Page_159"></a>quickness she found herself + thinking almost exactly what her husband had thought in regard to their present + existence. It seemed to her too that she was pining for a larger, freer environment, + that this narrow home had become a permanent prison-house, and that she could never + really be contented until she got away from it; then she thought of Vine-Pits Farm, + the peaceful fields, the lovely woodland, the space, the air, the sunlight that one + would enjoy out there; and then in another moment came the fear lest all this should + prove too good to be true.</p> + <p>"But, Will, however can Mr. Bates be willing to part with such a splendid business + as his for no more than two thousand pounds?"</p> + <p>"Ah, there you show your sense, Mavis." As he said this Dale took his hand from + his forehead, and resumed his entirely matter-of-fact tone. "You must understand + things aren't always what they seem. The business is not what it was."</p> + <p>"But Mr. Bates is very rich, isn't he?"</p> + <p>"He <i>ought</i> to be, but he isn't. That son of his has bin eating him up, slow + an' fast, for th' last ten years. The turnover of his trade is big enough, but the + whole management of it has gone end-ways. From a man working with capital he's come + down to a man financing things from hand to mouth. What's left to him now is strictly + speaking his stock, his wagons, his horses, his lease, his household + belongings—and whatever should be put down for the good-will."</p> + <p>Then, continuing his purely businesslike exposition, he explained that he would + have to make two engagements, one to his wife and one to Mr. Bates. All material + property would be charged with Mavis' loan, <a id="Page_160" name="Page_160"></a>and + the value of the good-will would be repaid how and when he could repay it. Mr. Bates + was content to risk that part of the bargain on his faith in Dale's personal + integrity.</p> + <p>"Don't say any more," cried Mavis. "I'm not understanding it, but I know it's all + right. Do let's get it settled before Mr. Bates alters his mind."</p> + <p>"It must be done formally, Mavis, through your lawyers. Mr. Cleaver is capable and + trustworthy. It's to be a regular mortgage, properly tied up; and he must + approve—"</p> + <p>"I don't care whether he approves or doesn't. I approve."</p> + <p>"Then I thank you," said Dale, gravely, "for the way you've met me, and I assure + you I appreciate it. As to the trade itself, I b'lieve I shan't go wrong. It's not so + new to me as people might suppose. I'm well aware of its principles; and, moreover, + one trade's precious like another—and a man's faculties are bound to tell, no + matter how you apply them."</p> + <p>Mavis was overjoyed. When she sang to herself now while dressing of a morning the + notes poured out loud and full, even when there was scarce a puff of breath behind + them. She felt so proud and happy to think that fate had given her the power to help + William, and that he had consented to avail himself of the power. Once more he had + begun to lean on her. As in the past, so in the future, he would derive support from + his poor little misunderstood, but always well-meaning Mavis.<a id="Page_161" + name="Page_161"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XII" name="XII"></a>XII</h2> + <p>By the end of September everything was arranged. Dale had ceased to be postmaster + of Rodchurch; the purchase of the business had been completed; and Mr. Bates had + moved out of Vine-Pits to a cottage near Otterford Mill, leaving behind him the bulk + of his furniture as the property of the incomers. Thus the Dales would have no + difficulty in furnishing the comparatively large house that henceforth was to be + their home.</p> + <p>For the last two days they had been living chaotically in rooms stripped to a + woeful bareness; this morning Mary had gone along the Hadleigh Road with a wagon full + of bedsteads, bedding, and household utensils; and now, late in the afternoon, the + wagon stood at the post office door again, packed this time with a final load + consisting of those treasures which had been held back for transit under their + owners' charge.</p> + <p>Mavis had already climbed up, and was settling herself on a high valley of rolled + carpets between two mountain ranges formed by the piano and the parlor bookcases. + With anxious eyes she looked at minor chains of packing-cases that contained the best + china, the mantel ornaments, the hand-painted pictures. Inside a basket on her knees + their cat was mewing disconsolately, despite well-buttered paws. The two big horses, + one in front of the other, continuously <a id="Page_162" name="Page_162"></a>tinkled + the metal disks on their forehead bands; Mr. Allen and other neighbors came out of + their shops; Miss Yorke and the clerks from the office filled the pavement; children + gathered about the wagon staring silently, and Miss Waddy on the opposite pavement + waved her handkerchief and said "Oh, dear! oh, dear!"</p> + <p>"Good luck!"</p> + <p>"Thank you, thank you kindly." Dale moved about briskly, shaking hands with every + one. Already he had abandoned all trace of his ancient official costume. In cord + breeches and leather gaiters, his straw hat on the back of his head, he looked + thoroughly farmer-like, and he seemed to have assumed the jovial independent manner + as well as the clothes appropriate to the man who has no other master but the winds + and the weather.</p> + <p>"So long, Mr. Allen. Put in a good word for me at the Kennels."</p> + <p>"I will so, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>"Good-by, Mr. Silcox. Hope you'll honor us with a call whenever you're passing. + And if you can, give me a lift in the <i>Courier</i>. I may say it's my intention to + patronize their advertisement columns regular, soon's ever I begin to feel my feet + under me."</p> + <p>"See <i>Rodchurch Gossip</i> next issue," said Mr. Silcox significantly.</p> + <p>"Thanks. You're a trump."</p> + <p>"Good-by, Miss Yorke." And he laughed. "'Pon my soul, I'm surprised it's still + <i>Miss</i> Yorke; but it'll be <i>Mrs.</i> before long, I warrant."</p> + <p>"Oh, Mr. Dale!"</p> + <p>"There, so long," and he shook Miss Yorke's hand <a id="Page_163" + name="Page_163"></a>warmly. "And take my excuse if I bin a bit of a slave-driver now + and then. I didn't mean it."</p> + <p>"We've no complaints," said one of the clerks. "Good luck, sir!"</p> + <p>Then Dale told his carter to make a start of it, and the wagon creaked, jolted, + slowly lumbered away.</p> + <p>Though they moved at a foot pace, it was not easy traveling in the wagon; the + china boxes bumped and rattled, the piano swayed so much that all its strings + vibrated, and the cat leaped frantically in the basket; but Mavis felt no + inconvenience. She was full of hope. For more than a mile Dale walked beside the + shaft horse, echoing the "Coom in then" and "Oot thar" of the man with the leader, + and the sound of the voices, the plod of the iron shoes, and the bell-like tinkle of + the harness were all pleasant to hear. The whole thing seemed to her picturesque and + interesting, like a small episode in the Old Testament, and imaginary words offered + themselves as suitable to describe it. "Therefore that day her husband gathered all + that was theirs, and set her behind his horses and they journeyed into another + place."</p> + <p>She smiled at her cleverness in inventing such good Bible language, and then the + thought came to her mind that they were going into the promised land. Once she turned + her head to get a last glimpse of the church tower, and perhaps be able to pick out + the roof of the post office among the other roofs, but the high mass of furniture + shut out all the view. Only the sky was visible, with the sun quite low, and so + bright that it was almost blinding. And she thought that this chance of the hour + being late and the sun being nearly down was a lucky omen. Straight ahead of them the + <a id="Page_164" name="Page_164"></a>road was sunlit, and the long slanting sunbeams + appeared to hurry on before them as if to light up and glorify the land of promise. + "If," she said to herself, "we get there before it has dipped and I catch the + sunshine on the ricks, I shall know we are going to be happy."</p> + <p>Then all at once she saw Dale's straw hat and face rise above the fore boards of + the wagon. He had swung himself on the shaft to see how she was getting on.</p> + <p>"All right, old lady?"</p> + <p>"Yes—lovely."</p> + <p>The tone of his voice had made her heart bound. It was the dear old voice, + speaking to her just as he used to speak before their bad time began.</p> + <p>"We'll be there sooner than you know where you are. I think I'll rest my bones a + bit."</p> + <p>Then he got into the wagon, and carefully clambering over impediments came toward + her. For a moment as he stood over her the sunlight was on his face, and she, looking + up at him, thought that he was not only a fine but quite a beautiful man. The light + seemed to soften and yet ennoble his features, and his eyes, unblinking in the glare, + were blue and clear as water. When he sat down close to her little nest she pushed + the basket away from her, and raising her hand laid it on his knees. To her delight + he put his hand on hers, and left it there. He was in shadow now, showing a dark + profile, and again she admired him—her strong, big, handsome man, her man that + she was pining for.</p> + <p>"Will," she said tremulously, "don't move, but just look behind you, and tell me + all you see."<a id="Page_165" name="Page_165"></a></p> + <p>"I don't see anything, Mav, unless I heft meself up again."</p> + <p>"No, sit as you are. It just bears out what you said. We're never more to look + back. We're only to look forward. Will?"</p> + <p>He had taken his hand away, and turned the back of his head toward her.</p> + <p>"Will," she repeated; but he did not answer. "Will, my dear one, this <i>is</i> + going to be a fresh start, isn't it? Like a new beginning for us."</p> + <p>"Yes," he said, very seriously, "that's what I build on its being. Take it so. You + and I are beginning life again in our new home."</p> + <p>"Bless you for saying it. The one thing I wished to hear."</p> + <p>"Yes, we must help each other. I'll do—I mean to do. But, maybe, it'll be + more 'v o' fight than I'm reckoning, and there's a many ways that you can make the + fight easier—beyond the one great thing you've done a'ready."</p> + <p>"I will, dear. I will."</p> + <p>Then they were silent. The carter cracked his whip, shouted to his team, and + whistled; and the horses, neither frightened by the whip nor excited by the + whistling, drew the big wagon at exactly the same steady pace.</p> + <p>And Mavis felt as if her throat had suddenly enlarged itself and become too big + for her collar, while her whole breast was swelling and hardening until it seemed so + rigidly immense that it would burst all her garments; it was as if her whole being, + together with all the thoughts or memories that it contained felt the expansion of + some force that had been long <a id="Page_166" name="Page_166"></a>gathering and now + swiftly was released. In all her life she had experienced no such sensations + hitherto. She who had been passive under the desires of others now felt desire active + in herself. It was not only that she wanted pardon, kindness, companionship, the + things that she had been so systematically deprived of; she wanted the man himself, + the partner, and the mate to whom nature had given her a right.</p> + <p>Abruptly she changed her position, scrambling forward close against him, and put + up both her hands to his shoulders.</p> + <p>"Will, stoop your head. I want to whisper something."</p> + <p>Then, as soon as he bent toward her, she clasped her hands behind his neck and + tried to drag him down in a kiss.</p> + <p>"What yer doin'? Let me be."</p> + <p>"No, I won't. I won't." She was holding him with all her strength, pulling herself + up since she could not pull him down. "Be nice to me." And as he recoiled she thrust + forward her upturned face, the cheeks hard and white, the eyes burning, the mouth not + quite closing even while she spoke. "I won't let you go, till you've kissed me and + made it up for good an' all."</p> + <p>She was acting now as instinctively as any wild animal of the woods. What had + started in the zone of voluntary impulse had now passed into the ruling power of + reflexes; every nerve of her body seemed to be thinking for itself, guiding her, and + compelling her to struggle for the desired end. All this nonsense of high-falutin' + morality must be swept aside; if he loved her still, he must admit that he loved her; + it <a id="Page_167" name="Page_167"></a>must be love or hate, but no more sham and + pretense, no more of these half measures that made her a wife when people were + looking, and an enemy, a culprit in disgrace, or a sexless business associate, when + they two were alone behind drawn blinds.</p> + <p>"Mav, you're shaming me. 'A' done. 'Aarve you tekken leave o' yer senses?"</p> + <p>She felt him shiver as he resisted her; then in another moment he gripped her + round the waist as brutally and violently as if he intended to pitch her out of the + wagon, held her to him so fiercely that he crushed all the breath from her lungs, and + gave her a long passionate mouth-to-mouth kiss. And it seemed to her that the + strength and brutality of the embrace formed the one supreme gratification that she + had been burning to obtain; she wanted to give herself to him as she had never done + before, and if he crushed her and broke her and killed her in their joint rapture, + she would drink death greedily as something inevitable to all those who empty the + deep goblet of love.</p> + <p>"There!" He took his lips away, and she sank back gasping. "You've 'ad yer way wi' + me;" and he heaved a sigh that was as loud as a groan. "Oh, Mav, my girl, gi' me yer + kisses—kiss me all night and all day—if on'y you make me forget."</p> + <p>Her hat had tumbled off in the struggle, a mesh of brown hair was dangling over + her shoulder, and she was still too much out of breath to speak. The wagon rolled + heavily forward along the flat road, and the carter cracked his whip continuously to + tell the horses they were nearly home. Presently Mavis got up, perched herself beside + her husband, and whispered to him jerkily.<a id="Page_168" name="Page_168"></a></p> + <p>"You've nothing to forget, dear. No looking back. But, oh, my darling, I'm going + to be more than I ever was to you. I feel it. I <i>know</i> it—an' we'll be + happy, happy, happy, so long as we live."</p> + <p>She pressed her face against the sleeve of his jacket, and stroked his knee with + as much luxurious pleasure as if the rough cord breeches had been made of the softest + satin velvet.</p> + <p>"See. Look straight ahead," and she raised her hand and pointed.</p> + <p>Vine-Pits Farm was in sight. The stone house, the barns, the straw ricks, and the + fruit trees all seeming to have clustered close together, to form a compact little + kingdom of hope and joy.</p> + <p>"Look, dear. How pretty—see the sunlight on the roofs and on the ricks. + That's luck. All the straw is changing into gold. My old Will is going to make heaps + of golden sovereigns as big as any rick."</p> + <p>"Woo then. A-oo then." The carter stopped the horses outside the garden entrance. + "Will the missis get down here at th' front door, or be us to go on into yaard?"</p> + <p>Mrs. Dale got down here, took the cat-basket from her husband, and went gaily up + the path to the open front door.</p> + <p>"Don't let th' cat loose," Dale called after her warningly, "or she'll be back to + Rodchurch like a streak o' greased lightning. She'll need acclim'tyzing all + to-morrow."</p> + <p>Mavis ran through the house to the kitchen, where Mary and a courtesying old woman + received her. Then she scampered from room to room, uttering little cries of + contentment. Often as she had seen and admired <a id="Page_169" + name="Page_169"></a>the house during the last few weeks, it had never seemed so + perfectly delightful as it did to-day: with its low-ceiled cozy little rooms at the + back, its high and imposing rooms in front, its broad staircase and square landing, + it would be quite a little palace when all had been set to rights.</p> + <p>Coming hurrying back to the hall, she saw her husband in the porch, a splendid + dark figure with the last rays of yellow sunlight behind him. He paused bare-headed + on the threshold, obviously not aware of her presence, and she was about to speak to + him when he startled her by dropping on his knees and praying aloud.</p> + <p>"O merciful Powers, give me grace and strength to lead a healthy fearless life in + this house."<a id="Page_170" name="Page_170"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XIII" name="XIII"></a>XIII</h2> + <p>The Dales were beginning to prosper now, but their first winter had been an + anxious, difficult time.</p> + <p>Dale had made a common mistake in his calculations, and experience soon taught him + that what is known as good-will, the most delicate and sensitive of all trade-values, + can not by a mere stroke of the pen be transferred from one person to another. Solid + customers turned truant; the business went down with terrifying velocity; and old + Bates, who loyally came day after day to advise and assist, spoke with sincere + regret. "William, I never foretold this. I must see what can be done. I'll leave no + stone unturned." And he trotted about, touting for his successor, tramping long miles + to beg for a continuance of favors that had unexpectedly ceased, but usually + returning sadly to confess that his efforts had again been fruitless. They were + gloomy evening hours, when the old and the young man sat together in the office by + the roadway; and at night Mavis used to hear her sleeping husband moan and groan so + piteously that she sometimes felt compelled to wake him.</p> + <p>"What is it?" Awakened thus, he would spring up with a hoarse cry, and be almost + out of the bed before she was able to restrain him.</p> + <p>"It's nothing, dear. Only you were in one of your <a id="Page_171" + name="Page_171"></a>bad dreams, and I simply couldn't let you go on being + tormented."</p> + <p>"That's right," he used to mutter sleepily. "I don't want to dream. I've enough + that's real."</p> + <p>"Don't you worry, dear old boy. You're going to pull through grand—in the + end. I <i>know you are</i>. Besides, if not—then we'll try something else."</p> + <p>She always murmured such consolatory phrases until he fell asleep once more.</p> + <p>The fact was that Bates had been respected by the well-to-do and loved by the + humble; and Dale, out here, remained an unknown quantity. Anything of his fame as + postmaster that had traveled along these two miles from Rodchurch did not help him. + He was not liked. He felt it in the air, a dull inactive hostility, when talking to + gentlefolks' coachmen or giving orders to his own servants. The coachmen could take + no pleasure in patronizing him, nor the men in working for him. Mr. Bates advised him + once or twice to cultivate a gentler and more ingratiating method of dealing with the + people in his employ.</p> + <p>"Perhaps, William, I'm to blame for having spoilt 'em a bit;—but it'd be + good policy for you to take them as you find them, and get them bound to you before + you begin drilling 'em. A soft word now and then, William—you don't know how + far it goes sometimes."</p> + <p>"What I complain of is this," said Dale; "they don't show any spirit. Every stroke + o' bad luck I've had—every chance where they might step in with common sense, + or extra care, or a spark of invention to save a situation for me—it's just as + if they were a row o' turnips."<a id="Page_172" name="Page_172"></a></p> + <p>And the strokes of bad luck were so many and so heavy. The elements seemed to be + making war against him—such wet days as made it impossible to deliver hay + without damage to it, and an accusation from somebody's stables that the last lot was + poisoned; then frost, and two horses seriously injured on the ice-clothed roads; then + February gales, wrecking the barn roofs, entailing costly repairs; then floods; and + last of all <i>rats</i>. The unusual amount of land water had driven them to new + haunts, and Dale's granaries were suddenly invaded. "Oh, William," said Mr. Bates, + horror-stricken, "beware of rats. They are the worst foe. <i>One</i> rat will mess up + a mountain of grain."</p> + <p>About the time of the vernal equinox there came a tempest in comparison with which + all previous wind and rain were but a whispering and a sprinkling. Every door was + being rattled as if by giant hands, the glass sang in the latticed windows, and the + whole house seemed swaying, when Mary told her mistress that something had gone wrong + with the big straw stack and that the master was attempting to climb to the top of it + on the long ladder.</p> + <p>Mavis instantly pulled up her skirt in true country fashion to make a cloak, and + told Mary to help her open the kitchen door.</p> + <p>"You bide where you be, Mrs. Dale," said the old charwoman. "You ben't goin' to be + no use of any kind out there, and you may bring yourself to a misfortune."</p> + <p>But Mavis insisted on struggling through the doorway, into the rude embrace of the + weather. Great branches of the walnut tree were waving wildly, while <a id="Page_173" + name="Page_173"></a>little twigs and buds flew from apple trees like dust; the rain, + not in drops but as it seemed in solid packets, struck her face and shoulders with + such force that she could scarcely stand against it; a shallow wooden tub came + bounding to her along the flagged path and passed like a sheet of brown paper; and + just as she got to the corner of the buildings from which she could obtain a view of + the rick-yard, thirty feet of pale fencing lay down upon the beehives and the rhubarb + bed without a sound that was even faintly audible above the racket of the storm.</p> + <p>But she had no eyes for anything except her husband, and no other thought than of + the horrible peril in which he was placing himself. Four men clung to the bottom of + the ladder, and yet, with Dale's weight half-way up to help them, could not for a + moment keep it steady. On top of the rick one of the tarpaulin sheets had broken + loose; the cruel wind was tearing beneath it, wrenching out pegs and cordage, + snatching at thatch-hackle, and making the stout ropes that should have held the + sheet hiss and dart like serpents.</p> + <p>It seemed to her that the rick was as high as Mont Blanc, and that even on a + placid summer day no one but a lunatic would want to scale it. Then she screamed, and + went rushing forward.</p> + <p>Dale, in the act of clambering from the top rung of the ladder, had been blown + off, and was hanging to a rope over the edge of the stack. With extreme difficulty + the men moved the ladder, and he succeeded in getting on it again.</p> + <p>"Gi't up, sir. 'Tis mortally impossible." As well as Mavis, every one of them + shouted an entreaty that he would come down.<a id="Page_174" name="Page_174"></a></p> + <p>Probably he did not hear them, and certainly he did not obey them. He went up, not + down. Then for half an hour he fought like a madman with the flapping sheet, and + finally conquered it.</p> + <p>Mavis, as she stared upward, saw the gray clouds driving so fast over the crest of + the stack that they made it seem as if the whole yard was drifting away in the + opposite direction; while her man, a poor little black insect painfully crawling here + and there, desperately writhed as new billows surged up beneath him, labored at the + rope, seemed to use feet, hands, and teeth in his frantic efforts against the + overwhelming power that was opposed to him. She felt dazed and giddy, sick with fear, + and yet glowing with admiration in the midst of her agonized anxiety.</p> + <p>To the men it was a wonderful and exciting sight that had altogether stirred them + from their usual turnip-like lethargy. When the master came down, all shaking and + bleeding, they bellowed hearty compliments in his ear.</p> + <p>"Now," said the old charwoman, when Mr. and Mrs. Dale returned to the kitchen, + "you've a 'aad a nice skimmle-skammle of it, sir, an' you best back me up to send the + missis to her bed, and bide there warm, and never budge. I means it," she added, with + authority. "You ben't to put yourself in a caddle, Mrs. Dale, an' I know what I be + talkin' of."</p> + <p>After this the men appeared to work better for Dale; perhaps still somewhat + sulkily whenever he pressed them, continuing to be more or less afraid of him, but + not so keenly regretting the loss of their white-haired old master.</p> + <p>The storm had brought back the floods, and they <a id="Page_175" + name="Page_175"></a>were now worse than anything that anybody remembered having ever + seen. The feeding sources of the Rod River had broken all bounds; the lower parts of + Hadleigh Wood had become a quagmire; and the volume of water passing under the road + bridge was so great that many people thought this ancient structure to be in danger + of collapsing. Over at Otterford Mill, the stream swept like a torrent through a + chain of wide lakes; Mr. Bates' cottage was cut off from the highroad, and the + meadows behind the neighboring Foxhound Kennels were deep under water.</p> + <p>In these days Dale took to riding as the easiest means of getting about; and one + afternoon when he had gone splashing across to see Mr. Bates, thence to pay a visit + of polite canvass at the Kennels, and was now returning homeward by the lanes, he + heard a dismal chorus of cries in the Mill meads.</p> + <p>Forcing his clumsy horse through a gap in the hedge, he galloped along the sodden + field tracks to the shifting scene of commotion. Three or four idle louts, a couple + of children, and a farm-laborer were running by the swollen margin of the + mill-stream, yelling forlornly, pointing at an object that showed itself now and + again in the swirling center of the current. Plainly, somebody had chosen this most + unpropitious season for an accidental bath, and his companions were sympathetically + watching him drown, while not daring, not dreaming of, any foolhardy attempt at a + rescue.</p> + <p>"'Tis Veale, sir. A'bram Veale, sir. Theer!" And all the cries came loud and + hearty. "Theer he goes ag'in. I see 'un come up and go under. Oo, oo! Ain't 'un + trav'lin'!"<a id="Page_176" name="Page_176"></a></p> + <p>"Catch th' 'orse!" shouted Dale; and next moment it was a double entertainment + that offered itself to hurrying spectators.</p> + <p>The water, charged with sediment from all the rich earth it had scoured over, was + thick as soup; its brown wavelets broke in slimy froth, and its deepest swiftest + course had a color of darkly shining lead beneath the pale gleams of March sunshine. + In this leaden glitter the two men were swept away, seeming to be locked in each + other's arms, their heads very rarely out of the water, their backs visible + frequently; until at a boundary fence they vanished from the sight of attentive + pursuers who could pursue no further; and seemed in the final glimpse as small and + black as two otters fiercely fighting.</p> + <p>"Laard's sake," said one of the louts, "I'd 'a' liked to 'a' seen 'em go over the + weir and into the wheel—for 'tis to be, and there's nought can stop it + now."</p> + <p>The event, however, proved otherwise. Before the submerged weir was reached a + kindly branch among the willows, stretching gnarled hands just above the flood level, + gave the ready aid that no louts could offer. Here Dale contrived to hang until + people came from the mill and fished him and his now unconscious burden out of their + hazardous predicament.</p> + <p>This little incident so stimulated Dale's servants that they began to work for him + quite enthusiastically. It occurred to them that he was not only a good plucked 'un, + but that, however hard his manner, his heart must possess a big soft spot in it, or + he could never have so "put himself about for a rammucky pot-swilling feller like Abe + Veale."</p> + <p>Veale was truly a feckless, good-for-little creature.<a id="Page_177" + name="Page_177"></a> By trade a hurdle-maker, he lived in one of the few remaining + mud cottages on the skirts of Hadleigh Upper Wood, and in his hovel he had bred an + immense family. His wife had long since died; her mother, a toothless old crone, kept + house for him and was supposed to look after the younger children; but generally the + Veales and their domestic arrangements were considered as a survival of a barbaric + state of society and a disgrace in these highly polished modern times. People said + that Veale was half a gipsy, that his boys were growing up as hardy young poachers, + and that every time he got drunk at the Barradine Arms he would himself produce wire + nooses from his pocket, and offer to go out and snare a pheasant before the morning + if anybody would pay for it in advance by another quart of ale.</p> + <p>Drunk or sober now, he widely advertised a sincere sense of obligation to his + preserver. He bothered Dale with too profuse acknowledgments; he came to the + Vine-Pits kitchen door at all hours; and he would even stop the red-coated young + gentlemen as they rode home from hunting, in order to supply them with unimpeachable + details of all that had happened. He told the tale with the greatest gusto, and + invariably began and ended in the same manner.</p> + <p>"You sin it in th' paper, I make no doubt, but yer can 'aave it from me to its + proper purpus. Mr. Dale he plunged without so much as tekking off of his getters and + spurs." And then he described how, stupefied by his mortal danger, he treated Dale + more like an enemy than a savior. "I gripped 'un, sir, tighter than a lad in his + senses 'd clip his sweetheart;" and he would pause and laugh. "Yes, I'd 'a' drowned + 'un <a id="Page_178" name="Page_178"></a>as well as myself if he'd 'a' let me. I fair + tried to scrag 'un. But Mr. Dale he druv at me wi' 's fist, and kep' a bunching me + off wi' 's knees, and then when all the wind and the wickedness was gone out o' me, + he tuk me behind th' scruff a' the neck and just paddled me along like a dummy."</p> + <p>At this point Veale would pause to laugh, before continuing. "Nor that wasn't all, + nether. So soon as Mr. Dale catched his own breath he give me th' artificial + respreation—saved my life second time when they'd lugged us on the bank. I was + gone for a ghost; but I do hear—as they'll tell 'ee at th' mill—Mr. Dale + he knelt acrost me a pump-handling my arms, pulling of my tongue, and bellows-blowing + my ribs for a clock hour;" and Veale would laugh again, spit on the ground, and + conclude his story. "Quaarts an' quaarts of waater they squeedged out of me afore the + wind got back in—an' I don't seem's if I'd ever get free o' the taste o' that + waater. Nothing won't settle it, no matter how 'ard I do try."</p> + <p>The gentry who smilingly listened, knowing Veale for a queer rustic character of + poor repute, gave him sixpences to assist in his efforts to quench an abnormal + thirst. Talking together, they decided that the hero of the tale had done rather a + fine thing in a very unostentatious way, and it occurred to several of them that + pluck ought to be rewarded. If the chance came they would encourage Dale. The M.F.H. + in fact made up his mind to reconsider matters, and see if he could not before long + let Dale have an inning at the Kennels.</p> + <p>Throughout this period and well into the hot weather of June Mavis was stanchly + toiling, both as clerical <a id="Page_179" name="Page_179"></a>assistant in the + office and general servant in the house. It was she who did most of the cooking, no + light task since meals had to be supplied for the carter and two of the other men. + Mary always worked with a will; but old Mrs. Goudie, who came for charring twice a + week, used to say that, in spite of being handicapped by the state of her health, the + mistress worked harder than the maid.</p> + <p>A swept hearth, a trimmed lamp, and the savory odor of well-cooked food, were what + Dale might be sure of finding at the evening hour; and Mavis tried to give him + something more. He must have peace at the end of the day, and thus be able to forget + the day's disappointments, no matter how cruel they had been. She would not let him + talk about the business at night. She said he must just eat, rest, and then sleep; + but she allowed him to read, provided that he read real books and magazines, not his + ledgers or those horrid trade journals.</p> + <p>So after their supper they used to sit in the pleasant lamplight very quietly, + near together and yet scarcely speaking to each other, feeling the restful joy of a + companionship that had passed into that deeper zone where silence can be more + eloquent than words. He was reading political economy for the purpose of opening his + mind, "extending the scope of one's int'lect," as he said himself, and she watched + him as he frowned at the page or puckered up his lips with a characteristic doggedly + questioning doubtfulness. Certainly no words were needed then to enable her to + interpret his thought. "Look here, my lad"—that was how he was mentally + addressing a famous author—"I'm ready to go with you a fair distance; but I + don't allow <a id="Page_180" name="Page_180"></a>you to take me an inch further than + my reasoning faculty tells me you are on the right road." When he frowned like this, + she smiled and felt much tenderness. He would always be the same obstinate old dear: + ready to set himself against the whole weight of immemorial authority, whether in + literature or everyday life.</p> + <p>She did not read, but with a large work-basket on a chair by her knees continued + busily sewing until bedtime. And the tenderness that she felt as she stitched and + stitched was overwhelmingly more than she could feel even for Will. When her work + itself made her smile, all the intellectual expression seemed to go out of her face, + and it really expressed nothing but a blankly unthinking ecstasy, whereas her smile + at her husband just now had shown shrewd understanding, as well as immense kindness. + In fact, at such moments, only the outer case of Mavis Dale remained in the snug + little room, while the inward best part of her had gone on a very long journey. She + could not now see the man with his book, or the walls of the room; the lamp had begun + to shine with ineffable radiance; and she was temporarily a sewing-woman in paradise, + stitching the ornamental flounces for dreams of glory.</p> + <p>Her baby, a girl, was born at the end of June, exactly three-quarters of a year + from the beginning of their new existence. The mother had what is called a bad time, + and was slow to recover strength. Nevertheless, she was able to suckle the infant, + who did well from its birth and throve rapidly.</p> + <p>It was during the convalescent stage, one evening <a id="Page_181" + name="Page_181"></a>when he had come up to sit by her bedside, that Dale told her + they had at last turned the corner.</p> + <p>"Yes," he said, "orders are dropping in nicely. We're getting back all the good + customers that slipped away from me, and some bettermost ones—such as the Hunt + stables—that Mr. Bates himself had lost. You may take it as something to rely + on that we're fairly round the corner of our long lane."</p> + <p>Then, holding her hand and softly patting it, he praised her for the way in which + she had helped him. "You've been better than your word, Mav; you've supported me + something grand."</p> + <p>And he added that henceforth he should insist on her doing less work, at any rate + less household work. "There's more valuable things than burning your face over the + kitchen fire, and roughing your arms with hot water. I'm going to be done with that + messing of the men; I'm arranging their meals on another basis; I mean to keep house + and yard as two distinct regions. And as to you, old lady, I intend to turn your + dairy knowledge to account. Don't see why we shouldn't keep a cow or two—and + poultry—and cultivate the bees a bit. Kitchen garden too. And, look here, I've + engaged Mrs. Goudie to come every day instead of twice a week—and we shall want + a nurse."</p> + <p>But Mavis flatly refused to have any hired person coming between her and the + transcendent joy of her life. She had waited long enough for a baby, and she proposed + to keep the baby to herself.</p> + <p>"However successful you come to be," she said to her husband, earnestly, "I + shouldn't like you to make a fine lady of me. I want to go on feeling I'm useful <a + id="Page_182" name="Page_182"></a>to you. That's my pleasure—and if good luck + took it from me, I'd almost wish the bad luck back again."</p> + <p>"Hush," he said, gravely. "Don't speak of such a wish, even in joke."</p> + <p>"I only meant I'd wish for the time since we came here. I wasn't thinking of + anything before then."</p> + <p>"All right;" and he stooped over her, and kissed her. "You've bin talking more'n + enough, I dare say. Take care of yourself, and get well as fast as may be. For I + can't do without you."</p> + <p>"That's what I wanted to hear."</p> + <p>"You don't take it for granted yet?"</p> + <p>"No. I want you to say it every time I see you."</p> + <p>"Good night—an' happy dreams."</p> + <p>"Will!" Mavis' voice was full of reproach. "Are you going without kissing the + baby?"</p> + <p>Then Dale came back from the doorway, stooped again, and making his lips as light + as a butterfly's wings, kissed his first-born.</p> + <p>Before September was over Mavis had not only recovered her ordinary health, but + had entered into such stores of new energy that nothing could hinder her from getting + back into harness. She herself was astonished by her physical sensations. Languors + that had seemed an essential part of her temperament ever since girlhood were now + only memories; she felt more alive when passive now than during extreme excitement in + the past; her whole body, from the surface to the bones, appeared to be larger and + yet more compact. Even the muscles of her back and legs, which ought to have been + relaxed and feeble after weeks of bed, had the tone and hardness that only exercise + is supposed to induce; so that when standing or walking <a id="Page_183" + name="Page_183"></a>she experienced a curiously stimulating sense of solidity and + power, as if her hold upon the ground was heavier and firmer than it had ever been, + although she could move about from place to place with incredibly more lightness and + ease.</p> + <p>These new sensations were strong in her one morning when, Dale having risen at + dawn, she determined to take a ramble or tour of inspection before the day's work + began; and with the mere bodily well-being there was a mental vigorousness that made + the notion of all future effort, whether casual or persistent, seem equally + pleasurable.</p> + <p>She came out through the front garden, and pausing a moment thought of all the + things that ought to be done at the very first opportunity. This neglected garden was + a mere tangle of untrimmed shrub and luxuriant weed, with just a few dahlias and + hollyhocks fighting through the ruin of what had been pretty flower borders; and she + thought how nice it would all look again when sufficient work had been put into it. + Some of the broken flagstones of the path wanted replacing by sound ones; the orchard + trees were full of dead wood; and the door and casements of the house sadly needed + painting. Her thoughts flew about more strenuously than the belated bees that were + searching high and low for non-existent pollen. This front of their house would look + lovely with its casements and deep eaves painted white instead of gray; and if bright + green shutters could at some time or other be added to the windows, one might expect + artists to stop and make sketches of the most attractive homestead in Hampshire.</p> + <p>She kissed the tips of her fingers to that rearward <a id="Page_184" + name="Page_184"></a>portion of the building where Mary guarded the cradle, and then + went through the gate and along the highroad.</p> + <p>It was a misty morning—almost a fog—the sun making at first but feeble + attempts to pierce through the white veil. There would come a faint glow, a widening + circle of yellow light; then almost immediately the circle contracted, changed from + gold to silver, and for a moment one saw the sun itself looking like a bright new + sixpence, and then it was altogether gone again. Out of the mist on her right hand + floated the song of birds in a field. No rain having fallen during this month of + September, the ground was dry and hard as iron, but the roadway lay deep in dust, and + a continuous rolling cloud followed her firm footsteps. The air was sweet and fresh, + although not light to breathe as it is in spring. One felt something of ripeness, + maturity, completion—those harvest perfumes that one gets so strong in + Switzerland and Northern Italy, together with the heavier touch of sun-dried earth, + decaying fruit, turning fern. When the birds fell silent Mavis took up their song, + walked faster; and all things on the earth and in the heaven over the earth seemed to + be adding themselves together to increase the sum of her happiness.</p> + <p>She loved, and was loved; she lived, and had given life—bud, blossom, and + fruit, all nature and she were now in harmony.</p> + <p>Presently the wood that stretched so dark and so grand on her left tempted her + from the highroad. This was her first real walk, and she decided to make it a good + one. She would aim for the Hadleigh rides, and, going on beyond Kibworth Rocks to the + higher <a id="Page_185" name="Page_185"></a>ground, get a view of the new buildings. + Will had gone across to the far side of Rodchurch and could not be back to breakfast. + It would not therefore matter if she were a little late.</p> + <p>She passed rapidly through open glades, to which the great oaks and beeches still + made solid walls. The foliage of the beech trees was merely touched with yellow here + and there, while the oaks showed no sign of fading color, and beneath all the lower + branches there were splendid deep shadows wherever the undergrowth of holly did not + fill up the green wall. This was the true wild woodland, remnant of the ancient + forest, the place of virgin timber, dense thickets, and natural openings, that + tourists always praised beyond anything else. The stream ran babbling through it, + with pretty little pools, cascades, and fords, all owning names that spoke of bygone + times—such as White Doe's Leap, Knight's Well, and Monk's Crossing. Locally it + was not, of course, so highly esteemed. Cottagers said it was "a lonesome, fearsome + bit o'country," and, whether because of the ugly memories that hung about it, or in + view of extremely modern stories of disagreements between Chase guardians and + poachers, considered it an undesirable short cut after dark from anywhere to + anywhere.</p> + <p>To-day it seemed to Mavis friendly and pleasant as well as beautiful. The mist + slowly rising was now high overhead, so that one could see to a considerable + distance. Some fern-cutters in shirt-sleeves and slouch hats were already at work, + cutting with rhythmic precision, calling to one another, and whistling tunefully.</p> + <p>One or two of them greeted her as she passed.<a id="Page_186" + name="Page_186"></a></p> + <p>By the time she reached the straight rides and the fir trees the sun came bursting + forth bravely, the shadows just danced before vanishing, the mist broke into rainbow + streamers, and then there was nothing more between one's head and the milky blue sky. + She walked within a stone's-throw of Kibworth Rocks, and did not feel a tremor, + scarcely even a recollection. People nowadays came here from Rodchurch and Manninglea + on Sunday afternoons, making it the goal for wagonette drives, wandering up and down, + and gaping at a scene rendered interesting to them merely because it had once been + the background of tragedy; and Mavis was thinking more of these Sunday visitors than + of the dead man, as she hurried through the sunlight so near the spot where he had + lain staring with glassy eyes throughout the darkness of a July night.</p> + <p>She thought of him a little later, when she stood on the higher ground looking at + what live men were constructing in fulfilment of his wish, and her mind did not hold + the least tinge of bitterness. At present the Barradine Orphanage was simply an + eye-sore to miles and miles of the country-side, but no doubt, as she thought, it + would be all very fine when finished. The bad weather of the winter had caused + progress to be rather slow; the red brickwork was only about ten feet out of the + ground, but a shell of scaffolding enabled one to trace the general plan. It would be + a central block with two long, low dependencies, apparently, and, as it seemed, there + were to be terraces and leveled lawns all about it; a great deal of clearing work as + well as building work would, however, be necessary before the whole thing could take + shape and explain itself properly. She stood outside one of its <a id="Page_187" + name="Page_187"></a>new ugly fences, and wondered if Mr. Barradine's trustees had, + after all, chosen the site wisely. Poor old gentleman, it would be unkind if his last + fancies received scant attention. It was rather nice of him to have this idea of + doing good after his death, to plot it all, and put it down on paper with such + painstaking care.</p> + <p>Truly she was thinking of him now as though he had been a total stranger, some + important person that she had known well by name but never chanced to meet. She + listened to the faint clinking of bricklayers' trowels, watched men with hods going + slowly up and down ladders, men carrying poles, men unloading half a dozen carts; + thought what a quantity of money was being expended, and how grateful in the future + the little desolate children would be when their costly home was ready for them; and + only as it were by accident did she remember that she too had cost the estate money, + and perhaps also ought to be grateful. But she had long since ceased to think about + the legacy. What the yokels would call her "small basket fortune" had served a + purpose handsomely, and there was an end of it. The man from whom it came had gone as + completely as the morning mist went when the sun began to shine.</p> + <p>The harm he had done her was nothing. If she purposely dragged out its memory, it + seemed much less strong and actual than half one's dreams. Incredible that little + more than a year ago she had been in such dire and dreadful trouble.</p> + <p>She struck the highroad again a little way short of the Abbey Cross Roads, and + came swinging homeward with long strides, feeling healthy, hungry, happy.<a + id="Page_188" name="Page_188"></a> And the nearer she drew to home, the deeper grew + the happiness. "Oh, what a lucky woman I am," she said to herself.</p> + <p>And with a quite unconscious selfishness that is an essential attribute of joy, + and that makes all very successful and contented people think themselves singled out, + watched over, and especially guided by fate, she blessed and applauded the + beneficently omniscient Providence which had given just enough worry in her youth to + enable her to appreciate comfort in mature years, which had delayed motherhood until + she could best bear a hearty child, which had wiped out Mr. Barradine and restored + her husband's love, which, last of all, had removed Aunt Petherick from North Ride + and sent her to live at the seaside.</p> + <p>A small thing, this, perhaps; and yet a Providential boon, a filling of one's lap + with bounties. There would have been great awkwardness in having Aunt so near, but + forbidden to darken one's door. Will was very firm there: Auntie was not to be + admitted at Vine-Pits on any pretext whatever. But it had all worked out so neatly, + without the least friction. The new owner of the Abbey wanted North Ride. He had, + however, been very kind about the lease or the absence of a lease, and had paid the + tenant for life, as she described herself, to surrender possession. Auntie, one might + therefore say, was not at all badly treated.</p> + <p>As the master was away and no kind of state necessary, she breakfasted in the + kitchen with Mary and Mrs. Goudie. Her baby was asleep in its cradle, which she + gently swung with her foot while eating; and the three women all spoke whisperingly. + The <a id="Page_189" name="Page_189"></a>pots and pans were shining, the hearthstone + was white as snow, and through the open doorway one had a pretty little picture of + the back pathway, the end of the barn, and a drooping branch of the walnut trees. + From the yard beyond came sounds of industrious activity—the rumble of a wagon + being pulled from the pent-house, the thump of sacks being let down on the pulleys, + and the intermittent buzz of a chaff-cutting machine.</p> + <p>Presently somebody appeared on the pathway, and came slowly and shyly toward the + door.</p> + <p>"Oh, bother," said Mary. "If it isn't Mr. Druitt again."</p> + <p>"Good mornin', mum," said the visitor, diffidently. "Would you be doing with an + egg or so?"</p> + <p>Mr. Druitt had been introduced by Mrs. Goudie as the higgler, or itinerant + poulterer and greengrocer, who served the house in Mr. Bates' time. He was a thin + middle-aged man, with light watery eyes, a straggling beard, and an astoundingly + dilatory manner. He used to pull his pony and cart into the hedge or bank by the + roadside, and leave them there an unconscionable time, while he pottered about the + back doors of his customers, offering the articles that he had brought with him, or + trying to obtain orders for other articles that he would bring next week; and + although apparently so shy himself, no bruskness in others ever seemed to rebuff him. + His arrival now broke up the breakfast party, and was accepted as a signal that the + day's labors must really be attacked. Mrs. Goudie and Mary pushed back their chairs + with a horrid scrooping noise, Mavis got up briskly, the baby awoke and began to + cry.<a id="Page_190" name="Page_190"></a></p> + <p>"No, thank you, Mr. Druitt. Nothing this morning."</p> + <p>"I've some sweet-hearted cabbages outside."</p> + <p>"No, thank you."</p> + <p>"It's wonderful late to get 'em with any heart to 'em. I'll fetch 'em."</p> + <p>Thus, as was usual, the higgler went backward and forward between the door and his + cart; and Mavis, with the baby on her arm, at intervals inspected various + commodities. Eventually she purchased a capon for the Sunday dinner, paid for it, and + bade Mr. Druitt good-by.</p> + <p>"Good-by, mum—and much obliged."</p> + <p>But then, quite ten minutes afterward, his shadow once more fell across the + kitchen floor. He had not really gone yet. Here he was back again at the kitchen + door, staring reflectively at his grubby little pocketbook.</p> + <p>"Beg pardon—but did I mention the side o' bacon I've been promised for + Tuesday. It's good bacon."</p> + <p>Mavis Dale with courteous finality dismissed him; but Mary, whose ordinarily red + cheeks had become a fiery crimson, spoke hotly and angrily.</p> + <p>"Drat the man. I've no patience with him. He ought to know better, going on + so."</p> + <p>"But what harm does he do, poor fellow," said Mavis, indulgently, "except muddling + away his own time?"</p> + <p>"He's up to no good," said Mary; and she flounced across to the door, and looked + out at the now empty path. "Hanging about like that! Why can't he keep away? I don't + want him."<a id="Page_191" name="Page_191"></a></p> + <p>Mrs. Goudie, at the sink, screwed up her wrinkled nut-cracker face, and + chuckled.</p> + <p>"No, mum, she don't want un. But he wants she."</p> + <p>And, astonishing as it might seem, this was truly the case. The higgler had fallen + in love with Mary; and she, apparently without a single explicit word, had understood + the nature of the emotion that stirred his breast. He had somehow surrounded her with + an atmosphere of admiration—anyhow he had made her understand.</p> + <p>Mavis laughed gaily, and chaffed Mary about her conquest; and henceforth she more + or less obliterated herself when this visitor called, and allowed the servant to + conduct all transactions with him.</p> + <p>Mary was always very stern, disparaging his goods, and beating down his prices; + while he stood sheepishly grinning, and in no wise protesting against her harshness. + He now of course stayed longer than ever, indeed only withdrew when Mary indignantly + drove him away.</p> + <p>"Be off, can't you?" cried Mary. "I'm ashamed of you."</p> + <p>"Haw, haw," chuckled Mrs. Goudie. "Don't she peck at un fierce."</p> + <p>"Yes, Mary," and Mrs. Dale laughed, much amused. "I do think you're rather cruel + to him."</p> + <p>"'Twill be t'other way roundabout one day, Mary, preaps."</p> + <p>Then Mary tossed her head and bustled at her work. "I ain't afeard o' that day, + Mrs. Goudie. He isn't going the right way to win me, I can tell him. I hate his sly + ways."<a id="Page_192" name="Page_192"></a></p> + <p>Mavis and the old charwoman thought that Mr. Druitt would win the prize in the + end, and with a natural tendency toward match-making tacitly aided and abetted his + queer courtship. Except for the disparity of years it seemed a desirable match. It + was known that he had a tidy place, almost a farm, eight miles away on the edge of + the down; and Mrs. Goudie, who confessed that she had merely encountered him + higgling, said the tale ran that he was quite a warm man.</p> + <p>And thus Mary's little romance, announcing itself so abruptly and developing + itself so slowly, brought still another new interest to Vine-Pits kitchen. It was + something vivid and bright and even fantastic in the midst of solidly useful facts, + like the strange flower that blooms on a roadside merely because some high-flying + strong-winged bird has carelessly happened to drop a seed.</p> + <p>"What," thought Mavis, "can any of us do without love? And where should we be + without the odd chances that bring love to us?"<a id="Page_193" + name="Page_193"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XIV" name="XIV"></a>XIV</h2> + <p>Fat easy years came now after the hard and lean ones; and the Dales in the dual + regions of home and trade were doing really well. Dale had a powerful decently-bred + cob to ride; on Wednesdays, when he went into Old Manninglea for the Corn Market, he + often wore a silk top-hat and always a black coat; and at all times he looked exactly + what he was, an alert, industrious, straight-dealing personage who has risen + considerably and who intends to rise still higher in the social scale.</p> + <p>As to Mavis, she had another baby—a boy this time—and she was an + infinitely proud mother as well as a very busy woman. She kept cows, poultry and + bees; could and did distil a remarkably choice sloe gin, had achieved some reputation + for her early peas and late lettuces, and had made the quadrangle in front of the + house a sight that even tourists from London talked about. It blazed with color from + May to November, and there was one of the Rodhaven drivers who on several occasions + stopped his char-à-bancs to let the passengers have a long look at it. + Wandering artists, too, fascinated by the stone walls, the flowers, the white paint, + and the green shutters, would sometimes ring the bell and ask if Mrs. Dale let + lodgings.</p> + <p>Mrs. Dale was rather crushing to masculine intruders of this sort, especially when + they adopted an off-handedly gallant air.<a id="Page_194" name="Page_194"></a></p> + <p>In answering their questions she drawled slightly, and smiled in a manner that, + although not contemptuous, might permit them to guess that they had made a tactless + mistake.</p> + <p>"Oh, no, we do not let lodgings."</p> + <p>"Don't you really? I think you <i>ought</i> to, you know."</p> + <p>"Possibly," said Mavis, drawling and smiling. "But Mr. Dale and I do not think so. + Of course if we did, we should put up a board, or notice—and you may observe + that there isn't one."</p> + <p>She was, however, always gentle and forbearing with wanderers of her own sex. To + two ladies who expressed disappointment at finding no apartments and asked if she did + not at least provide afternoon tea, she said at once, "Oh, certainly, I shall be + delighted to give you some tea."</p> + <p>They were tired, dusty, not young; and she showed them into the grand front parlor + that contained her piano, pictures, well-bound books, and there laid the table and + brought the tea with her own hands. Such a tea—the best china, thick cream, + three sorts of jam, cakes, and jolly round home-made bannocks! The ladies were so + pleased, until they became embarrassed. For of course when they wished to pay, Mavis + could not accept payment.</p> + <p>"Oh, indeed no. You're very welcome. I hope that you'll stop and rest as long as + you like;" and faintly blushing she shied away from the open purse and hurried out of + the room.</p> + <p>"What on earth are we to do?" said one of the ladies.<a id="Page_195" + name="Page_195"></a></p> + <p>"I saw a child in the passage," said the other lady. "Let us offer the child a + present."</p> + <p>"Ah. That solves the difficulty. But how much? I suppose it must be + half-a-crown."</p> + <p>"<i>Nonsense!</i>" said the other lady, tartly. "That is more than the price of + the whole meal if she had let us pay for it. A present of a shilling at the + <i>outside</i>. No, a shilling is absurd. Sixpence."</p> + <p>"Do you really think so?"</p> + <p>"Yes, sixpence wrapped up in a bit of paper."</p> + <p>"Then <i>you</i> must offer it."</p> + <p>And the other lady did. "Is that your little girl? Oh, what brown eyes—and + mamma's pretty complexion. Good afternoon! We are so much obliged. And this is for + <i>you</i>, dear—to buy sweeties."</p> + <p>Mavis was not disposed to allow her small princess to take a tip from a stranger's + hand; but natural good-breeding forced her to acquiesce.</p> + <p>The ladies looked back at her, waved their hands by the garden gate, and went away + talking.</p> + <p>"The child never said 'Thank you.' Badly reared."</p> + <p>"But the mother thanked you. I liked her face. She must have been distinctly + good-looking."</p> + <p>The artists thought her distinctly good-looking even now, and perhaps, after being + repulsed in their quest for bed and board, drifted off into an idle dream of how they + might have met her a few years ago when they were less famous but more magnetically + attractive. What a sitter she would have been for them, if she wouldn't be anything + else! They admired the extreme delicacy of her nose that seemed so narrow in the + well-rounded face, the loose brown hair that <a id="Page_196" + name="Page_196"></a>showed such a red flash in it beneath her sunbonnet, the perfect + modeling of full forearms, firm neck, and ample bosom, the whole poise of her + graciously solid figure, at once so reposeful and so free. But it was the eyes + principally that set them dreaming of vanished youth, abandoned hopes, and lost + opportunities. Nowadays Mavis could meet the unduly interested regard of male + investigators with a candid unvacillating outlook; there came no hint of feebleness + in resistance, too ready submission, or temperamental proneness to surrender; but her + eyes, whether she wished it or not, still served as messengers between all that was + feminine in her and all that was masculine outside her; and, with no reason not to + tell the truth, they told it boldly, seeming to say, "Yes, once I had much to give, + and I gave every single bit of it to one man. I have nothing left now for cadgers, + sneak-thieves, and other outsiders."</p> + <p>She was a woman steadily completing her cycle. In fact, with her added weight, + broadened contours and settled mental equilibrium, she had so changed from the slim, + pallid, childish Mrs. Dale of the post office that any old Rodchurch friends might be + forgiven for saying that they could scarcely recognize her.</p> + <p>"Really shouldn't have known you," said one of them frankly. "You have furnished + like a colt brought in from grass to corn."</p> + <p>This outspoken old friend was Mr. Allen the saddler, who turned up one winter day + when Vine-Pits had been thrown into a great state of excitement and confusion by the + passage of the hunt right across the meadows behind the orchard. Just after dinner + everybody had heard the horn sounding in the woods, with <a id="Page_197" + name="Page_197"></a>distant holloas and deep music of hounds, and then the pack came + streaming out in full cry, and next moment all the horsemen were galloping over the + fields and leaping the hedges. The women ran forth from the back of the house; the + men abandoned their work. "Oo, oo! Look an' look." There were shouts of rapture each + time the horses jumped. "Oo! Crimany! That <i>were</i> a beauty!"</p> + <p>Then in another minute Dale himself came galloping to the empty yard, rode his + horse along the flags into the garden, and yelled to Mavis that she was to fetch + trays of bread and cheese and bannocks as quick as life.</p> + <p>"An' bring the white bob full of beer—an' whisky, an' water—an' some + o' the sloe gin; an' devel knows how many glasses."</p> + <p>Mrs. Dale and Mary, before one could look round, carried out into the yard all + these light refreshments, and with them Dale regaled the large concourse of + unexpected visitors that was pouring through the opened gates. His guests were + grooms, second-horsemen, one or two farmers, and several dealers—the people who + are rarely in a hurry when out hunting; and after them came pedestrians, a sturdy + fellow in a red coat with a terrier in his pocket and a terrier under his arm, a + keeper, a wood-cutter, Abraham Veale the hurdle-maker, and just riffraff—the + very tail of the hunt, and, as the tail of the tail, that stupid trade-neglecting Mr. + Allen. For a while the yard was full of animation, the horses pawing and snorting, + Dale bustling hospitably, his wife filling the glasses and handing the food, and + everybody talking who was not eating or drinking.<a id="Page_198" + name="Page_198"></a></p> + <p>Mr. Allen was exhausted, tottering on his skinny legs, but nevertheless burning + with ardor for the chase.</p> + <p>"They've changed foxes," he cried breathlessly. "They've lost the hunted fox, and + they've only themselves to thank for it. I told them, and they wouldn't listen. I + knew."</p> + <p>"Ah, but you always know," said a second-horseman, grinning.</p> + <p>"If Mr. Maltby," said Allen, "had cast back instead of forward last time I + holloa'd, he'd have had the mask on his saddle rings by now."</p> + <p>Then he sank down upon one of the upping-stocks, snatched a hunk of bread, munched + hastily.</p> + <p>"Mr. Allen, you've no cheese. Here, let me fill your glass again. How's + Rodchurch?" Every time that Mavis passed, she asked a question. "Mr. Allen, how's + Miss Waddy's sister?"</p> + <p>"Dead," said Allen, with his mouth full.</p> + <p>"Dead. Oh, that's sad!" Then next time it was: "How's Miss Yorke? Not married + yet?"</p> + <p>"No, nor likely to be."</p> + <p>The horse-people soon began to move off again—"Thank you, Mr. Dale. Good + night, Mr. Dale.... You've done us proper, sir.... Just what I wanted.... Good night, + ma'am;"—but the foot-people lingered. The red-coated earth-digger, Veale, and + one or two others, had got around Mr. Allen and were chaffing him irreverently.</p> + <p>"There, that'll do," said Dale, joining the group and speaking with firmness. Then + he politely offered to have a nag put into the gig and to send Mr. Allen home on + wheels.</p> + <p>"Thank you kindly," said Allen. "I'm not going <a id="Page_199" + name="Page_199"></a>home; but if your man can rattle me a mile or so up towards + Beacon Hill, it's a hundred to one I shall drop in with them again. With the wind + where it is, hounds are bound to push anything that's in front of them up to the high + ground."</p> + <p>As soon as Dale went to order his gig the clumsy facetiousness was renewed.</p> + <p>"'Tes a pity you ben't a hound yersel, Mr. Allen."</p> + <p>"Ah," said Veale, "if the wood pucks cud transform him on to all fours, what a + farder he'd mek to th' next litter o' pops at the Kennels."</p> + <p>"By gum," said the earth-digger, slapping his leg, "they pups would have noses. + They wuddent never be at fault, would 'em?"</p> + <p>Old Mrs. Goudie, who had a simple taste in raillery, was so convulsed by this + jesting that she put down her tray in order to laugh at ease; and chiefly because she + was laughing, Mary laughed also.</p> + <p>"An' you know most o' the tricks o' foxes too, don't you, Mr. Allen?"</p> + <p>"Now then," said Dale, returning, "that's enough, my lads. I dropped you the hint + by now. You're welcome to as much more of my beer as you can carry, but you won't + sauce my friends inside my gates—nor outside, either, if I chance to be + there."</p> + <p>"Aw right, sir."</p> + <p>"Take no heed of them," said Allen. "It is only their ignorance;" and he staggered + to his feet.</p> + <p>Dale escorted the honored guest to the gig, then wiped his perspiring face, + lighted a pipe; and then reproved Mary and Mrs. Goudie for unseemly mirth.</p> + <p>They still had Mary with them, and, although they did not know it, were to enjoy + her faithful service for <a id="Page_200" name="Page_200"></a>some time to come. Now + that Mrs. Dale grew her own vegetables, purchases from Mr. Druitt, the higgler, had + become rare; only an occasional bit of bacon, or once in a way a couple of rabbits, a + hare, a doubtfully obtained pheasant, could ever be required from him; so that the + greater part of his frequent visits were admittedly paid to the servant and not to + the mistress. But he proved an unconscionably slow courtier. Mary, for her part, when + she was teased about him and asked if he did not yet show anxiety to reach the happy + day, always tossed her head and said that she was in no hurry, that she doubted if + she could ever tear herself away from Vine-Pits, and so on.</p> + <p>Then, at last, a shocking discovery was made. Mary, after an afternoon out, came + home with her face all red and blubbered, sat in the kitchen sobbing and rocking + herself, and told Mavis how she had heard on unimpeachable authority that the higgler + was a married man. He had always been married—and poor Mary confessed that she + was very fond of him, although so angry with him for his disgraceful treatment of + her.</p> + <p>On the next visit of the higgler Dale was lying in wait for him.</p> + <p>"Come inside, please. I'd like a few words with you, Mr. Druitt;" and the higgler + was led through the kitchen, and up the three steps into the adjacent room.</p> + <p>Here, as soon as the door had been shut, Mr. and Mrs. Dale both tackled him. Dale + was very fine, like a magistrate, so dignified as well as so severe, accusing the + culprit of playing fast and loose with a young <a id="Page_201" + name="Page_201"></a>woman, of arousing feelings in her bosom which he was not in a + position to satisfy.</p> + <p>"A girl," said Mavis, "that we consider under our charge, as much as if she was + our daughter."</p> + <p>"Who looks to us," said Dale, "for guardianship and protection."</p> + <p>Mr. Druitt, sitting on the edge of his chair, smiling foolishly, nodded his head + in the direction of the kitchen door, and gave a queer sort of wink.</p> + <p>"Meaning <i>her?</i>"</p> + <p>"Yes, who else should we mean?"</p> + <p>"I've never said a word of love to her in my life."</p> + <p>"Oh, how," cried Mavis, "can you make such a pretense?"</p> + <p>"Because it's the truth."</p> + <p>"But," said Mavis, indignantly, "you've made her fond of you. You've courted + her."</p> + <p>The higgler distinctly preened himself, and smiled archly. "Ah, there's a language + of the eyes, which speaks perhaps when the lips are sealed."</p> + <p>Mavis was angry and disgusted. "You, a married man!"</p> + <p>Dale, outraged too, spoke with increasing sternness. "You don't deny you've got a + wife?"</p> + <p>The higgler answered very gravely. "Mr. Dale, that's my misfortune, not my fault. + But my wife isn't going to last forever, and the day she's gone—that is, the + day after I've buried her decently—I shall come here to Mary Parsons and say + 'Mary'—mind you, I've never called her Mary yet—I shall say, 'Mary, my + lips are unsealed, and I ask you to be my true and lawful second wife.'"</p> + <p>They could make nothing of the higgler.<a id="Page_202" name="Page_202"></a></p> + <p>"It's seven years," he went on, "since Doctor Hollin said to me, 'I have to warn + you Mrs. Druitt isn't going to make old bones.' However, we find it a long job. + There's a proverb, isn't there? Creaking doors!"</p> + <p>Mavis was inexpressibly shocked. "How can you talk of your wife so? Have you no + feelings for her?"</p> + <p>"Mrs. Dale," said the higgler, solemnly, "I married my first wife for money, and + I've been punished for my mistake. That's why I made up my mind I'd marry next time + for love—in choosing a wholesome maiden and not asking what she'd got sewed in + her petticoat or harbored in the bank;" and, nodding, he again gave his curious + self-satisfied wink. "Mr. Dale, you tell her to wait patiently. I'll be true to her, + if she'll be true to me." Then he rose, and smiling sheepishly, once more addressed + Mrs. Dale. "The purpose of my call this morning was to say I shall have some + <i>good</i> bacon next week."</p> + <p>Mavis refused the bacon, and Dale said a few words of stern rebuke.</p> + <p>"I can tell you, Mr. Druitt, I take a very poor opinion of your manhood and proper + feeling."</p> + <p>Then Mavis interposed to check her husband. The fact was, she felt baffled by the + situation and utterly at a loss as to what would be the best way of dealing with it. + Whatever one might think of Mr. Druitt one's self, there was Mary to be considered. + What would ultimately be best for her? The man was warm; and Mary, who was not + growing younger, said she liked him.</p> + <p>"I'll wish you good morning," said the higgler.</p> + <p>Then, when they thought he had been long gone <a id="Page_203" + name="Page_203"></a>and Mavis was talking to Mary, he put in his head at the kitchen + doorway.</p> + <p>"Will this make any difference?" he asked shyly. "Should I call again—or do + you forbid me the house?"</p> + <p>The three women, Mavis, Mary and Mrs. Goudie, all looked at one another, quite + perplexed.</p> + <p>"Er—no," said Mavis, after a pause. "You can call. I may, just possibly, be + wanting bacon next week."</p> + <p>"It's a real beautiful side;" and, without a glance at Mary, he disappeared.</p> + <p>Then Mary instantaneously decided that she would wait for him, and not break with + him; and she asked Mrs. Dale to run out and tell him that she would wait.</p> + <p>But that Mavis could not do. It would be too undignified. Mary must restrain her + emotions till next week, and tell him herself.<a id="Page_204" + name="Page_204"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XV" name="XV"></a>XV</h2> + <p>The little girl Rachel at the age of six was able to take interest in everything + that happened, and to be a real companion who loved to help her mother at any + important task. Thus one winter evening between tea and supper, when Mavis was most + importantly engaged, she sat up late by special license and gave her company and aid + in the little room behind the kitchen.</p> + <p>"Now, see if you can find the blotting-paper over there on daddy's desk. Quietly, + my darling. Very quietly—because we mustn't wake Billy."</p> + <p>Billy, the little boy, was asleep in his cradle, near, but not too near, the + cheerful fire; a bluish flicker that reminded one of the frost out of doors showed + intermittently among the yellow and red flames; the wick of the lamp on the round + table burned clearly; and in the mingling lamplight and firelight the whole room + looked delightfully cozy and homelike. Mavis, with a body just pleasantly tired and a + mind still comfortably active, paused before starting her labor in order luxuriously + to feel the peaceful charm that was being shed forth by all her surroundings.</p> + <p>More and more the very heart of their home life seemed to locate itself in this + room, and so every day additional memories and associations wove themselves about the + objects it contained. Rachel, young as she was, showed a marked predilection for it, + loving it <a id="Page_205" name="Page_205"></a>better than all other rooms. From the + dawn of intelligence she had been fascinated by the two guns and the brass + powder-flasks that hung high over the chimney-place; her first climbings and + tumblings had been performed on the three steps that led to the kitchen; and she had + addled her tender brains, as well as inflamed the natural greed which is so + pardonable in infants, by what was to her a sort of differential calculus before she + learned to discriminate nicely among the various jams kept by Mummy in the big + cupboard.</p> + <p>Nearly all the furniture, as well as the two guns, had belonged to Mr. Bates. It + was solid, and very old—a tall-boy with a drawer that, opening out, made a + writing-desk; a bureau with a latticed glass front; three chairs of the Chippendale + farmhouse order; and one vast chair, covered with leather and adorned with nails, + that had probably been dozed in by the hall-porter of some great mansion more than a + century ago. Here and there Mavis had of course dabbed her small + prettinesses—blue china and a clock on the mantel-shelf, colored cushions, + photographs of the children, views of Rodchurch High Street, the Chase, Rodhaven + Pier; and the old and the new, the useful and the ornamental, alike whispered to her + of fulfilled desires, gratified fancies, and William Dale.</p> + <p>It was her husband's room. Perhaps that formed the real source of all its charms, + the essence or base of attraction that lay deep beneath visual presentations of + chairs and fire-gleamings, or associations of ideas, or memories of past happiness. + Those were his books, behind the latticed glass—the <i>Elocution Manual</i>, + the <i>Elements of Rhetoric</i>, the ten-volumed<a id="Page_206" name="Page_206"></a> + <i>People's Encyclopedia</i>, that he had read, and still read so assiduously. It was + here that he ate, drank, and mused. Here he did all of his work that wasn't real + office work. Here he received such visitors as head coachmen, stud-grooms, and the + huntsmen.</p> + <p>In the cupboard with the jam-pots, there were two or three boxes of cigars, the + famous sloe gin, and other liqueurs, for the entertainment of such highly esteemed + visitors; and so long as one of them occupied the colossal armchair, her husband was + quite a different Dale. He was then such a much better listener than usual, so quick + to see a joke and so easy to be tickled by it, so debonair that he would swallow + almost insulting criticism of his favorite politicians. As she thought of these + things her eyelids fluttered and her lips parted mirthfully. She never asked any + questions as to Dale's more secret methods of dealing with customers' servants. + Obviously he got on well with them; and one might be quite certain that he did not + offer any material compliments that were either traditionally illegitimate or open in + the smallest degree to a suspicion of corrupt purpose.</p> + <p>And she thought admiringly that her man was really a very wonderful man. Though so + candid and straight, he could be grandly silent; he told his womankind all that he + considered it good for them to know, and the rest he kept to himself; he had that + quality of rulership without which manhood always seems deficient.</p> + <p>"Mummy," said Rachel, "I do believe Mary is reading aloud."</p> + <p>"Is she, darling? Yes, I think she is."<a id="Page_207" name="Page_207"></a></p> + <p>Through the kitchen door one could hear a monotonous murmur.</p> + <p>"D'you think she's reading fairy tales?"</p> + <p>"Perhaps. Would you like to listen to her?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no. I'd sooner stay and help you, Mummy."</p> + <p>"Then so you shall, my angel; and I thank you for preferring my company."</p> + <p>Mavis, with the little girl at her knee, got to work. She had purchased a large + scrap-album, and was now to begin putting in her scraps. For a long time she had + collected interesting extracts from the newspapers, more especially portions of old + numbers of the <i>Rodhaven Courier</i> which contained her husband's name.</p> + <p>"Here, Rachel, we'll commence with this;" and she started the book with a long + account of the ceremonial opening of the Barradine Orphanage. The report of a speech + by "Mr. Dale of Vine-Pits Farm" at a political meeting was the second item, and other + gems followed fast.</p> + <p>Rachel assisted from time to time, by twice upsetting the paste pot, tearing a + good many cuttings, and finally by tilting the heavy album off Mummy's lap to the + floor.</p> + <p>But Mavis thought all these actions rather spirited and charming than maladroit + and annoying. They proved that Rachel was trying hard to be of use, and her too rapid + and abrupt gestures were a pleasing evidence that the little creature possessed a + vivacious and not a sluggish disposition. However, the crash of the album on the + floor had awakened Billy, who was now crying lustily; and Rachel's license having + long since expired, Mavis decided to send both her <a id="Page_208" + name="Page_208"></a>treasures to bed. Rachel resisted the edict, and, presently + conducted up-stairs by Mary, bellowed more loudly than her brother; indeed for a + little while the house was filled with the harsh sound of squalling. Yet this noise, + though distressing, was as musical as harps and lutes to the mother's ears; and while + old Mrs. Goudie in the kitchen was saying: "They children want a smart popping to + learn them on'y to squawk when there's reason for squawking," Mavis was thinking: + "Poor darlings, I'd go up and kiss them again, if Mary didn't always quiet them down + quicker than I can."</p> + <p>Alone with her newspaper snippets, Mavis did more reading than pasting. "Heroic + Rescue at Otterford Mill"—that was the description of how Will saved + good-for-nothing Abraham Veale. She knew it almost by heart, but she had to read it + again. "Brave Deed at Manninglea Cross Station"—that was something that made + her feel faint every time she thought of it, and she trembled now as she read in the + snippet of how there had been a frightened dog on the line between the platforms, and + how Will had jumped down in front of the approaching train and whisked the dog out of + danger just in time.</p> + <p>She folded her hands, puckered her forehead, and passed into a reverie about him. + Combining with her intense admiration, there was a great horror of all this reckless + courage. He would not have been so foolhardy years ago. It was against the principles + that he had once laid down as limiting the risks that a brave man may run. It + indicated a change in him, a change that she had never pondered on till now. She + thought of him fighting the wind on top of their rick, <a id="Page_209" + name="Page_209"></a>and of several other incidents unchronicled by the press—of + his going with the police at Old Manninglea when there was the bad riot, of his + joining the Crown keepers when they went out to catch the poachers, of his wild + performance when Mr. Creech's bull got loose. Goring bulls, bludgeoning men, tempest + and flood—wherever and whatever the danger, he went straight to it. But it was + not fair to her and the babes. His thrice precious life! And she grew cold as she + thought that an accident—like a curtain descending when a stage play is + over—might some day end all her joy.</p> + <p>Then she thought once more of that dark period of their dual existence; and it was + the last time that she was ever capable of thinking of it seriously and with any real + concentration. Had that trouble left any permanent mark on him? Her own suffering had + left no mark on her. It was gone so entirely that, as well as seeming incredible, it + seemed badly invented, silly, preposterous. All that remained to her was just this + one firm memory, that, strange or not, there had truly once been a time when his arms + were not her shelter, and she dared not look into his face.</p> + <p>But he was different from her; with a vastly more capacious brain, in which there + was such ample room that perhaps the present did not even impinge upon the past, much + less drive it out altogether. She who in the beginning had tacitly agreed with those + who considered her the obvious superior now felt humbly pleased in recognizing that + he was of grander, finer, and more delicate stuff than herself. And for the first and + last time she was assailed by a disturbing doubt. Was he completely happy even now? + He loved her, <a id="Page_210" name="Page_210"></a>he loved his children, he loved + his successful industry; yet sometimes when she found him alone his face was almost + as somber as it had ever been.</p> + <p>And those bad dreams of his still continued. At first, when things were all in + jeopardy, it had seemed not unnatural that the troubles of the day should break his + rest at night; but why should he dream now, when he was prosperous and without a + single anxiety to distress him? Did he in sleep go back to that old storm of anger, + jealousy, and grief about which he never thought during his waking hours?</p> + <p>And again Mavis was actuated all unconsciously by the elemental selfishness that + mingles with our joy. When we are happy we want others to be happy too, we can not + brook their not being so; even transient darkness in those we love seems inimical to + the light that is burning so cheerfully in ourselves. Mavis ceased to trouble herself + with questions, and forgot that they remained unanswered.</p> + <p>When Dale came in she was, however, more than ordinarily sweet to him, waiting on + him, bringing the supper dishes, not sitting down until he was served, and watching + him while he ate. She told him that she had been reading about the dog on the railway + line, and that he was not to do such things. If he ever again felt such a wild + impulse, he was to stifle it immediately by remembering his wife and bairns.</p> + <p>"D'you understand, Will? We won't have it—and we all three think you ought + to be ashamed of yourself for not knowing better. You're not a boy."</p> + <p>"No," he said, "I shall be forty-two next year. Look here," and he pointed to his + temples. "Look at my gray hair."<a id="Page_211" name="Page_211"></a></p> + <p>"I can't see it."</p> + <p>"But it's there, my dear, all the same. I am beginning to turn toward the sear and + yellow leaf, as Shakespeare puts it."</p> + <p>She admired the easy way in which he quoted Shakespeare, as if it was the most + natural thing in the world to do. Indeed, all through supper she was admiring him. + She thought how beautifully he spoke, expressing himself so elegantly, and with tones + in his voice that every day seemed to sound a little more cultivated. At first after + their arrival at Vine-Pits, being plunged again into the midst of purely rustic talk, + he had fallen back in regard to his diction. Instinctively he reverted to the dialect + that had been his own, and that was being used by everybody about him; but now one + might say that he really had two languages—his rough patter for the yard and + the fields, and his carefully-measured phrasing for the home, office, and upper + circles. She understood that his constant reading and his unflagging desire for + self-improvement were telling rapidly; and with a touch of sadness she wondered if, + passing on always, he would finally leave her quite behind.</p> + <p>No, while life lasted, he would hold to her. He would never shake her off now. + Even if she were old and ugly, useless to him, a dead-weight upon his ascending + progress, he would be true to her now. Even if his love died, the memory of it would + keep him still hers. And she thought of the pity in him, as well as the strength. The + man who could not resist the appeal of a poor little stray dog would not break faith + with the mother of his children; and she thought, "Yes, whatever I say to him, I know + really <a id="Page_212" name="Page_212"></a>and truly that it was a nobler, better + thing to risk all than to allow even a dog to perish. And I love him for not having + hesitated then, even when I pray him not to do it again."</p> + <p>Looking at him, she saw the gray hair that she had just now denied; and to her + eyes these gray feathers at each side of the forehead not only increased his dignity, + but gave him a fresh charm. The gray hair made him somehow more romantic. In her eyes + his face was always growing more beautiful, always refining itself, always losing + something that had been rather coarsely massive and gaining something that was new, + spiritualized, and subtle.</p> + <p>"What are you examining me like that for, Mav? A penny for your thoughts."</p> + <p>"Shall I tell you truly?" and she laughed. "I was thinking if your looks continue + to improve at this rate all the girls will get falling in love with you."</p> + <p>"Go along with you."<a id="Page_213" name="Page_213"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XVI" name="XVI"></a>XVI</h2> + <p>In this manner the full and happy years began to glide past them. Their prosperity + was now firmly established; the business grew; and money came in so nicely that Mrs. + Dale's mortgage had been paid off and her two thousand pounds invested in gilt-edged + securities, while Dale hoped very shortly to discharge the remainder of his + obligation to Mr. Bates. They were, however, as economical as ever in their own way + of life, although they permitted themselves some license in the generosity they had + begun to practise with regard to their less fortunate neighbors. But they found, as + so many have found before them, that in personal charity a little money goes a long + way, and that the claims of the very poor, although sometimes noisy, are rarely + excessive. Naturally they had to be careful for the sake of their children, the + security of whose future must be the first consideration. Dale had promised the baby + boy in his cradle "the advantages of a lib'ral education," and he intended to act up + to this promise largely.</p> + <p>"It is my wish," he said, "that the two of them shall enjoy all that I was myself + deprived of."</p> + <p>New scraps were continually being pasted into the album, and it seemed to Mavis + that she ought to have bought a bigger one, if indeed any albums were made of a size + sufficiently big to contain all the evidences of her husband's gratified ambition. + Scarce a <i>Courier</i><a id="Page_214" name="Page_214"></a> was published without "a + bit" in it that referred to Mr. Dale of Vine-Pits Farm. He was really becoming quite + a public character. He had been called to the District Council, on its foundation, as + a personage who could not be left out. When the Otterford branch of the Fire Brigade + was instituted all agreed in inviting Mr. Dale to be its captain; and four of the + once sluggish yard-servants had immediately decided that they must follow their + master wherever he led, and had enrolled themselves forthwith under his captaincy. He + was a prominent figure at the Old Manninglea corn market, known by sight in its + streets, and had recently been chosen as a member of its very select tradesmen's + club. This was an affair truly different from that vulgar boozing circle at the + Gauntlet Inn which he had denounced so contemptuously in old days. The Manninglea + Club was solid and respectable, a pleasant meeting-place where he could take his + midday meal after market business in company with men of substance and repute. He was + on friendly terms with most of the farmers between the down country and Rodhaven + Harbor; and last, but not least, the gentry all passed the time of day when they met + him, and many would stop him on the high-roads for a chat in the most polite and + jolly fashion.</p> + <p>He confessed to Mavis that the sweetest thing in his success was the feeling of + being no longer disliked.</p> + <p>"Oh, Will, you never were disliked."</p> + <p>"But that's just what I was. And I begin to get a glimmer of the reason why. I was + reading an article in <i>Answers</i> last week, and it seemed as if it had been + written specially to enlighten me. It was about sympathy. The author, who didn't sign + his name, but <a id="Page_215" name="Page_215"></a>was ev'dently a man of powerful + int'lect, said that without understanding you can't sympathize; and he went on to + show that without sympathy the whole world would come to a standstill."</p> + <p>"Ah," said Mavis, "that's the sort of difficult reading that you like. It's too + deep for me."</p> + <p>"It's plain as the nose on one's face, come to think of it. Sympathy is the + key-note. It enables you to look at things from both sides—to put yourself in + another man's place, and ask yourself the question, What should I be thinking and + doing, if I was him?—I should say if I was he. In the old days I was very + deficient in that. A fool just made me angry. Now I try to put myself in his place." + He paused, and smiled. "Perhaps you'll say I'm there already—a fool + myself."</p> + <p>"Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to say that;" and Mavis smiled too. "Not <i>quite</i> + a fool, Will."</p> + <p>He went on analyzing his characteristics, talking with great interest in the + subject, and after a didactic style, but not with the heavy egoistic method that he + had often employed years ago.</p> + <p>"No, I never remarked that."</p> + <p>"You know," he said presently, "in spite of all my bounce, I was a <i>shy</i> + man.</p> + <p>"It's the fact, Mav. And my shyness came between me and others. I couldn't take + them sufficiently free. I wanted all the overtures to come from them, and I was too + ready to draw in my horns if they didn't seem to accept me straight at what I judged + my own value. For a long while now it has been my endeavor to sink what was once + described to me as my pers'nal equation. I don't think of myself <a id="Page_216" + name="Page_216"></a>at all, if I can help it; and the consequence is the shyness gets + pushed into the background, my manner becomes more free and open, and people begin to + treat me in a more friendly spirit."</p> + <p>And he wound up his discourse by returning to the original cause of + satisfaction.</p> + <p>"Yes, I do think there are some now that like me for myself—not many, but + just one or two, besides dear old Mr. Bates."</p> + <p>"Everybody does. Why, look at that child, Norah. Only been here a month, and + worships the ground you tread on."</p> + <p>"Poor little mite. That's her notion of being grateful for what I did for her + father. Does she eat just the same?"</p> + <p>"Ravenous."</p> + <p>"Don't stint her," said Dale, impressively. "Feed her <i>ad lib</i>. Give her all + she'll swallow. It's the leeway she's got to make up;" and he turned his eyes toward + the kitchen door. "Is she out there?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"I spoke loud. You don't think she heard what I said?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no. She's busy with Mrs. Goudie."</p> + <p>"I wouldn't like for her to hear us discussing her victuals as though she was an + animal."</p> + <p>"You might have thought she was verily an animal," said Mavis, "if you'd seen her + at the first meals we set before her. And even now it brings a lump into my throat to + watch her."</p> + <p>"Just so."</p> + <p>"When I told her to undress that night to wash herself, she was a sight to break + one's heart. Her <a id="Page_217" name="Page_217"></a>poor little ribs were almost + sticking through the skin; and, Will, I thought of one of ours ever being treated + so."</p> + <p>Dale got up from the table, his face glowing redly, his brows frowning; and he + stretched his arms to their full length.</p> + <p>"By Jupiter!" he said thickly, "if only Mrs. Neath had been a man, I'd 'a' given + him—well, at the least, I'd 'a' given him a piece of my mind. I'd have told him + what I thought of him."</p> + <p>"I promise you," said Mavis, "that I told Mrs. Neath what I thought of + <i>her</i>."</p> + <p>"An' I'm right glad you did."</p> + <p>This new inmate under their roof was Norah Veale, a twelve-year-old daughter of + the Hadleigh Wood hurdle-maker. Mavis, taking a present of tea and sugar to one of + the Cross Roads cottages, had found her digging in the garden, and, struck by her + pitiful aspect, had questioned her and elicited her history. It was a common enough + one in those parts. Not being wanted at home, she had been "lent" to Mrs. Neath, the + cottage woman, in exchange for her keep, and was mercilessly used by the borrower. + She rose at dawn, worked as the regular household drudge till within an hour of + school-time, then walked into Rodchurch for the day's schooling with a piece of dry + bread in her pocket as dinner; and on her return from school worked again till late + at night. She admitted that she felt always hungry, always tired, always miserable; + that she suffered from cold at night in her wretched little bed; and that Mrs. Neath + often beat her. She was a bright, intelligent child, black-haired, + olive-complexioned, with lively blue eyes which expressed <a id="Page_218" + name="Page_218"></a>at once the natural trustfulness of youth, a certain boldness and + wildness derived from gipsy ancestors, and a questioning wonder that this + pleasant-looking world should be systematically ill-treating her.</p> + <p>The horrid, lying, carneying old woman of the cottage received home truths instead + of tea and sugar from Mavis Dale, who, with all her maternal feelings aroused, rushed + off straightway to hunt for the neglectful father. She found him at the Barradine + Arms, and demanded his permission to take away the child. Veale, although sadly + bemused, at once said that he could refuse nothing to the wife of his preserver.</p> + <p>"Oh, lor-a-mussy, yes, mum, you may 'aave my little Norrer an' do what you like + wi' her. Bless her heart, I look on Norrer and her brothers to be the comfort o' my + old age, but I wunt stan' in their light to interfere wi' what's best for any of + 'em."</p> + <p>Mavis then took Norah straight home with her to Vine-Pits, bathed her, fed her, + clothed her, and made much of her. And Norah proved grateful, docile, amenable, doing + all that Mrs. Dale told her to do; and from the first exhibiting an almost + superstitious worship of Mr. Dale. For truly, as he himself had surmised, her little + starved breast was overflowing with gratitude to the man who had saved her father. It + mattered nothing to the children of the mud hovel that their father was not an + exemplary character; they did not want him to be drowned; and Norah, hearing in + extreme youth of the hero who had interposed between him and such a cruel death, had + mentally built a pedestal for the hero and kept him on top of it ever since.</p> + <p>It happened that about the time when Dale was preparing <a id="Page_219" + name="Page_219"></a>to pay off the last instalment of his debt, Mr. Bates + unexpectedly applied for the money. He had never before shown the least anxiety for + repayment; it had always been "Take your time, William. I know I'm in safe hands," + and so forth; but now he said, "If you can make it convenient to you, William, it + would be convenient to me."</p> + <p>"Oh, certainly, Mr. Bates. You shall have it before the end of the week—and + I hope you're going to act on the advice I ventured to offer last time; that is, put + it in one of these Canadian Government guaranteed stocks."</p> + <p>"I'm sure it was good advice, William—even if I didn't act on it."</p> + <p>"Of course my orig'nal advice was what you ought to have acted on, Mr. Bates. That + is to say, bought an annuity with your entire capital."</p> + <p>"Ah, William, I really couldn't do that;" and Mr. Bates turned away his eyes, as + if unable to support Dale's friendly regard. "Apart from these annuities for old folk + being rather a dog-in-the-manger trick, I—well, one has one's private + difficulties, William. One is not always a free agent."</p> + <p>The demand for repayment, and with something of evasiveness or reticence in the + old fellow's manner, greatly troubled Dale. Not at all from selfish motives; but + because it confirmed a suspicion that he had long entertained. Although invisible + locally, disgraced and hiding somewhere at a distance, that blackguardly son was + probably still draining the good old man's resources.</p> + <p>So many things pointed to the correctness of this supposition. On the interest of + the money that Mavis <a id="Page_220" name="Page_220"></a>and Dale had together paid + him for the business, he should have been able to live very comfortably; whereas, in + fact, his way of life was mean and sorry. His cottage was quite a decent dwelling, + separated from the road by a nice long strip of garden, and with a miniature apple + orchard behind it; but it showed all those signs of neglect that had been evident at + Vine-Pits when the Dales first came there. He had no proper servant, but just pigged + it anyhow with the occasional assistance of a woman and her husband. His clothes, + though neatly brushed, were too shabby and overworn for a person of his position. And + he was not a miser; he was a proud self-respecting man, who naturally would desire to + maintain conventionally adequate state, were he able to do so.</p> + <p>These thoughts worried Dale. He really loved Mr. Bates, thoroughly appreciated the + great dignity and sweetness of his nature, and felt it to be a monstrous and + intolerable thing that the dear old chap at the age of seventy-three, instead of + being allowed to end his days in a happy, seemly style, should be as if were bled to + death by a conscienceless reprobate. But what could one do? It was like the cruelties + of the woods that one regrets, but can not prevent—the rabbits chased by the + weasels, the pheasants killed by the foxes, the thrushes destroyed by the hawks.</p> + <p>Any doubt that remained in the mind of Dale was soon dissipated. He told Mavis how + he had seen Bates junior—a seedy, wicked-looking wretch now—lurking at + dusk in the cottage porch, and how next morning he had ridden over to talk to Mr. + Bates about this ill-omened visitor. Mr. Bates said it was true that his son had been + there for two or three days, but <a id="Page_221" name="Page_221"></a>he was now + gone; and he declined to discuss the matter any further. "I can't speak of it, + William. I thank you for meaning kindness, but it's a thing I can't speak of."</p> + <p>Dale also told Mrs. Goudie that Richard Bates had shown himself in the + neighborhood, and asked her if the fact was generally known. He was aware that Mrs. + Goudie had almost as much regard for the old man as he had himself.</p> + <p>"No, sir," said Mrs. Goudie, "I hadn't 'a' heard of it."</p> + <p>"Then that proves how close he kept. No doubt he came and went as surreptitiously + as he could. Let it be between ourselves, Mrs. Goudie. Don't spread the tale an inch + beyond us three."</p> + <p>"I will not, sir. But, oh, well-a-day, it's a bad bit o' news, sir. I did hope Mr. + Bates was cured o' that runnin' sore."</p> + <p>She had been summoned from the kitchen just before leaving for the night; and with + her shawl over her head, her wrinkled face working, and her bony hands clasped she + stood near the table and waited for Mr. Dale to give the signal for her to + withdraw.</p> + <p>"If you should see him, at any time, let me know, Mrs. Goudie."</p> + <p>"I will, sir."</p> + <p>"I might perhaps do good, if I could get hold of him on the quiet and address a + few words to him."</p> + <p>"I wish you'd break his neck for him, yes, I do, indeed I do. I could tell you + things as 'd make any one say hanging was too good for him."</p> + <p>And, encouraged to talk freely, Mrs. Goudie told Mavis and Dale, what indeed she + had often told them <a id="Page_222" name="Page_222"></a>before, of the shocking + badness of Richard Bates and the ugly scenes that had taken place in this very house; + of how he bullied his father to give him money, storming and raving like a lunatic + when resisted; and of how the old fellow alone by himself had groaned and wept and + prayed. Mrs. Goudie had heard him, after a most dreadful quarrel, praying out loud in + his room up-stairs.</p> + <p>"An' believe me, sir, he was a praying for his son all the time—imploring of + the Lord to soften his heart like, and save him from the hell-fire that his conduct + asked for. You know, sir, he's a very God-fearing man, Mr. Bates."<a id="Page_223" + name="Page_223"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XVII" name="XVII"></a>XVII</h2> + <p>The action of the Dales in regard to Norah Veale did not pass unnoticed. "They do + tell me," said humble folk quite far afield, "that Mr. Dale up to Vine-Pits hev + adapted little Norrer Veale same as if 'twas his own darter; and I sin her myself + ridin' to her schoolin' in Mr. Dale's wagon. I allus held that Abe Veale was born a + lucky one, fer nobody ever comes adapting my childer; an' how hey he kep' out o' jail + all his days, if 'tisn't the luck?"</p> + <p>Nearer home, so striking an instance of kindness encouraged the cottagers to do + more freely what already they were doing with considerable freedom: that is, to + regard Vine-Pits Farm, and especially the parts of it presided over by Mrs. Dale, as + the proper place to go in all moments of embarrassment or tribulation. Thus the + flagged path by the walnut tree, the wooden bench beneath the window, and the open + kitchen door, tended to become a sort of court where Mavis had to listen to an + ever-increasing number of applicants.</p> + <p>It used to be: "Muvver hey sent me to tell you at once, Mum, she isn't no better + but a good deal worse, and the doctor hev ordered her some strong soup for to nourish + her stren'th;" or "Mr. Scull's compliments, and might he hev the loan of some butter + agin;" or "Mrs. Craddock wishes you, Mum, to read this letter which she hey written + out of her sickbed, <a id="Page_224" name="Page_224"></a>and every word of it is no + more than the truth, as I can vouch for. Mr. Craddock in his cups last night punished + her pore face somethin' frightful. She can't go to her work, and there's not so much + as a bite of bread or a sip of milk in the house."</p> + <p>Mrs. Goudie declared that Mavis was often imposed upon; and, although Mavis + herself wished to give wisely rather than blindly, endeavoring to govern warm impulse + with cold reason, certainly very few people went away from the Vine-Pits back door + empty-handed.</p> + <p>The gentry, in their turn, learned the commonly accepted fact that Mr. and Mrs. + Dale were charitably-minded as well as prosperous, and thought all the better of + them, asked for subscriptions, and invited cooperation in various good works. So that + their fame was always shining with a steadier brightness, and one might say that + nowadays there appeared to be only a single objection occasionally hinted against + this fortunate couple. Certain very old-fashioned people refrained from patronizing + Dale's business or praising his private life, because of the regrettable and + notorious circumstance that he never went to church.</p> + <p>It could not be denied. During a good many years he had been to one funeral and + two christenings; and, except for these rare occasions, had entirely abstained from + attending any religious ceremonies. And Mavis too had gradually become slack in the + performance of her spiritual duties. On Sunday mornings there was the dinner to think + about. She still liked to cook the great weekly feast herself. Moreover, after six + days of genuine labor, Sunday's fundamental purport as a day of rest is apt to + overshadow its symbolic aspects <a id="Page_225" name="Page_225"></a>as a day set + apart for communion with things impalpable. The Abbey Church was too far off, even if + it had not been out of the question for other reasons. It required a walk of two fat + miles to get to Rodchurch, and one had to start early if one did not want to arrive + there hot and flustered; again there was the risk of rain overtaking one in one's + best dress. Every fine Sunday she used to talk at breakfast of intending to go to the + morning service; and at dinner of intending to go to the evening service.</p> + <p>If she carried either the first or the second intention into effect, it was Dale's + custom to go along the road and meet her returning. And this he now prepared to do, + on a warm dry April morning, when obviously there could be no fear of rain and she + had set out in her best directly after breakfast.</p> + <p>Dale loved the quiet and the freedom from interruption of these Sunday mornings; + he enjoyed the luxury of being able to smoke in the office while he made up his + books, and reveled in the lolling ease of the old porter's chair as he read + Saturday's <i>Courier</i> and the last number of <i>Answers</i>. To-day he was + peculiarly conscious of the soothing Sunday hush that had fallen widely on the land. + All the doors and windows stood open, so that the soft air flowed like water through + and through the house, making it an undivided part of the one great generous flooding + atmosphere, and giving sensations of vast space and free activities as well as those + produced by guarded comfort and motionless repose. The only sounds that reached him + were the droning of bees in a border of spring flowers, the pawing of a horse in the + stables, the pipe of young voices in the orchard; and all three sounds <a + id="Page_226" name="Page_226"></a>were pleasant to his ear. How could they be + otherwise; since they spoke of three such pleasant things as awakening life, rewarded + toil, and contented fatherhood?</p> + <p>When presently he went up-stairs to change his coat, he stood by a window and + looked down at the peaceful little realm that fate had given to him. The sunlight was + glittering on the red tiles of the clustered roofs, the brown thatch of the ricks, + and the white cobblestones of a corner of the yard; and the blossom of pears and + apples was pink and white, as if a light shower of colored snow had just fallen on + the still leafless trees. Beneath the orchard branches he could see his children and + Norah playing among the daffodils that grew wild in the grass; the light all about + them was faintly blue and unceasingly tremulous and he stood watching, listening, + smiling, thinking.</p> + <p>He observed the gracefulness and slimness of his daughter's stockinged legs, and + thought what a real little man his son seemed already, so sturdy on his pins. In his + blue overalls he looked like a miniature ploughman in a smock-frock. Dale laughed + when Billy scampered away resolutely, and Norah had to run to catch him.</p> + <p>"Le' me go," roared Bill.</p> + <p>"Na, na," said Norah, "you mustn't go brevetin' about so far. Bide wi' sister and + me, an' chain the daffies."</p> + <p>And Dale noticed the musical note in Norah's voice, almost like a wild bird + singing. It was a pleasure to him to see the little maid making herself so useful; + and it corroborated what Mavis had told him about <a id="Page_227" + name="Page_227"></a>her being splendid in taking care of the chicks, as well as + keeping them happy and amused.</p> + <p>He put on his black coat, fetched out a pair of brown dogskin gloves, and then, + failing to find the silk hat, came to the top of the staircase and shouted for + Mary.</p> + <p>"My hat, Mary. Where in the name of reason is my hat?"</p> + <p>His shouts broke the Sunday silence, filled the house with noise, went rolling + through the open windows in swift vibrations. Norah Veale under the blossoming apple + tree caught up the cry as though she had been an echo, and ran with the children + after her.</p> + <p>"Mary, the master's hat. Mary, Mary! Master wants his hat."</p> + <p>Then she appeared at the foot of the stairs, with an anxious excited face and + speaking breathlessly.</p> + <p>"Mary can't leave th' Yorkshire pudden, sir; but she says she saw Mrs. Dale with + th' hat in her hand after you wore it on Wednesday to Manninglea."</p> + <p>"Yes, but where is it <i>now</i>, Norah?"</p> + <p>"I do think Mrs. Dale must have put it in the cupboard under the stairs to get it + safe out of Billy's way."</p> + <p>And sure enough there the hat was. Both children pressed beside Norah to peep in + with her when she opened the cupboard door. This hall cupboard was the most sacred + and awe-inspiring receptacle in the whole house, because here were kept Dale's + fireman's outfit always ready and handy to be snatched out at a moment's notice. + Rachel gazed delightedly at the blue coat hanging extended, with the webbed steel on + the shoulder-straps, at the helmet above, the great <a id="Page_228" + name="Page_228"></a>boots beneath, and the shining ax that dangled near an empty + sleeve; but the sight was almost too tremendous for Billy. His lively young + imagination could too readily inflate this shell of apparel with ogreish flesh and + bone waiting to pounce on small intruders, and he clung rather timorously to Norah's + skirt.</p> + <p>"Daddy," said Rachel, "I wis' you'd wear your helmet to-day."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, lassie, that wouldn't be seemly. This is more the thing for Sunday. Thank + you, Norah." And having taken the silk hat, he laid his hand lightly on Norah's wavy + black hair, and spoke to her very kindly. "Nothing like thought, Norah. I believe + you've got a good little thinking-box under all this pretty hair, and you can't use + it too much, my dear—specially so long as you're thinking about others."</p> + <p>Norah, with her blue eyes fixed on the venerated master's face, seemed to tremble + joyously under the caress and the compliment. She and the children came out into the + front garden and stood at the gate to watch Dale march away down the white road. He + looked grandly stiff, black and large, in his ceremonious costume—a daddy and a + master to be proud of.</p> + <p>He went only half-way to Rodchurch, and then sitting on a gate opposite the + Baptist chapel indulged himself with another pipe. He made his halt here because + several times when he had gone farther he had found Mavis accompanied by old + Rodchurch acquaintances who had volunteered to escort her for a portion of the + homeward journey, and he felt no inclination for this sort of chance society.<a + id="Page_229" name="Page_229"></a></p> + <p>Not a human being, not even the smallest sign of a man's habitation, was in sight; + not a movement of bird or beast could be perceived in the stretching expanse of flat + fields, across which huge cloud shadows passed slowly; the broad white road on either + hand seemed to lead from nowhere to nowhere, and Dale, meditatively puffing out his + tobacco smoke and watching it rise and vanish, had that sense of deep and almost + solemn restfulness which comes whenever we realize that for any reason we are cut off + from the possibility of communication with our kind. For a few moments he felt as a + man feels all alone at the summit of a mountain, in the depths of an untrodden + forest, on the limitless surface of a calm ocean. Yet, as he knew, there were men + quite near to him. Across the road, not fifty yards away, the brick walls of the + Baptist Chapel were hiding many men and women. Perhaps it was the complete isolation + of this ugly building, the house of prayer pushed away into the desert far from all + houses of laughter and talk, that had induced the idea of isolation in himself.</p> + <p>If he listened, he could hear sounds made by men. Through the chapel windows there + came a continuous murmur, like the buzzing of a monster bee under the dome of a glass + hive—the voice of the pastor preaching his sermon. Then all at once came loud + music, shuffling of seats, scraping of chairs; and a voluminous song poured out and + upward in the silent air. Dale idly thought of this chorus as resembling the smoke + from the pipe—something that went up a little way and faded long before it + reached the sky.</p> + <p>The music ceased. The congregation were leaving the chapel. Dale got off the gate, + put his pipe in his <a id="Page_230" name="Page_230"></a>pocket, and watched the + humble worshipers as they came toward him. He knew them nearly all, and gravely + returned their grave salutations as they passed by. They were maid-servants and + men-servants from Rodchurch, old people and quite young people, a few laborers and + cottage-women; and they all walked slowly, not at first talking to one another, but + smiling with introspective vagueness. Dale observed their decent costume, their sober + deportment, and leisurely gait, observed also a striking similarity in the expression + of all the faces. They were like people who unwillingly awake and struggle to recall + every detail of the dream they are being forced to relinquish. Observing them thus, + one could not fail to understand that, at this moment at least, they all firmly + believed that their just-finished song had been heard a very, very long way up.</p> + <p>The road was empty again when the pastor came out and locked the chapel door + behind him. He spoke to Dale with a gentle cheerfulness.</p> + <p>"Good day, friend Dale."</p> + <p>Dale, not too well pleased with this easy and familiar mode of address, replied + stiffly.</p> + <p>"I wish you good day, Mr. Osborn."</p> + <p>"Good day. God's day. That's what it meant in the beginning, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>And Dale, resuming his seat on the gate, watched Mr. Osborn go plodding away + toward Vine-Pits and the Cross Roads. This pastor, who had succeeded old Melling a + few years ago, was a short, bearded man of sixty, and he lived in lodgings on the + outskirts of Rodchurch. Evidently he was not going home to dinner. Perhaps he had + some sick person to visit, and he <a id="Page_231" name="Page_231"></a>might get a + snack at the Barradine Arms or one of the cottages. It was said that his father had + been a rich linen-draper in some North of England town; and that he himself would + have inherited this flourishing business and its accumulated wealth, if he had not + insisted on joining the ministry. But he threw up all to preach the Gospel. Dale + thought of the nature of the faith that would make a man go and do a thing like that. + It must be unquestioning, undoubting; a conviction that amounted to certainty.</p> + <p>He did not see Mavis approaching. She called to him from a distance, and he sprang + off the gate and hurried to meet her. Instinctively, as he drew near, he looked into + her face, searching for the expression that he had noticed just now in those other + faces. It was not there. She was hot and red after her walk; her eyes were full of + life and gaiety; she seemed a fine, broad-blown, well-dressed dame who might have + been returning from market instead of from church, and her first words spoke of + practical affairs.</p> + <p>"Holly Lodge is let again, Will, and Mr. Allen says the new gentleman keeps + horses—because he's having the stables painted. You ought to send a circular at + once, and make a call without delay."</p> + <p>Dale took his pipe out of his pocket, and spoke in an absent tone.</p> + <p>"I've been thinking what a rum world it is, Mav."</p> + <p>"Yes, but a very nice world, Will;" and she slipped her arm in his, as they walked + on together. "No, not another pipe. Don't take the edge off your appetite with any + more smoking. There's good roast beef and Yorkshire pudding waiting for you. That is, + if Mary hasn't made a mess of everything."<a id="Page_232" name="Page_232"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XVIII" name="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2> + <p>On the evening of the next Sunday Dale was quietly going out of the house when + Mavis offered to accompany him.</p> + <p>"Off for a stroll, Will? If you can wait ten minutes, I'll come with you."</p> + <p>But he excused himself from waiting, and further confessed that he preferred to be + alone. He said he was in a thoughtful rather than a talkative mood to-night.</p> + <p>"You understand, old girl?"</p> + <p>"Yes, dear, I understand. You want to put on your considering cap about + something."</p> + <p>"That's just it, Mav. The considering cap. Ta-ta."</p> + <p>Outside in the roadway Mr. Creech, a farmer, hindered him for a few minutes. + Between him and Mr. Creech there were certain business arrangements now under + negotiation, and it was impossible to avoid speaking of them. Dale, however, cut + their chat as short as possible, and directly he had shaken off Mr. Creech he walked + away briskly toward Rodchurch.</p> + <p>He had intended to arrive at the Baptist Chapel before the evening service began, + but now he was late. The congregation were all on their knees, and the pastor, + standing in his desk or pulpit above a raised platform, had begun to pray aloud. Dale + paused just inside the door, looking at his strange surroundings, <a id="Page_233" + name="Page_233"></a>and feeling the awkwardness of a person who enters a place that + he has never seen before, and finds himself among a lot of people who have their own + customs and usages, all of which are unknown to him. Then he noticed that a man was + smiling at him and beckoning, and he bowed gravely and followed the hand. He was led + up the little building to some empty chairs on a level with the platform, at right + angles to the rows of benches, and close to a harmonium. Mr. Osborn, the pastor, had + stopped praying, and he did not go on again until Dale was seated. No one else had + looked up or seemed to be aware of the interruption caused by his entrance.</p> + <p>He assumed a duly reverent attitude, not kneeling, but bending his body forward, + and observed everything with great interest. There were many differences between the + arrangements of this chapel and those of an ordinary church. The absence of an altar + struck him as very remarkable. The large platform, with its balustrade and central + perch, seemed to be altar, pulpit, and lectern all rolled into one—and choir + too, since it was occupied by several men and a dozen girls and young women, who were + all now on their knees while Mr. Osborn, looking very odd in purely civilian clothes, + prayed loudly over their heads.</p> + <p>He glanced at the high bare walls and narrow windows, and observed that, except + for some stenciled texts, there was not the slightest attempt at decoration. Outside, + the light was rapidly waning, and inside the building the general tone had a grayness + and dimness that obliterated all the bright colors of the girls' dresses and hats. + The circumstance that not a single face was visible produced a curious impression <a + id="Page_234" name="Page_234"></a>on one's mind. It made Dale feel for a moment as + though he were improperly prying, behind people's backs, at matters that did not in + the least concern him; and next moment he thought that all the gray stooping forms + were exactly like those of ghosts. Then, in another moment, noticing with what rigid + immobility they held themselves, he thought of them as being dead and waiting for + some tremendous signal that should bring them to life again.</p> + <p>"Now," said Mr. Osborn, "let us praise God by singing the hundred and twenty-sixth + hymn."</p> + <p>Then all the faces showed. It was like a flash of pallid light running to and fro + along the benches as everybody changed the kneeling to the sitting posture; and Dale + immediately felt that he had been placed in an uncomfortably conspicuous position. + Far from being situated so that he could pry on the private affairs of others, he was + where everybody could study him. He was alone, opposite to the entire crowd, instead + of being comfortably absorbed in its mass.</p> + <p>"Oh, thank you. Much obliged."</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn, speaking from the pulpit, had said something to one of his young + women, and she was leaning over the balustrade, smilingly offering Dale an open + hymn-book.</p> + <p>"I am afraid," she said, "that it's very small print; but I dare say you have good + eyes."</p> + <p>She spoke in the most friendly natural manner, exactly as one speaks to a visitor + when one is anxious to make him feel welcome and at home. Dale, startled by this + style of address in such a place, made a dignified bow.</p> + <p>"Give him this," said Mr. Osborn, handing a book out of the pulpit. "It's a larger + character—'long <a id="Page_235" name="Page_235"></a>primer,' as I believe the + printers call it. We'll have the lamps directly; but we are all of us rather partial + to blind man's holiday—not to mention that oil is oil, and that Brother Spiers + doesn't give it away. We know he couldn't afford to do that. But there it + is—Take care of the pence."</p> + <p>To Dale's astonishment, he heard a distinct chuckle here and there among the + congregation. Then the same young woman, having found the correct page, handed him + the large-type book. Then the man at the harmonium struck up, and the whole + congregation burst into song.</p> + <p>They sang with a fervent strength that he had never heard equaled. For a moment + the powerful chorus seemed to shake the walls, to fill every cubic foot of air that + the building contained, and then to go straight up, splitting the ugly roof, and out + into the sky. Otherwise this hymn would have left one no space to breathe in. Dale + felt a sudden rush of blood to the head, as if the pressure of vocal sound were about + to produce suffocation; and at the same time he had the fantastic but almost + irresistible idea that the whole congregation were singing solely at him, that they + and their pastor had together planned to set him alone in this high place where he + must bear the full brunt of the hymn while they all watched its effect upon him, and + that the hymn itself had been specially and artfully chosen with a view to him and to + nobody else.</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Hail, sov'reign love, that first began<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">The scheme to rescue fallen man!<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">That gave my soul a hiding-place."<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p><a id="Page_236" name="Page_236"></a>With his face turned as much as possible from + the singers, he stood very stiff and erect, staring at the printed page. Loudly as + they had sung the first verse they seemed to sing the second verse more loudly.</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Against the God that rules the sky,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">I fought with hand uplifted high;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Despised His rich abounding grace,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Too proud to seek a hiding-place."<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>Dale braced himself, squared his shoulders and stood more erect than ever as they + struck into the third verse.</p> + <p>They sang louder than before: it seemed to him that they were screaming.</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But thus th' eternal counsel ran,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">'<i>Almighty</i> love, arrest that man!'"<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>Dale closed the hymn-book, held it behind his back, and stared at the cross-beams + of the roof until the hymn was over.</p> + <p>After the hymn Mr. Osborn read a couple of chapters from the Bible, and Dale, + seated again, understood how utterly unfounded had been his recent notion that these + people were devoting any particular attention to him. He looked at them carefully. + Obviously they had not a thought of him. The eyes of those near to him and far from + him were alike fixed upon the pastor's face.</p> + <p>But as soon as they sang again he experienced the same sensations again, felt a + conviction that the hymn was aimed directly at him.<a id="Page_237" + name="Page_237"></a></p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Lord, when Thy Spirit deigns to show<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">The badness of our hearts,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Astonished at the amazing view,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">The Soul with horror starts.<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Our staggering faith gives way to doubt,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Our courage yields to fear;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Shocked at the sight, we straight cry out,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">'Can ever God dwell here?'<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"None less than God's Almighty Son<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Can move such loads of sin;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">The water from his side must run,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">To wash this dungeon clean."<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>"Now, I think," said Mr. Osborn, "it is fairly lighting-up time, and that no one + can accuse us of being extravagant if we call for the match-boxes. Brother Maghull, + please get to work. And, yes, you too, Brother Hartley, if you will. You're always a + dab at regulating them."</p> + <p>Then the lamps were lighted; two or three men going round to do the work, the + congregation generally assisting as much as they were able, while the pastor, + watching all operations, made genial comments.</p> + <p>"Thank you. Now we begin to see who's who, and what's what. I say, that's on the + smoke, isn't it? I seem to smell something, or is it imagination? If the wicks are as + badly trimmed as they were three Sundays ago, I shall be tempted to copy the + procedure of the House of Commons, and <i>name</i> a member." Then he smiled. "Yes, I + shall name a certain young sister who must have turned clumsy-fingered because she + was thinking of her fal-lals and her chignon, or her <a id="Page_238" + name="Page_238"></a>new hat, when she ought to have been thinking of her duty to our + lamps."</p> + <p>A ripple of gentle laughter, like a lightly dancing wave on a deep calm sea, + passed from the platform to the outer door; the lamplighters went back to their + seats; and the pastor with a change of voice said solemnly: "Friends, let us + pray."</p> + <p>Dale observed his manner of holding his hand to his forehead as if seeking + inspiration, the almost spasmodic movements of his mouth, the sort of plaintive groan + that started the prayer, and the steadily accumulating earnestness with which it went + on.</p> + <p>"O merciful and divine Father, supreme and omnipotent lord of Thy created + universe, vouchsafe unto this little knot of Thy lowly creatures ..."</p> + <p>It was a long prayer; and Dale, surmising it to be an extempore composition, + admired Mr. Osborn's flow of language, command of erudite words, and success in + bringing some very intricate sentences to an appropriate period.</p> + <p>During the sermon Mr. Osborn several times aroused laughter by little homely jokes + coming unexpectedly in the midst of his serious discourse; but Dale no longer felt + surprise. He thought that he had caught their point of view, got the hang of the main + scheme. These people were genuine believers, and entirely free from any affectation + or pretense. They possessed no church-manner: thus, when they spoke to one another + here, they did so as naturally as when they were speaking in the fields or on the + highroads. Only when they spoke to God, could you hear the vibration and the thrill, + the effort and the strain.</p> + <p>And all at once his own self-consciousness vanished.<a id="Page_239" + name="Page_239"></a> He felt comfortable, quite at ease, and extraordinarily glad + that he had dedicated an hour to the purpose of coming here.</p> + <p>The lamplight enormously improved the appearance of the chapel; the genial yellow + glow was surrounded by fine dark shadows that draped the ugly walls as if with soft + curtains; there were golden glittering bands on the roof beams, and above them all + had become black, impenetrable, mysterious. When one glanced up one might have had + the night sky over one's head, for all one could see of the roof. The light shone + bright on crooked backs, slightly distorted limbs, the pallor of sickness, the stains + of rough weather; on girls meekly folding hands that daily scrub and scour; on + laboring men stooping the shoulders that habitually carry weights; on spectacled old + women with eyes worn out by incessantly peering at the tiny stitches of their + untiring needles; but one would have looked in vain for any types even approximately + similar to the stalwart well-balanced youths, the smooth-cheeked game-playing + maidens, the prosperously healthful fathers and mothers of the established faith. + Dale did not look for them, did not miss them, would not have wished them here.</p> + <p>It might be said that there was not a single person of the whole gathering on whom + there was not plainly printed, in one shape or another, the stamp of toil. That fact + perhaps formed the root of the difference between this and a Church of England + congregation. To Dale's mind, however, there was something else of a saliently + differentiating character. Once again he was struck by the expression of all the + faces. He thought how calm, how trustful, how quietly joyous <a id="Page_240" + name="Page_240"></a>these people must be feeling, in order to shine back at the lamps + as steadily and clearly as the lamps were shining on them.</p> + <p>"Friends, let us praise God by singing the hundred and tenth hymn before we + separate."</p> + <p>They all rose and began to sing their final song; and Dale observed that here and + there, as the loud chorus swelled and flowed, singers would sink down upon their + knees as though of a sudden impelled to silence and prayer.</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"There is a fountain filled with blood,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">And sinners plunged beneath that flood,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Lose all their guilty stains.<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The dying thief rejoiced to see<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">That fountain in his day;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">And there may I, as vile as he,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Wash all my sins away."<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>Dale abruptly sat down, leaned forward, and then knelt upon the boarded floor, + hiding his face in his hands. He did not get up until the pastor had given the + blessing and the people were moving out.<a id="Page_241" name="Page_241"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XIX" name="XIX"></a>XIX</h2> + <p>As so often happens toward the latter part of April, there had come a spell of + unseasonably warm weather; thunder had been threatening for the last week, and now at + the end of an oppressive day you could almost smell the electricity in the air.</p> + <p>Mavis warned Dale that he would get a sousing, when he told her that he was + obliged to go as far as Rodchurch.</p> + <p>"Won't it do to-morrow, Will?"</p> + <p>"No, I shan't have time to-morrow. Remember I'm not made of barley-sugar. I + shouldn't melt, you know, even if I hadn't got my mack."</p> + <p>Norah fetched him his foul weather hat, and ran for his umbrella.</p> + <p>"No," he said, "I don't want that, my dear;" and he smiled at her very kindly. + "Besides, if we're going to have a storm, an umbrella is just the article to bring + the lightning down on my head."</p> + <p>Norah pulled away the umbrella hastily, as though she would now have fought to the + death rather than let him have it.</p> + <p>"Don't wait supper, Mav. I may be latish."</p> + <p>He walked fast, and his mackintosh made him uncomfortably warm. The rain held off, + although now and then a few heavy drops fell ominously. It was quite dark—a + premature darkness caused by the clouds that hung right across the sky. There seemed + <a id="Page_242" name="Page_242"></a>to be nobody on the move but himself; the street + at Rodchurch was absolutely empty, the tobacconist's shop at the corner being alone + awake and feebly busy, the oil lamps flickering in the puffs of a warm spring + wind.</p> + <p>He took one glance toward the post office, and then went right down the street and + out upon the common. The house that he was seeking stood a little way off the road, + and a broad beam of light from an open window proved of assistance as he crossed the + broken and uneven ground. While he groped for the bell handle inside the dark porch + he could hear, close at hand, a purring and whirring sound of wheels that he + recognized as the unmistakable noise made by a carpenter's lathe. As soon as he rang + the bell the lathe stopped working, and next moment the Baptist pastor came to the + door.</p> + <p>"Mr. Dale—is it not?</p> + <p>"Yes—good evening, Mr. Osborn."</p> + <p>"Pray come in."</p> + <p>"Thank you. Could you spare time for a chat?"</p> + <p>"Surely. I was expecting you."</p> + <p>Dale drew back, and spoke coldly, almost rudely.</p> + <p>"Indeed? I am not aware of any reason for your doing so."</p> + <p>"I ought to have said, <i>hoping</i> to see you."</p> + <p>"Oh. May I ask why?"</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn laughed contentedly. "Since I saw you at our service, you know. Please + come into my room."</p> + <p>It was not an attractive or nicely furnished room. All one side of it was occupied + by the lathe, bench, and tools; and on this side the boards of the floor, with <a + id="Page_243" name="Page_243"></a>a carpet rolled back, were covered with wood + shavings.</p> + <p>"There, take off your wraps and be seated, Mr. Dale. I'll sort my rubbish. Stuffy + night, isn't it?"</p> + <p>Dale noticed that there was no bookcase, and he could not detect more than six + books anywhere lying about. Perhaps there were some in the chiffonier. He would have + expected to find quite a little library at a house tenanted by this sort of man.</p> + <p>"What do you think of that?" And Mr. Osborn handed him the small round box which + he had been turning. "I amuse myself so. It's my hobby."</p> + <p>"You don't feel the want to read of an evening?"</p> + <p>"No, I'm not a book-worm. But one has to do something; so I took up this. If folk + chaff me"—and Mr. Osborn smiled and nodded his head—"well, I tell them + that infinitely better people than I have done carpentering in their time. Of course + they don't always follow the allusion."</p> + <p>Dale himself did not follow it. He understood that this was light and airy + conversation provided by Mr. Osborn for the amiable purpose of putting him at his + ease. He had taken off the slouch hat and loose coat that had made him look like some + rough shepherd or herdsman; and now, as he sat stiffly on a chair, showing his + jacket, breeches, and gaiters, he looked like a farmer who had come to buy or to sell + stock. His manner was altogether businesslike when, after clearing his throat, he + explained the actual reason of the visit. If it would not be troubling Mr. Osborn too + much, he desired to obtain information about Baptist tenets, adult baptism, total + immersion, and so on. Mr. Osborn, declaring that it was no trouble, and in an <a + id="Page_244" name="Page_244"></a>equally businesslike manner, gave him the + information.</p> + <p>"Is there anything else I can tell you?"</p> + <p>"I am afraid of putting you out."</p> + <p>"Not in the least."</p> + <p>"Well, then, if you're sure I don't trespass—Mr. Osborn, the kind way you're + receiving me makes me venturesome. I see an ash-tray over there, proving you + sometimes favor the weed. Would you mind if I took a whiff of tobacco—a + pipe?"</p> + <p>"Why, surely not."</p> + <p>"You won't join me?"</p> + <p>"No, thanks. But I'll tell you what I will do;" and Mr. Osborn emitted a chuckle. + "I'll go on with my boxes, if you'll allow me."</p> + <p>"I should greatly prefer it."</p> + <p>"You know, I can listen just as well, while I'm fiddling away at my nonsense."</p> + <p>"I find," said Dale, as he filled his pipe, "that I rely on smoking more and more. + Seems with me to steady the nerves and clear the brain. I know there are others that + it just fuddles."</p> + <p>"Exactly."</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn had gone back to the lathe, and the pleasantly soothing whir of the + wheels was heard again, while a fountain of the finest possible shavings began to + spin in the air. For a few moments Dale watched him at his work. His gray hair + flopped about queerly; he made rapid precise movements; and he talked as though he + still had his eyes on one, although his back was turned.</p> + <p>"There are matches at your elbow, Mr. Dale—on that shelf—beside the + flower-pot."<a id="Page_245" name="Page_245"></a></p> + <p>"Thanks, Mr. Osborn."</p> + <p>He wore a loose blue flannel coat, and Dale wondered if this was a garment that he + had bought years ago to play cricket in. Perhaps he had belonged to a University. It + was quite clear that he must have had an extremely lib'ral education to start with. + And Dale thought again what he had thought just now in the porch—that one ought + to be precious careful in dealing with a man of such natural and acquired powers.</p> + <p>However, the fact that Mr. Osborn was continuing his work, and yet, as he had + promised, at the same time listening properly, made the interview easier and Dale + more comfortable. He recovered his self-confidence, and after puffing out a + sufficient cloud of smoke, talked weightily and didactically.</p> + <p>"I am desirous not to exaggerate; but I would like to state that I was well + impressed by my experience of your ritual—if that is the correct term. I seemed + to find what I had not found elsewhere. If I may speak quite openly, I would say it + appeared to me there wasn't an ounce of humbug in your service."</p> + <p>"Oh, I hope not."</p> + <p>"Now, in the event of a person wishing to become a member—in short, to + embrace the Baptist faith entirely, there are one or two points that I'd like to have + cleared up."</p> + <p>Then Dale asked a lot of questions; and the pastor, seeming to go on with the + work, answered over his shoulder, or looking round for an instant only.</p> + <p>Dale wished to learn all about the method of receiving adults; he asked also if + anything in the nature of confession or absolute submission to the priest <a + id="Page_246" name="Page_246"></a>would be required. And the pastor said, "No, + nothing of the sort." Such a person must of course bring a cleansed and purified + heart to the ceremony, or it would be the very worst kind of humbug for him to + present himself at all. But that was a matter which concerned him and God, who reads + all hearts and knows all secrets. Mr. Osborn said it had never been the practise of + Baptist ministers to insinuate themselves into the private secrets of their flocks. + They left that to the Roman Catholics.</p> + <p>Dale heartily commended the Baptist custom. He said that much of his objection to + religion had been caused by what he read of the Roman Catholic faith. As a + responsible man he could never bring himself to that abject submission to another + man, however you sanctified and tricked out the other man; besides, no one of mature + age cares to make a complete confession of his past life. There must always be things + that he could not force himself to disclose—follies, indiscretions, perhaps the + grievous mistakes which he himself wants to forget, knowing that improvement lies in + determination for better conduct, and not in brooding on past failure.</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn looked round, and used a gentle deprecating tone.</p> + <p>"You speak of your objection to religion; but, Mr. Dale, you are a singularly + religious man. You are, really."</p> + <p>"I will postpone that part of it, if you please"—and Dale became rather + stiff again—"but with the intention of adverting to it later. What I wish first + to lay at rest is something in regard to the hymns employed on the occasion of my + attendance. The numbers <a id="Page_247" name="Page_247"></a>were one hundred and + twenty-six, six hundred and fifty-nine, and one hundred and ten. Now I ask you as man + to man, feeling sure you'll give me a straight answer: Were those hymns specially + selected for the reason that I had chanced to drop in?"</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn stopped work, looked round quickly, and his face was all bright and + eager.</p> + <p>"No. But did you feel there was a special message to you in them?"</p> + <p>"I wouldn't put it quite like that," said Dale guardedly.</p> + <p>"Because it so often happens. It has happened again and again—to my own + knowledge."</p> + <p>"You'll understand, Mr. Osborn, that I didn't take them as any way personal to + myself—certainly not any way offensive; but it occurred to me that it might + perhaps be the habit whenever a stranger dropped in to pick out hymns of strength, + with a view to shaking him and warming him up, as it were."</p> + <p>The pastor resumed his work. "Those hymns were given out the day + before—Saturday. Sister Eldridge had asked for one hundred and twenty-six; + number six hundred and fifty-nine was, as far as I remember, also bespoken; and I + chose number one hundred and ten myself—because it is a great favorite of mine. + So you see, Mr. Dale, at the time we settled on those hymns, we did not know that you + were coming—and perhaps you did not know it yourself."</p> + <p>"I did not know it," said Dale.</p> + <p>"Tell me," said Mr. Osborn, "how doubt has assailed you."</p> + <p>"Ah, there you put me a puzzling one;" and Dale puffed at his pipe laboriously.<a + id="Page_248" name="Page_248"></a></p> + <p>"You oughtn't to doubt, you know. You have what men prize—wife, children, + and home. You thrive, and the world smiles on you."</p> + <p>"Yes, I'm more than solvent. I hope to leave Mrs. Dale and the babes secure."</p> + <p>"But you don't feel secure yourself?"</p> + <p>"I banked a matter of seven hundred last year."</p> + <p>"You know I didn't mean that." Mr. Osborn worked briskly, and sent the shavings + almost to the ceiling. "But still—lots of men have told me that material + prosperity renders faith easy and doubt difficult. That's the awful danger of + trouble—the danger of thinking that God has deserted us. It's easiest to + recognize His hand when all's going well with us. That's our poor human nature. And + then when our sorrows come, it's the devil's innings, and he'll whisper: 'Where's God + now? He isn't treating you very kindly, is He, in return for all your praying and + kneeling and believing?'"</p> + <p>"Yes, that just hits the nail on the head. It was what I said—at a period + when trouble fell upon me. It was how the doubt came in and the belief went out. And + nowadays, when, as you mention, things run smooth and I know I've much to be thankful + for, the doubt holds firm. For one thing prob'bly, I read a great deal; I've crammed + my head with science; can't ever have enough of it. But, of course, I'm but an + ignorant man compared with you."</p> + <p>"Oh, no."</p> + <p>"Yes. I bow down to education—whenever I meet it. I needn't + apologize—because I hadn't many advantages. I try to make up by application. I + read, and I'm always thinking—and having mastered the <a id="Page_249" + name="Page_249"></a>rudiments of science, I can look with some comprehension at the + whole scheme of nature. With the result that, viewing my own affairs in the same + spirit that I view the whole bag of tricks, I ask myself that same old question of + <i>Q. I. Bono.</i>"</p> + <p>"What's that?"</p> + <p>"That's Latin," said Dale. "<i>Q. I. Bono.</i>"</p> + <p>"Oh, yes—exactly."</p> + <p>"Where's the good? Whatever one has, it isn't enough if this life is all we've got + to look to and there's nothing beyond it."</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn had let the wheels run down. He came and sat opposite to Dale, and + spoke very quietly.</p> + <p>"There is everything beyond it."</p> + <p>"And supposing that's so, one's difficulty begins bigger than before. It's the + life-risk a million times larger all over again—success or failure, punishment + or peace."</p> + <p>"That's better than what happened to the match you threw into the + fender—extinction."</p> + <p>"I want to believe. Mr. Osborne, I wish to speak with honesty. I feel the need to + believe. If you can make me believe, you'll do me a great service."</p> + <p>"The service will be done, but it won't be I who does it."</p> + <p>"I want to be saved. I want the day when you can tell me I have gained everlasting + salvation."</p> + <p>"The day will come; but it will not be my voice that tells you."</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn got up to fetch one of the six shabby volumes, and when he had returned + to his chair he went on talking.</p> + <p>"What you should do is to take things quietly. You <a id="Page_250" + name="Page_250"></a>are a fine specimen, Mr. Dale, muscularly; but your nerves aren't + quite so grand as your muscles." He said this just as doctors talk to patients, and + as if Dale had been speaking of his bodily health. "Don't worry—and don't + hurry. And I'd like to read you a passage here, to set your thoughts on the right + line.... Well, well, I fancied I'd put a paper-mark. I shall only garble it if I try + to quote from memory. It was Doctor Clifford, speaking about Jesus at our last Autumn + Assembly. He says Jesus never put God forward as a severe judge, or hard taskmaster, + but as His Father.... Ah, here we are. May I read it?"</p> + <p>"Yes, I wish to hear it."</p> + <p>"'God is Father; He is our Father. To Him'—speaking of Jesus—'and to + us God is Father, and that means that we are in a deep and real sense His children, + and, being children, then brothers to each other; for if God must be interpreted in + terms of fatherhood, then man will never be interpreted accurately until he is + interpreted in the terms of brotherhood.'" Mr. Osborn closed the book and laid his + hand on Dale's knee. "How does that strike you, Brother Dale?"</p> + <p>"It strikes me as beautifully worded—Brother Osborn."</p> + <p>"That's how I want you to think of Him. A Father's love. Nothing strange nor new + about it. Just what you used to be thinking as a boy, coming home to Father."</p> + <p>"I can't remember my father," said Dale simply. "He died when I was a baby, and + mother married again. I only knew a stepfather."</p> + <p>"Then you'll know the real thing now, if you join us." Mr. Osborn beamed + cheerfully. "Understand, I <a id="Page_251" name="Page_251"></a>don't press you. Why + should I? The pressure behind you is not of this earth; and if it's there, as I think + it is, you'll no more resist it than the iron bolt resists the steam-ram. But what's + steam and <i>horse</i>-power?" And he beamed all over his face. "This is ten thousand + <i>angel</i>-power to the square inch."</p> + <p>The rain began as Dale walked up the village street, in which no light except that + of the public lamps was now showing. It fell sharply as he emerged into the open + country, and then abruptly ceased. The odor of dust that has been partially moistened + rose from the roadway; some dead leaves scurried in the ditch with a sound of small + animals running for shelter; and he felt a heavy, tepid air upon his face, as if some + large invisible person was breathing on him.</p> + <p>Then the heavens opened, and a flood of light came pouring down. The thunder + seemed simultaneous with the flash. It was a crashing roar that literally shook the + ground. It was as if, without prelude or warning, every house in England had fallen, + every gun fired, and every powder-magazine blown up. Dale stood still, trying to + steady himself after the shock, and ascertaining that his eyes had not been blinded + nor the drums of his ears broken.</p> + <p>Then he walked on slowly, watching the storm. The lightning flooded and forked, + the thunder boomed and banged; and it seemed to Dale that the whole world had been + turned upside down. When one looked up at the illuminated sky, one seemed to be + looking down at a mountainous landscape. The clouds, rent apart, torn, and shattered, + were like masses of high hills, inky black on the summits, with copper-colored + precipices and glistening purple slopes; and in remote <a id="Page_252" + name="Page_252"></a>depths of the valleys, where there should have been lakes of + water, there were lakes of fire. In the intervals between the flashes, when suddenly + the sky became dark, one had a sensation that the earth had swung right again, and + that it was now under one's feet as usual instead of being over one's head.</p> + <p>Dale plodding along thought of all he had read about thunder-storms. It was quite + true, what he said to Norah. Lightning strikes the highest object. That was why trees + had got such a bad name for themselves; although, as a fact, you were often a jolly + sight safer under a tree than out in the open. Salisbury Plain, he had read, was the + most dangerous place in England; for the reason that, because of its bareness, it + made a six-foot man as conspicuous, upstanding an object as a church tower or a + factory chimney would be elsewhere. And he thought that if any cattle had been left + out in those wide flat fields near the Baptist Chapel, they were now in great peril. + Mav's cows were all safe under cover.</p> + <p>Then, stimulated by a new thought, he began to walk faster. He hurried on until he + came to the middle of the flats; then, gropingly through the darkness, and swiftly + through the light, he made his way to a gate that he had just seen standing high and + solid between the low field banks. He climbed the gate, a leg on each side, to the + top bar but one; and there, easily balancing himself, he stood high above every other + object.</p> + <p>And he thought: "If I am to be killed, I shall be killed now. I stand here at + God's pleasure, to take me or leave me."</p> + <p>He carefully observed the lightning. It fell like a <a id="Page_253" + name="Page_253"></a>live shot, a discharge of artillery aimed at a fixed point, and + then bursting seemed to go out in all directions till it faded with a widespread + glare. During this final glare after each discharge the land to its farthest horizon + leaped into view. Thus he saw all at once the Baptist Chapel several hundred yards + away, but seeming to be close ahead of him, much bigger than it actually was, looking + familiar and yet strange—looking like the ark waiting to be floated as soon as + the deluge should begin. At the same moment he saw the stones in the road, blades of + grass at the side of the ditch, and nails on the gate-post near his foot.</p> + <p>He stood calmly surveying the tremendous pageant, and thought in each roar and + crash: "This must be the climax."</p> + <p>That last flash had crimson streamers, and it swamped the road with violet waves. + The fury and the splendor of the thing was overwhelming. Was it brought about by + Nature's forces or God's machinery? Titanic—like a struggle between the divine + and the evil power—some fresh rebellion of Satan just reported up there, and + God, rightly indignant, giving the devil what for—or God angry with <i>man</i>! + Very magnificent, whatever way you regarded it.</p> + <p>The worst was over, and gradually the storm began to roll away. Holding his hands + high above his head, he felt the rain-drops beat upon them, saw the lightning soften + and grow pale, heard the thunder booming more gently, grumbling, whispering—as + if it had been the voice of the Maker of heaven and earth, murmuring in sleep.</p> + <p>Such a storm had naturally disturbed everything. Mavis and Norah were trembling on + the lamplit threshold; <a id="Page_254" name="Page_254"></a>horses rattled their + head-stalls and stamped in the stables; even the bees were frightened in their hives. + And a cock, thinking that so much light and noise must mean morning, had begun to + crow hours before the proper time.</p> + <p>Dale, listening to the cock's crow while he told Mavis he was safe and sound, + thought of Peter, the well-meaning man who wanted to believe but could not always do + so.<a id="Page_255" name="Page_255"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XX" name="XX"></a>XX</h2> + <p>When the time came for Dale to be baptized Mr. Osborn offered to perform the + ceremony at dawn in the stream that runs through Hadleigh Wood; but Dale refused the + offer. He said he would much prefer to have it done within four walls, in the + evening, at what he supposed to be the usual place, the chapel. He added an + expression of the hope that there would not be many people there.</p> + <p>"There would only be a few of ourselves, true-hearted ones, in either event," said + Mr. Osborn; "and out of doors is not unusual. I did it that way for George Hitching a + year ago. We took him down to Kib Pool, and waited till the sun rose. Then in he + went."</p> + <p>And without urging Dale to change his mind, Mr. Osborn in a few words touched off + the beauty of this baptismal scene. He described how the dew was like diamonds on the + grass, and they stood all among the shadows, and the rising sun seemed to touch + George Hitching's head before it touched anything else. "Then we and the birds began + to sing together. I promise you it was uncommonly pretty, as well as very + moving."</p> + <p>Nevertheless, Dale remained quite firm. That idea of Hadleigh Wood at dawn held no + attraction for him.</p> + <p>So far he had said nothing of all this to Mavis, but now one night after supper he + broached the subject.<a id="Page_256" name="Page_256"></a> He had laid down his knife + and fork, and she had brought him the tobacco jar. He sat filling his pipe slowly, + and then instead of lighting it he put it meditatively aside.</p> + <p>"Mavis, something has happened which will probably surprise you. I have found + religion again."</p> + <p>"Oh, Will, I am glad."</p> + <p>Mavis was delighted; but when he told her that he was about to join the Baptists + she did not feel so well pleased. She scarcely knew what to say. Why should he want + to take the creed of dissenters, of quite common people? It was all very well for + farm-laborers, sempstresses, and servants; but it did not seem good enough for her + Will. Socially it was without doubt a retrograde step; and nowadays, when he got on + capitally with the best of the gentlefolk, when they were all jolly and nice to him, + it did seem a pity to go and mix himself up with a pack of ignorant underlings. The + gentry, who of course all belonged to the Church of England, would not like it any + better than she herself.</p> + <p>Moreover, that notion of total immersion was extremely repugnant to her. A + grown-up person, an important person, a member of the District Council, splashing + about in a tank! She asked him many questions concerning the baptism itself, and he + told her all that he knew about it. He did not tell her, however, of Mr. Osborn's + proposal that the immersion should occur in the wood-stream.</p> + <p>"What took your fancy, Will dear, with Mr. Osborn's teaching more than anybody + else's?"</p> + <p>Then he told her all that Mr. Osborn had said of the fatherly attributes of God, + of the fact that men were <a id="Page_257" name="Page_257"></a>veritably His + children, and that for communion with God one must be as a child approaching a + father.</p> + <p>"Yes, dear, I'm sure that's true. But Mr. Norton would say just the same."</p> + <p>"He never <i>has</i> said it, Mav. That is, I never heard him say it."</p> + <p>"Perhaps in those days you didn't note his words. I'm not arguing, dear. You must + do whatever you judge right, and it will be right for me—if once you've done + it. Only I do assure you what you repeated is altogether Church of England; and I + feel certain Mr. Norton must have said it times and often."</p> + <p>"Then perhaps he hasn't said it quite in the same way."</p> + <p>When the evening arrived Mavis asked if she might come to the chapel, but he said + "No." Her presence would distract his thoughts.</p> + <p>"Very well, dear, I'll stay here. I shall say a prayer for you. I may do + that?"</p> + <p>"Yes, please do that."</p> + <p>Throughout the ceremony, and afterward, he was very grave and dignified, plainly + taking the whole matter with the most profound seriousness. He was silent and solemn + throughout the rest of the evening; but he slept extraordinarily well at night. There + were no dreams, no disturbances of any kind. He lay motionless, sleeping as + peacefully as a little child.</p> + <p>Tender thoughts filled the mind of his wife as she watched him. She thought of the + ugly chapel, those stupid illiterate people, the dark water, the splashing and the + noise; the clumsy absurdness of the whole rite; and yet, in spite of everything, she + now felt the essential beauty of the idea itself. It seemed to her <a id="Page_258" + name="Page_258"></a>most beautiful when applied to this particular case—the + strong brave man who in spirit and heart has made himself simple and guileless as a + child, to be taken back to the Eternal Father of all children.<a id="Page_259" + name="Page_259"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXI" name="XXI"></a>XXI</h2> + <p>Outwardly his religion sat lightly on him, but inwardly it was solid and real. He + took to reading aloud one chapter of the Gospel every night, and soon made a habit of + adding a brief extempore prayer for the benefit of Mary, Norah Veale, and Mrs. + Goudie, who regularly came from the kitchen to hear him. His reading and praying + formed, of course, a marked innovation; but beyond it there were very few perceptible + changes that could be traced to the fresh phase of mind into which he had now + entered. And these few changes were traced or perceived by only one person, his + wife.</p> + <p>Mavis saw with satisfaction that the gentlefolk did not seemed to be huffed. + Orders came in from several of those old-fashioned people who had hitherto held + aloof, but who perhaps were at present generous enough to think that if you don't go + to church, the next best thing is to go to chapel. The Baptists were not therefore + standing in his way: they had caused no check to his success.</p> + <p>He bought all the corn and hay which the neighboring farms could spare to sell, so + that what others had grown and cut for miles round was carted straight into his + rick-yard. During the hay harvest he appeared especially grand, riding about the + fields on his horse, grave and watchful, really like a prince with vassals hard at + work for him as far as the eye could <a id="Page_260" name="Page_260"></a>see. On the + last day he entertained the farmers to dinner in the best parlor, and afterward they + all stood in the front garden, smoking cigars and praising Mrs. Dale's roses and + carnations.</p> + <p>Mavis too gave parties; but she as a rule exercised her hospitality at the back of + the house, where the little court and the petitioners' bench near the kitchen door + were more fully occupied than ever. Here took place the annual summer tea-party for + the cottage women, when Mavis was quite like some squire's wife, being courtesied to, + receiving votes of thanks, and taking innocent pleasure in the proudness of her + position. A far bigger and more difficult affair was when she invited all the + children from the Orphanage. Long trestle tables for the girls were set out on the + grass paths of the kitchen garden, with a separate and more stately table for the + matrons and governesses; urns had been borrowed, seats hired, mountains of food and + fruit got ready; and nevertheless the heart of Mavis almost failed her when the + two-and-two procession of blue-coated orphans began to arrive. It seemed endless, an + army, and she felt that she had attempted something too big for her resources. + However, everything went off splendidly. The orphans whooped for joy as they broke + their formation and spread out, through the garden, far into the meadows. Out there + they looked like large bluebells; and at tea, when their cloaks had been removed and + their brown frocks showed, they looked like locusts. Locusts could scarcely have + eaten more. After tea Dale's men came from the yard and brought the piano out of the + house, and Mrs. Dale played with stiff fingers while Norah Veale, Rachel, and the + orphans danced on the flags <a id="Page_261" name="Page_261"></a>and up and down the + grass paths. The poor little orphans stayed late, and left regretfully. They said it + had been the treat of their lives.</p> + <p>But the most interesting party and the one that Mavis enjoyed most came upon her + unexpectedly.</p> + <p>One week Mr. Druitt the higgler failed to pay his usual visit, and there was + conjecture in the Vine-Pits kitchen as to the reason of his absence. He had never + before allowed a week to pass without a call. Mavis asked Mary if he had written to + her explaining his absence; and Mary said no, and that she felt very anxious.</p> + <p>But next week he turned up, gay, jovial, looking ten years younger. He stood just + inside the kitchen door, smiled at all, and winked most archly at Mary.</p> + <p>"See this, Mary?" And he pointed to the band of black crape on his arm. "Know what + that means, Mary?" Then he turned to Mavis. "I call her Mary now, because I can do it + with a clear conscience, ma'am. I buried Mrs. Druitt yesterday."</p> + <p>This meant a marriage feast for Mary; nor would the higgler permit of the least + delay in its preparation. He was ardent to taste the felicity that had been so long + postponed, and refused to listen to any appeals that might be addressed to his sense + of propriety, the respect due to the departed, and so forth. Dale, inclined to say he + would not put up with Druitt's nonsense, was overborne; chiefly because Mary, having + been greatly scared by a facetious remark of her lover, at once took his part in the + dispute. He had said, when she pleaded with him for a reasonable breathing-space, + that he knew of as many other red-cheeked maids as there were morris-apples at + akering-time.<a id="Page_262" name="Page_262"></a> Mary then bustled with her + trousseau, of which the cost was defrayed by the Dales.</p> + <p>The charm of that party was its homelike, almost patriarchal character. A Saturday + had been chosen to suit everybody's convenience, and the fickle June weather was kind + to them. One long table was set out on the flags, in the shade of the house wall, + close to the kitchen and the hot dishes; and the meal, which was substantial and + lavish, lasted from about half-past three till five o'clock. Dale sat at the head of + the table with his wife and the newly married couple; then there were a coachman and + his daughter, and the higgler's best man; then Norah Veale and the children, and + further off Mrs. Goudie, the dairymaid, and all the men from the yard. Mr. Bates had + been asked, but he would not come. Abe Veale came unasked, to Nora's shame and + indignation.</p> + <p>"I thought," he said, "as Norrer's true farder, and owing my life to him who is + her adapted farder, and so well beknown to Miss Parsons, that I wouldn't be otherwise + than welcome."</p> + <p>"You are welcome," said Dale quietly. "Be seated." And Norah felt intensely + grateful to Dale and intensely disgusted with her parent.</p> + <p>They ate and drank and laughed; and Norah was sweet with the children, taking them + away before they had gorged themselves. Outside the shadow of the wall one had the + vivid beauty of flowers, the perfume of fruit, and the lively play of the sunlight; + with glimpses through the foliage of smooth meadow, sloped arable, and distant heath; + the firm ground beneath them, the open sky above them, and all around them the + contented atmosphere of home. All these <a id="Page_263" name="Page_263"></a>things + together confirmed Mavis in the feeling that she had reached the apotheosis of her + party-giving.</p> + <p>At the bottom of the table there was of course slight excess. The fun down there + became rather broad. And old Mrs. Goudie made jokes which she reserved solely for + weddings, and which she had better have kept to herself even then.</p> + <p>Dale proposed the bride's health, and spoke in the dignified easy style of a man + who is accustomed to addressing large audiences, but who is tactfully able to reduce + the compass of his voice and the weight of his manner for friendly informal + gatherings. He was only heavy—and not a bit too heavy—when he thanked + Mary for the kindness she had always shown to him and his. Then he pointed to the + gold locket that was his wedding present, and said that when she wore that round her + neck, as she was wearing it now, "it reposed on a loyal, faithful heart." This caused + Mary to weep.</p> + <p>The opening of the higgler's speech was in deplorable taste—all about + widowers making the best husbands. He said, "Widowers know what to expect; so they + ain't disappointed. And if they've suffered in their first venture, it's an easy job + for Number Two to please 'em;" and he winked to right and left. Mavis and Dale were + looking uncomfortable. Fortunately, however, the speech improved toward the end of + it.</p> + <p>"All I ask of Mary is to look nice—and that she can't help doing, bless her + bonny face; to speak nice—and that she can do if she tries, and copies Mrs. + Dale; and to act nice—and in that she'll have an example under her eyes, for I + mean to act uncommon nice to her."</p> + <p>When, winking and bowing, he resumed his seat by Mary's side, the applause from + the bottom of the table <a id="Page_264" name="Page_264"></a>was vociferous. "Brayvo. + He hev a said it smart. Never 'eard it better worded. Well done, Mr. Druitt."</p> + <p>Half the flowers had lost their color in the extending shadow of the house before + Mr. and Mrs. Druitt drove away. The higgler's pony groaned between the shafts of a + cart that was much too big for him; rice and old shoes struck the wheels; Mrs. Goudie + made her last joke; the men at the yard gate shouted; Norah and the children ran a + little way along the road—and then the party was over.</p> + <p>After a few days Mr. Druitt called exactly as usual to offer good bacon. "Mornin', + ma'am. Mary sends her love, and the message that she's as happy as the day is + long."</p> + <p>"And I hope," said Mavis, "that you are happy too, Mr. Druitt."</p> + <p>"Mrs. Dale," he said, "I don't reco'nize myself. When I think of the past and the + present—"</p> + <p>Mavis stopped him. He was of course going to disparage Number One, and she felt + that to be so horrid of him.<a id="Page_265" name="Page_265"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXII" name="XXII"></a>XXII</h2> + <p>The new housemaid was adequately filling Mary's place, and life at Vine-Pits as of + old ran smoothly on. With increasing means the Dales still refrained from frivolous + additions to household expenditure. Neither craved for further pomp or luxury; both + took pleasure in amassing rather than in squandering.</p> + <p>To get up early, work hard, and go to bed thoroughly tired—all this Mavis + took for granted as a correct and undeviating program for one's days. Indeed in her + complete satisfaction she tended naturally to a mental attitude that was taking for + granted all phenomena, whether objective or subjective. The visible comforts of her + home, the love of her husband, the bliss of being the mother of two perfect children, + together with her contented thoughts in relation to each and all of these matters, + were accepted as so intimately connected with the prime fact of her existence itself + that no fear of possible disturbance or cessation ever troubled her. She no more + thought of a break in the grand routine of placid joy than she thought of leaving off + the process by which she filled and emptied her lungs when breathing.</p> + <p>As perhaps is usual with the majority of successful people, she never considered + whether the hour had not come for diminishing the effort that was producing the + success. They had fixed no goal which when reached should be a resting-place as well + as a winning-post.<a id="Page_266" name="Page_266"></a></p> + <p>They were working for the future. The money they earned was for then, and not for + now. But she very rarely thought of this remote period; and when she did, it was with + absolute vagueness. A lot of money would be required for the children; and eventually + she and Will would be old, feeble, unable to go on working, and then a modest amount + of money would be required for themselves.</p> + <p>Always in her early dreams of affluence she had pictured holidays, the excitement + of traveling, and rapid changes of scene; yet, although since they first came to + Vine-Pits they had not been away for a single staying holiday, she had no sense of + missing something that might have been enjoyed. It would be absurd to drag Dale away + from home while he was so busy. For herself it seemed quite sufficient change and + excitement to drive over to Old Manninglea for an afternoon's severe shopping about + six times a year.</p> + <p>Now, of a sudden, Dale himself offered to give her a day out at the very first + opportunity. Little Rachel had never seen the sea, and expressed a strong desire to + look upon the wonders of the deep; so daddy promised to take her and her mother to + Rodhaven Pier directly he was free enough to do so. In the end he chose a Sunday for + this treat, saying that the better the day the better the deed.</p> + <p>He came out of chapel before the sermon; they dined at noon, and started in good + time to catch the train at Rodchurch Road. At the moment of departure, when the horse + and wagonette stood ready, and Dale in his silk hat, black coat, and dogskin gloves + was about to mount the box-seat, the boy Billy began to howl most pitifully because + he was being left behind. Mavis, <a id="Page_267" name="Page_267"></a>whose + heartstrings were torn by the sight of her angel's tears and the sound of his yells, + looked at Dale appealingly.</p> + <p>"All right," said Dale. "Will you behave yourself, Billy, if we take you?"</p> + <p>But this meant taking Norah too, because obviously Mavis could not manage both + children unaided.</p> + <p>"Norah," said Dale, impressively, "I give you two minutes, and no more, to get + yourself and the boy ready."</p> + <p>Mavis, overjoyed, put Rachel in the back of the wagonette, took her seat by her + husband's side, and with sprightly chat endeavored to make two long minutes seem two + short ones.</p> + <p>"How nice the horse looks! Will, I do feel we are all in luck. Such a fine day + too. Do you think your top hat is necessary? Wouldn't you be more comfortable in your + straw?"</p> + <p>"May be—but I don't think it would be the thing," said Dale. "We shall be + sure to meet a lot of people we know."</p> + <p>"I only thought you'd get it so dusty. Is it your best or the old one?"</p> + <p>He did not answer, because just then Norah and Billy came rushing down the garden + path.</p> + <p>It proved an altogether delightful excursion. There was so little in it really, + and yet long years afterward Mavis sometimes thought of it as perhaps the happiest + day of her life. They drove through Rodchurch, past the post office, the church, and + other interesting sights; then along the broader road beneath big trees, to the + railway station. Billy sat between his parents, and did not behave too well, + wriggling, contorting himself, <a id="Page_268" name="Page_268"></a>threatening to + jump out, and even grabbing for the reins.</p> + <p>"It's his excitement," said Norah.</p> + <p>"Yes, it's his excitement," said Mavis; and she and Norah talked reassuringly, as + if to each other, but really at Dale. "He'll be all right, Norah, when he has had his + run about."</p> + <p>"Yes," sad Norah sagely, "children are like that. They must let off steam. As soon + as they're tired they remember their manners and behave nicely."</p> + <p>At the Station Inn Dale put up the horse and trap, and the journey was pursued by + rail.</p> + <p>The brightness and gaiety of Rodhaven charmed them all. They seemed to get out of + the train into another climate, another world. Everything was new and + strange—blazing sun with a wind that made you as cool as a cucumber; crowds and + crowds of people, Salvation Army band, procession of volunteers; and the pier, the + streamers, the sea—and the <i>sands</i>.</p> + <p>Rachel scarcely glanced at Ocean's face: the sands were enough for her. They got + away from the crowd, and played on the sands. Dale was so jolly with the children, + running about, sportively chasing them, hunting for shells, popping the buds of + seaweed; while Mavis sat on a dry bit of rock, looking large, red, overblown, and + adored her family. The little boy soon became, frankly, a nuisance, wanting his + sister's shells, refusing to catch daddy, wishing to paddle in his boots; and Dale, + testy at last, very hot and perspiring said: "Ma lad, if you wear out my patience, + you'll suffer for your conduct."</p> + <p>Then, almost at the same moment, Dale's top hat blew off; and a mad chase ensued. + The hat, like a <a id="Page_269" name="Page_269"></a>live thing with the devil in it, + bounded and curvetted wildly, doubled away from Dale, dodged Rachel, and sprang right + over Norah's head, threatening to make for the open sea. Mavis had scrambled up; and + she stood on the rock, a tragic figure, with a finger to her lip, watching the hat + chase distractedly. Norah caught the hat in the end, and it was really not much the + worse for its gambol.</p> + <p>Mavis' first words were, "Is it your best?"</p> + <p>"No," gasped Dale, very much out of breath; "my second-best."</p> + <p>"Thank goodness," said Mavis.</p> + <p>They made a fine solid meal at tea in a vast refreshment-hall on the sands; Mavis + and Norah, with their hats on adjacent chairs and their hair untidy, helping the + little ones to top and tail the first shrimps that they had ever encountered; Dale + eating heaps of shrimps and drinking cup after cup of tea. The wind blew sand against + the glass front of the hall—the smell of the sea mingled with the smell of the + shrimps—and they were absolutely happy. But when all felt replete the boy began + to cry, and soon howled. "I wis' I lived here always, yes, I do."</p> + <p>"O Billy, you like home best."</p> + <p>"No, I don't. I like this best. I hate home;" and he bellowed.</p> + <p>"He's getting tired," said Norah sagely.</p> + <p>"Yes," said Mavis. "That's all it is. He's getting tired."</p> + <p>He fell asleep directly they got into the lamplit train; and Norah carried him + from the station, carried him all the time the horse was being put to and they were + getting ready to leave.<a id="Page_270" name="Page_270"></a> "He's too much for you," + said Dale kindly. "Give him to me."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, sir."</p> + <p>And Dale whispered approvingly to Mavis, saying that he liked Norah's grit.</p> + <p>Then they drove home; Norah behind with the children, both of them sleeping now; + and Dale and Mavis side by side in front, talking quietly as they passed beneath the + dark trees and out beneath the bright stars.<a id="Page_271" name="Page_271"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXIII" name="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2> + <p>Norah was a treasure to them, and she seemed always to be improving. She had done + with school now, but she evinced a commendable yearning for further cultivation, + buying copy-books with her pocket-money, imitating Dale's clerkly hand; so that + already at a pinch she was able to help in the office work. But proud as she felt + when permitted to copy out accounts or circular letters, her pride did not spoil her + for household labor. In fact she worked so stanchly at scrubbing, scouring, and so + forth, as well as looking after the children, that for a long while Mavis did not + detect how poor old Mrs. Goudie was failing, and leaving nearly all her duties to be + performed by others. Moreover, in spite of having issued from the untidy hovel of + those rammucky Veales, she showed an innate love of cleanliness and order, + assiduously brushing her black hair and scrupulously washing her white skin.</p> + <p>Only very rarely she gave a little trouble, and then both Dale and his wife + attributed this naughtiness to the Veale origin, finding the explanation of a certain + wildness in that strain of gipsy blood which, as was popularly supposed, ran down her + pedigree. She disgraced herself when the circus menagerie passed the gates of + Vine-Pits. She stood firm with the rest of them watching the great painted vans go + by, and the droves of horses, and the tiny ponies; but when the <a id="Page_272" + name="Page_272"></a>elephants came she broke away. The size, the weirdness, the + shuffling footsteps of these beasts made her beside herself. A lot of ragged children + with great wicked-looking hobbledehoys from the Cross Roads, were trotting after the + elephants; and Norah, joining this disreputable band, trotted also. She went all the + way to Rodchurch, saw the immense tent set up on the Common, and probably crept + inside to see the entertainment. She did not return for six hours, not till after + dark.</p> + <p>Another thing that made Mavis anxious and angry was Norah's ineradicable love of + the woods. She never deserted work, but, if allowed any time to herself, she would go + stealing off into Hadleigh Wood to pick flowers or bring back birds' eggs for the + children. She knew perfectly well that she was to keep to the road or the field + tracks, but the sylvan depths seemed to call her and she could not resist the + call.</p> + <p>Once when Norah had been troublesome in this respect, Mavis was so angry that she + threatened her with corporal punishment.</p> + <p>"Look here, my lass," said Mavis, unconsciously founding herself on the manner of + her husband when administering rebuke, "if you can't obey what I tell you, I shall + ask Mr. Dale to chastise you—yes, my lass, to give you a lesson you won't + forget in a hurry." Norah hung her head and pouted. Then she looked up and spoke + firmly.</p> + <p>"He wouldn't do it. He's too kind."</p> + <p>"Oh, yes, he would. Don't you make a mistake about that."</p> + <p>"He <i>wouldn't</i>." Norah's eyes flashed; she stamped her foot, and turned on + Mavis quite fiercely. "He's <a id="Page_273" name="Page_273"></a>so good that he + wouldn't hurt a fly, much less beat a girl. You've no right to say it—behind + his back—what you know isn't true."</p> + <p>"Be off to your work this instant," said Mavis, stamping also, "or I'll whip you + myself." And she pursued Norah to the kitchen. "You dare to sauce me like that again + as long as you live!"</p> + <p>Before the evening was over, Norah, completely contrite, begged to be forgiven for + her rudeness; and Mavis was only too ready both to forgive and to forget. She had + felt quite shocked and upset by the girl's tantrums.</p> + <p>It was almost immediately after this that Norah said she wished to be a Baptist, + and to go to chapel with Mr. Dale.</p> + <p>"Do you think," asked Dale, when informed of Norah's petition, "that it is + genuine? Or is it just curiosity?"</p> + <p>"I think it's genuine," said Mavis. "But no doubt she is influenced by the fact + that <i>you</i> go there. I do believe she'd wish to go anywhere—or do anything + that you did."</p> + <p>Dale questioned Norah seriously.</p> + <p>"Why do you wish it? Speak to me with freedom, my dear."</p> + <p>"I do want to be good, sir." And Norah burst into tears. "Oh, I do want to be + good."</p> + <p>"Then come with me," said Dale.</p> + <p>Henceforth they two went to worship together every Sunday, and Mavis once or twice + felt a twinge of regret that she herself had not been able to abandon the established + church and join the Baptists with her husband. But that she could not do. The chapel + <a id="Page_274" name="Page_274"></a>was too ugly, its eastward wall too bare, its + faith too painfully simple and matter-of-fact.</p> + <p>She took great pains with Norah's Sunday costume, dressing her better than before, + anxious that the girl should do them credit when seen with Dale in a public place; + and Norah, all in her best, following after her master as he made his long strides + down the road, trotted like a faithful little dog. She sat beside him in one of the + front benches, breathing hard, and following the text with her finger, while Mr. + Osborn read the Bible; and she blended her birdlike trills with Dale's strong bass + when they both stood up to sing the hymns. Dale liked the note of her voice, took + pleasure in observing her piety, and thoroughly enjoyed expounding any difficulties + in the sermon while they walked home to dinner or to supper.</p> + <p>If Dale stood outside the chapel talking to elders of the flock, Norah modestly + withdrew to a little distance; or if he met people on the road and stopped to chat, + she went on ahead, waiting respectfully, and only returning to his side when he + walked on again alone. He always kept his eye on her, and saw that she was not being + accosted unpleasantly by any undesirable acquaintance.</p> + <p>Once, when Dale had stopped thus to talk to Mr. Maghull, there were two + field-laborers leaning against a gate and discussing people as they passed. Neither + of them was a Baptist. One was a stupid old man, and his would-be-funny chatter, at + which the other kept guffawing, bothered Dale in his serious conversation with Mr. + Maghull.</p> + <p>"Be that little Norrer Veale?"</p> + <p>"I dunno."<a id="Page_275" name="Page_275"></a></p> + <p>"I do think that's little Norrer Veale, but I ben't sure."</p> + <p>"Yes, it is," said Dale, turning and speaking sharply. "What about her?"</p> + <p>"Lord, how she's coming on," said the old man. "She's an advertisement to your + larder, sir;" and he stared at the girl. "Fillin' out into all a piece o' goods, + ben't un?" Then he laughed, in peasant style. "Give her another year or two and + she'll be a blink to set some un o' fire pretty quick, if she gets hedge-row + walkin'."</p> + <p>Dale felt annoyed by this rustic criticism, but he knew that there was substantial + truth in it. Norah was developing rapidly, and showed distinct comeliness. As he + walked after her he noticed her figure. It was still very slender, but it had + roundnesses that would soon become rounder, and graceful curves that would swell with + an ampler grace every month till she reached full growth. He was pleased when he + thought of the good food that she had received in return for her good work. He + thought, too, that he must tell Mavis to be watchful and careful, a real guardian, + when this childlike bud burst into womanhood.</p> + <p>He felt a glow of indignation at the mere idea of harm coming to her while she was + under their care. Hands off, there. Any louts who attempted tricks would have him, + William Dale, to reckon with.</p> + <p>For years Dale had been a bad sleeper, but now he was a good sleeper; and Mavis + traced this change directly to the calming effect of his religion. There could be no + question that the improvement dated from that night on which he was baptized. Since + then he had not once been troubled with bad dreams, and habitually <a id="Page_276" + name="Page_276"></a>he slept so soundly that he required a lot of rousing in the + morning. Another change, among those slight differences that she fancied she observed + in him, was his abstraction when reading. Formerly he used to seem particularly alert + and vigorous whenever he sat with an open book before him; his whole air was that of + lively expectation; the features worked; he was waiting for a passage that he did not + agree with. Nowadays he seemed to read in a completely receptive spirit, without + questioning, without doubting; and his face reflected the quiet confidence that he + was adopting with regard to the author. He never looked up, or stopped to read out + anything that struck him; he had withdrawn himself from every-day life and given + himself to the world of the book; you had to speak two or three times, and quite + loudly, before you could drag him back to material facts.</p> + <p>Still another change, and one that affected them both, Mavis did not altogether + attribute to the revival of her husband's religious belief; but she thought that this + had accelerated its progress and confirmed its finality. It had begun after the birth + of her second child. Then it was that the love between husband and wife purified + itself still further; and the refining process had continued; they had passed onward + and upward until the beautiful new feelings seemed firmly established, and, without a + word spoken, all the old passion had been allowed to fade. It was quite another joy + now when they kissed or lay locked in each other's arms: they were a father and a + mother, a brother and sister, comrades—but no longer lovers.</p> + <p>She was surprised once or twice to find how calmly and contentedly she thought + about all this; without <a id="Page_277" name="Page_277"></a>the least regret for + something that was and had ceased to be; and without a vestige of the confusion of + ideas which makes women in their ripening years cling to all belonging or seeming to + belong to vanished youth, and to suffer under the loss of anything they possessed + then, even though a better thing has come to them in its place. She was a woman + completing her destined course; and so that the cycle-curve swept on unbroken, she + would be as happy on the downward sweep as when the sweep was rising.</p> + <p>But in these days, in spite of her mental tranquillity, she could not sleep well + at night; she tossed and turned, muttered and started, as if the dreams and + restlessness that had gone out of Will had found their way into her. For this reason + they generally occupied different beds, and sometimes different rooms.</p> + <p>Throughout this period while Mrs. Dale's bodily health was not on its normal level + of excellence, Norah showed magnificent grit and altogether proved worth her weight + in gold.</p> + <p>Dale always remembered the night when she came to his room, and, after much + beating on the door and calling him by name, at last succeeded in waking him. Mavis, + who had unfortunately caught cold the day before, was now taken with violent colic, + and suffering such pain that she could not restrain her groans and screams. Ethel, + the new maid, was scared out of her wits by the sight of her afflicted mistress; Dale + himself was alarmed; neither of them could do anything. But Norah did it all. She had + sprung out of bed just as she was, rushed to the scene of disorder, snatched up the + mistress' keys, then had procured and administered brandy. Then she rushed + down-stairs again, <a id="Page_278" name="Page_278"></a>lighted the fire, and began + to boil water and to get flannel for hot compresses.</p> + <p>Dale came down to the kitchen presently, and said that his wife was feeling + easier; the brandy had done her good. Then, the anxiety having lessened, his + attention was held by Norah's scanty attire. She was in her night-dress and nothing + more, and even this garment was not sufficiently fastened; her black hair was + tumbling loose about her shoulders, and she pattered here and there across the stone + floor on her bare feet.</p> + <p>He began to chide her, rather irritably. "You little fool, do you want to catch a + chill as well—so's to make two invalids instead of one? Here, put on my + jacket."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>"Do as I tell you. Besides, it—well, it isn't seemly to be running about + half naked."</p> + <p>Norah flushed red in the candle-light, and clutched at her night-dress. Then she + hastily put on Dale's jacket, which swamped her, going far down below her hips and + making her seem a wonderfully strange figure.</p> + <p>Next morning, when she was bringing him his breakfast, he talked to her of what + had "passed a few hours ago."</p> + <p>"Norah, my dear, I'm sorry I spoke sharply to you—just when you were doing + all that you possibly could for us. But, you know, I didn't mean it a bit + unkind."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, sir," said Norah, shyly.</p> + <p>It's only that I'm always a stickler for etiquette—and that sort of thing. I + do so like what I call seemly conduct."</p> + <p>"Yes, sir. I was ashamed the moment you spoke;" and Norah blushed again. "But + truly I hadn't <a id="Page_279" name="Page_279"></a>thought, sir. If I'd given it a + thought, I'd never have done it."</p> + <p>"No, you didn't think. And there's nothing on earth for you to be ashamed of. Far + be it from me to put thoughts into your innocent little noddle which needn't come + there yet a while. You'll understand—and it'll just be instinct to you + then—that what's right for children is a bit odd and startling for those who're + older. Now don't think any more about it."</p> + <p>"I don't want to, sir—if you say so;" and Norah smiled comfortably once + more.</p> + <p>She made and laid his early breakfast for him every morning until Mavis was well + enough to come down to do it herself, and Dale had never been better waited on or + seen a daintier way of arranging a table. She always gave him a napkin, which was an + unusual luxury, and she folded it in fantastic shapes; moreover, undeterred by the + notions of economy or caution natural in a proprietor, she brought out pieces of the + bettermost china that were rarely used by Mavis; she set one of the smallest and very + best afternoon tea-cloths in such a manner that it looked like a diamond instead of a + square, and on this, as central decoration, she placed a blue bowl full of flowers. + Then, too, she had requisitioned the silver-plated cake basket for the newly-baked + bannocks. The silver basket gave a touch of splendor that really made the table seem + as if its proper situation was a grand London restaurant or a nobleman's mansion.</p> + <p>"You want to spoil me, Norah," said Dale, watching her. Then he laughed. "But, my + dear, all these pretty trickings and ornamentations are fairly wasted on me."<a + id="Page_280" name="Page_280"></a></p> + <p>"No, they aren't," said Norah, breathing hard, seeming to purr with pleasure. + "They can't be wasted, if you've noticed them, Mr. Dale;" and as she lifted her head, + she shook back the dark curling hair from her forehead. "P'raps they'd be wasted if + you didn't know they were there."</p> + <p>"Oh, we rough old chaps don't require such prettiness about them."</p> + <p>Norah displayed her small white teeth in a broadening smile; then she looked at + the revered master thoughtfully.</p> + <p>"Why do you say you're <i>old</i>? You aren't really old, Mr. Dale."</p> + <p>"Oh, aren't I? I wonder what you call old, lassie."</p> + <p>"I call father old, and Mr. Bates—and Mrs. Goudie."</p> + <p>"Well, I mayn't be as old as them—as they; but I think I'm like the walnut + tree out there. I still stand up straight, but I fear me I've seen my best days.... + There! What are you up to now?"</p> + <p>She was lugging and pushing the great porter's chair from its corner.</p> + <p>"I don't want that."</p> + <p>"It's your chair, so why shouldn't you sit in it at breakfast as well as supper?" + She brought it to the table, and looked at him over the back of it shyly, yet with a + kind of defiance—much as his own children looked at him when they had made up + their minds to be cheeky. "It's quite an old man's chair, sir—so it'll suit you + nicely."</p> + <p>He sat in the chair, amused by her impudence, but holding up his finger with mock + reproof. She had run to the kitchen door, and she stood there for a moment <a + id="Page_281" name="Page_281"></a>laughing merrily. "Oh, you do look all a + gran'father in that chair, Mr. Dale. You do, indeed."</p> + <p>Next moment she was singing at her work outside in the kitchen. Then there came a + silence; her shadow passed the window, and he guessed that she was taking a + circuitous route to the room up-stairs where the children and Ethel were busily + engaged in toilet operations. Rather than risk disturbing him at his breakfast by + coming through here, she had gone right round the house and in again at the front + door. She was always like that—always thinking of other people's comfort, never + sparing her own labor.</p> + <p>Then he heard her voice at a distance somewhere near the cowhouse. She had not + gone up-stairs after all; she had gone out there on dairy business. Soon she came + singing back—singing, he thought, as blithely as a lark; just as sweetly and + tunefully as any bird one could name.</p> + <p>Other people as well as Dale noticed the freshness and unforced music of Norah's + singing, and it was not long before she received an invitation to sing among the + regularly trained young women at the chapel.</p> + <p>On the morning when she left Dale's side to take her place upon the platform she + was woefully nervous. Dale too had been anxious, but directly he heard her + voice—and he knew it so well that he at once distinguished it amid all the + other voices that made up the platform chorus—he felt perfectly reassured. Her + nervousness had not put her out of tune: she was acquitting herself admirably.</p> + <p>They walked home together in a high state of gratification; and he hastened to + tell Mavis that the little maid had achieved a success, and that Mr. Osborn had <a + id="Page_282" name="Page_282"></a>paid her a compliment at the door before everybody. + Mavis was delighted. She ran to give kisses of congratulation, and she said that on + her very next visit to Old Manninglea she would buy some stuff to make Norah a pretty + new dress, which they would set to work on as soon as the evenings began to lengthen + again.</p> + <p>A considerable time elapsed before this kind intention became an accomplished + fact; but in due course the dress was ready to wear, and Norah looked very nice when + wearing it. As to color, it was of so lively a blue that it would permit no shadows + even in its deepest folds; it was just a close-fitting brightness that made the girl + seem to have shot up in a night to a form of much greater height and increased + slenderness. Her hat was made of yellow straw, with a wreath of artificial daisies + round the crown. When the tempered sunshine fell upon her as she stood up to sing, + she looked like something composed of vivid color, light, and life—like a + flower glowing in a garden, a kingfisher hovering over a stream, a rainbow trembling + on the crest of a hill. Dale, watching her, thought that in comparison the other + maidens on the platform were positively plain.</p> + <p>He told Mavis afterward that he felt certain the dress had been admired, adding + that Norah's general appearance did her the utmost credit. And that Sunday they both + talked seriously about Norah's future.</p> + <p>"You know," said Dale, "I feel it as a responsibility on us."</p> + <p>"So do I," said Mavis.</p> + <p>"Having taken it up, we must go through with it <a id="Page_283" + name="Page_283"></a>to the end. I mean, we must always stand her friends—and + more than that, her guardians."</p> + <p>"Of course."</p> + <p>"In a sense," he went on, didactically, "we may have made a mistake in bringing + her forward to the extent we've done."</p> + <p>"How so, Will?"</p> + <p>"I mean, if one wished to argue selfish—which of course I don't + wish—well, the selfish view would be not to have drawn her out but rather keep + her down a bit."</p> + <p>"Oh, she'd be miserable if she didn't feel to be one of ourselves—and you + always said let's treat her that way."</p> + <p>"I know; and I don't go back on it. I was only stating the case of selfish policy, + for the sake of argument. It's like this. The more useful you teach her to be, the + more we're going to miss her when she leaves us."</p> + <p>"She'll never leave us."</p> + <p>"Won't she be thinking of taking service in some gentleman's family when you've + perfected her, and rendered her really capable of filling a situation?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no, she'd never want to go away from Vine-Pits."</p> + <p>"Is that so? Well, of course I regard that as another feather in her cap. I'm glad + to think she's properly devoted to you."</p> + <p>"It isn't me," said Mavis. "It's you she's devoted to. It's been the same all + along. I told you from the first that child just worshiped you. It's Mr. Dale. Mr. + Dale is the cry with Norah always. She looks on <a id="Page_284" + name="Page_284"></a>me as very small potatoes," and Mavis laughed. "I don't mind. + It's how I look on myself."</p> + <p>Dale patted his wife's hand, and smiled. "Rubbish! But look here, Mav;" and he + spoke very thoughtfully.</p> + <p>"I don't wish ever to trade on Norah's gratitude. It may be, when the time comes, + we shall have to decide for her. It may be that she'll do better for herself in the + long run by going than by staying. If so, we mustn't be the barrier in her way. We + must push her out into the world, even if she can't see the point of it. But all that + lies far ahead. We needn't worry about it yet a while.... How old is Norah now?"</p> + <p>"Seventeen."</p> + <p>"No? Do you mean to say she has been with us five years?"</p> + <p>"Yes. Every bit of five years."</p> + <p>"Then how old is Rachel?"</p> + <p>"Eleven."</p> + <p>"And Billy?"</p> + <p>"Five—and more."</p> + <p>"My goodness, Mav," and Dale sighed, "how time goes." Then he rose from his chair, + stretched himself, and sighed again. "<i>How</i> time is going!"<a id="Page_285" + name="Page_285"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXIV" name="XXIV"></a>XXIV</h2> + <p>Another charwoman had now been engaged; and Mrs. Goudie, retiring on a small + pension from the Dales, came to Vine-Pits only to pay her respects or now and then to + appear as the least greedy and most deserving petitioner of all those who sat on the + bench or stood waiting at the back door. Coming thus for a dole of tea, she asked + Norah to inform Mr. Dale that young Bates—as he was still called—had + again been seen in the neighborhood. As usual, he had come and gone furtively.</p> + <p>Dale, duly receiving the message, frowned and shook his head ominously. He had + never been able to get hold of young Bates, although Mrs. Goudie had reported several + of these sinister reappearances, and probably nothing could have been gained by an + interview with such a heartless scoundrel. So long as old Bates was weak enough to + give, young Bates would be cruel enough to go on taking; and from the aspect of + things it appeared that the too generous father would before long be altogether + denuded. He was getting shabbier and shabbier in his apparel; his poor old face + looked pinched and thin, and the talk was that he lived on starvation rations. It all + seemed horrible to Dale—a thing that should not be permitted; and yet what + could one do?</p> + <p>He thought about it all next day, and it was more <a id="Page_286" + name="Page_286"></a>or less occupying his mind at dusk when he sat with Norah in the + office clearing up for the night.</p> + <p>"There, my dear, that'll do. You'll only hurt your eyes."</p> + <p>"It's all right, Mr. Dale. I can see well enough just to finish."</p> + <p>Dale was sitting at the table in the window and Norah stood at his desk beside the + high stool, copying rows of figures out of a huge day-book. He turned his head and + watched her for a minute or so in silence. Her dusky black hair was like a crown over + her stooping face; her left elbow and hand lay on the desk; and the moving pen in her + other hand pointed straight at the right shoulder, exactly as Dale had taught her to + point it when she first began to imitate his copper-plate writing. She had been an + apt pupil, and there was no mistake about the help she gave him nowadays. At the + beginning he used to pretend a little, saying that her aid lightened his labors, + merely to encourage and please her.</p> + <p>"Now stop, lassie. This is what Mr. Osborn terms blind man's holiday. Shut the + book."</p> + <p>"I should have liked to finish," said Norah.</p> + <p>Nevertheless she obeyed him, closing the book and putting her papers in a + drawer.</p> + <p>"Look here, if you <i>must</i> be busy to the last moment, come over here nearer + the light and address these envelopes for me—and I'll have a pipe."</p> + <p>Norah came meekly to the window and took the chair that Dale had vacated for her. + Standing close behind the chair and looking down upon her, he noticed the deft way in + which her hands gathered the loose envelopes and stacked them; the shapeliness of her + <a id="Page_287" name="Page_287"></a>arms and shoulders; and the ivory whiteness of + her cheek. It was the fading light that produced this effect, because she was not by + any means a pale girl. Her skin, although white enough, had warm tones in it, and + under it still warmer tones—a brownish glow, like a sunburn that had been + transmitted by nomad ancestors who baked themselves under fierce southern skies + centuries ago. The gipsy blood showed to that extent in her complexion, and to a + greater extent in her hair.</p> + <p>And suddenly he thought of what Mavis had been as a girl. <i>She</i> had a white + skin—if you please; much whiter than Norah's; but she was like this girl in + many respects, was Mavis when he first saw her. She and Norah were as like as two + peas out of one pod in the matter of looking fragile and yet firm, as gracefully + delicate of form as it is possible to be without arousing any suspicion of debility + or unhealthiness. The back of Mavis' stooping neck used to be exactly like this + girl's—a smooth, round stem, without a crease or a speck on it, a solid, + healthy neck, and yet so slender that his great hand would almost girdle it.</p> + <p>"Aren't I doing right?" Norah looked up quickly. "I'm copying the addresses off + the letters."</p> + <p>"No, you're doing quite right." Dale put his hands in his pockets and moved away + to the high stool. "What made you think you were doing wrong?"</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't know. I always get nervous when you watch me and don't say + anything."</p> + <p>"Then we'll talk. There, I'll wait till you're through, and then we'll talk a + bit."</p> + <p>"I am through now," said Norah in a minute. "Shall I put the stamps on?"<a + id="Page_288" name="Page_288"></a></p> + <p>"No, don't trouble. I'll do it myself—and post 'em at the pillar."</p> + <p>He had seated himself on the stool and had brought out his pipe. He looked at its + bowl reflectively, and then began to talk to Norah about the children.</p> + <p>"Don't you think, Norah, that we ought to be putting Billy out to school?"</p> + <p>Mavis so far had acted as governess, with Norah to assist, and between them they + had taught both children to read and write; but this home tuition could not go on + indefinitely, and Dale thought that the time had already come when larger and bolder + steps must be taken toward achieving that liberal education which he had solemnly + promised his son and heir. He was always reading advertisements of attractive seaside + schools, where the boy could secure home comforts, the rudiments of sound religious + faith, as well as a good grounding in the humanities. Mavis, however, would not yet + hear of a separation from her darling. She pleaded that he was such a <i>little</i> + fellow still; she prayed Will not to hurry.</p> + <p>"Tell me what <i>you</i> think about it, Norah—quite candidly."</p> + <p>Norah had hesitated about replying; but she now said that she really thought Dale + need not be in a hurry. Billy was so clever that when he did get to school he would + learn faster than other boys; and she added that his departure from home would be "a + dreadful wrinch for Mrs. Dale."</p> + <p>"But it will be a wrench for her whenever it happens. In life one has to prepare + one's self for <i>wrenches</i>—That, I fancy, is the better way of pronouncing + the word. Yes, wrench after wrench, Norah—that's life; <a id="Page_289" + name="Page_289"></a>until the last great wrench comes—and, well, that + <i>isn't</i> life.... Who was that passed the window?"</p> + <p>Norah turned her bright young face to the window and peered out.</p> + <p>"It's Mr. Bates, sir. How funny he looks!"</p> + <p>"What d'you mean—funny?"</p> + <p>"Walking so slow, and leaning on his great stick—as if he was a + pilgrim."</p> + <p>Dale had jumped off his stool; and he ran out to the road and begged the old man + to come in.</p> + <p>"Certainly, William," said Mr. Bates.</p> + <p>He had cut himself a long staff from some woodland holly-tree, a rough prop that + reached shoulder high, and on this he leaned heavily as soon as he stopped walking. + He looked very old and very shaky.</p> + <p>"Good evening, Miss Veale," he said courteously as he entered the office.</p> + <p>"Oh, you mustn't call her <i>Miss</i> Veale. She's Norah—one of us, you + know." And as he spoke, Dale laid his hand on the back of Norah's neck to prevent her + from rising. "She's our <i>multum in parvo</i>—making herself so useful to the + wife and me that we can't think what we should ever do without her. Bide where you + are a moment, Norah."</p> + <p>Dale established his visitor on a chair that faced the rapidly waning light, and + addressed him again with increased deference.</p> + <p>"If you can spare a few minutes, there's a thing I'd like to speak to you about, + Mr. Bates."</p> + <p>"I can spare all the minutes between now and morning," said Mr. Bates cordially, + "if I can be of the least service to you, William."</p> + <p>As much now as in the beginning of the enterprise<a id="Page_290" + name="Page_290"></a> Bates held himself at the younger man's disposal, indeed liked + nothing better than to give information and counsel whenever his prosperous successor + was of a mind to accept either.</p> + <p>"I won't keep you as long as that," said Dale, smiling; "but will you give us the + pleasure of your company at supper?"</p> + <p>"You're very kind, William, but I don't think I can."</p> + <p>"Do, Mr. Bates. The wife will be as pleased as me—as I."</p> + <p>The old fellow looked up at Dale hesitatingly; and Dale, looking down at his + clean-shaven cheeks, bushy white eyebrows, and the long wisps of white hair brushed + across his bald head, felt a great reverence. He would not look at the threadbare + shabbiness of the gray cloth suit, or at the queer tints given by time and weather to + the black felt hat that was being balanced on two shrunken knees.</p> + <p>"I, ah, don't think I'll present myself before Mrs. Dale—ah, without more + preparation than this. Besides, would it not put her out?"</p> + <p>"No, indeed. Quite unceremonious—taking us exactly as you find + us—pot-luck."</p> + <p>"Then be it so. You are very good. Thank you, William."</p> + <p>"Thank you, Mr. Bates." Dale seized upon the visitor's hat and stick. "Now you may + cut along, Norah, and tell Mrs. Dale that Mr. Bates is kind enough to stay + supper—without ceremony."</p> + <p>Norah glided across the office to the inner door, and, going out, asked if she + should bring a lamp.</p> + <p>"Yes, bring the lamp in ten minutes—not before.<a id="Page_291" + name="Page_291"></a> There's light enough for two such old friends to chat together;" + and Dale waited until she had shut the door. "Now, sir, this is kind and friendly. + Give me your hand, Mr. Bates. I'd like to hold it in mine, while I say these few + prelim'nary words."</p> + <p>"Yes, William?" The old man had immediately offered his hand, and he looked up + with a puzzled and anxious expression.</p> + <p>"I merely wish to assure you, Mr. Bates, very sincerely, that if you at this + moment could see right into my heart, you'd plainly see my respect, and what is more, + my true affection for you, sir."</p> + <p>"I believe it, William."</p> + <p>"And it has always been a source of comfort to me to think that you, sir, have + entertained a most kindly feeling to me, sir."</p> + <p>Mr. Bates had averted his eyes, and he moved his feet restlessly, his demeanor + seeming to indicate that he regretted having accepted the supper invitation and was + perhaps desirous of withdrawing his acceptance.</p> + <p>"I hope," Dale went on, "I haven't been presumptuous in my estimate of your + feeling, sir."</p> + <p>"No." And the old man looked up again. His eyes, his whole face had grown soft, + and the tone of his voice was firm, yet rather low and very sweet. "No, William, my + feeling for you began in taking note of your sharpness combined with your steady + ways, and it has ended in love."</p> + <p>"That's a large word, Mr. Bates."</p> + <p>"It's no larger than the truth."</p> + <p>"Then I say 'Thank you, sir, for the honor you have done me.'" Dale pressed the + old chap's hand, dropped <a id="Page_292" name="Page_292"></a>it, and returned to the + high stool. "And now, after what has passed between us two, man to man, you'll credit + me with no disrespectfulness if I make bold to let fall certain remarks."</p> + <p>Bates nodded his white head and stared at the floor.</p> + <p>"There's a thing, sir, that I particularly want to say. It is about yourself, + sir—"</p> + <p>"Go on, William," said Mr. Bates, "and get it over. I know what you're after, of + course—something about Richard. Well, I'll take it from you. I wouldn't take it + from any one else."</p> + <p>"D'you remember all you used to advise me about the danger of rats, telling me to + fight 'em as if it was the devil himself, horns and tail, and not just so many + stinking little avaricious rodents? You said, one rat was sufficient to mess me + up."</p> + <p>Mr. Bates nodded.</p> + <p>"And you knew what you were talking about—no one better. And for why? + Because it was your own story you were telling me, in the form of a parable."</p> + <p>"You're wrong there, William."</p> + <p>"Not a bit. You'd had one rat—but, by Jupiter, he was a whooping big 'un, + and he'd eaten your grain, and messed you up—he'd ruined your business, and + well-nigh broken your heart, and practically done for you."</p> + <p>"Have you finished?" asked Mr. Bates, with dignity.</p> + <p>"Yes, sir—almost;" and Dale in the most earnest manner besought his old + friend to resist any further attacks from that wicked son. "I do implore you, sir, + not to be weak and fullish. Don't take him to your <a id="Page_293" + name="Page_293"></a>boosum. He's a rat still—an' he'll gnaw and devour the + little that's left to you, so sure as I sit here."</p> + <p>But it was all no use, as he could easily see. Mr. Bates raised his eyes, moved + his feet, and then spoke gently but proudly.</p> + <p>"I thank you, William, for your well-meant intentions. I have listened to what you + wished to say. Now shall we talk of something else?"</p> + <p>"Yes—but with just this one proviso added. Will you remember that I am your + banker, for the full half of what the banker's worth? If the pinch comes, draw on + me."</p> + <p>"I thank you again, William. But I shan't need help."</p> + <p>"I think you will."</p> + <p>"Then to speak quite truly, I couldn't take help, William, I really couldn't."</p> + <p>"Why not? Think of all you've done for me. Don't deny me the pleasure of doing + something for you."</p> + <p>"I'll consider, William. Please let it rest there."</p> + <p>Dale could say no more and they both sat silent for a little while. Then old Bates + spoke again.</p> + <p>"William," he said, "if you'll excuse me, I really won't stay. You have—to + tell the truth—agitated me."</p> + <p>"Indeed I'm sorry, sir. But don't punish me by going."</p> + <p>"I am not quite up to merry-making."</p> + <p>Just then Norah arrived, carrying the lamp, and Dale turned to her for aid.</p> + <p>"Norah, speak for me. Mr. Bates says he won't stay. Tell him how disappointed we + shall be."<a id="Page_294" name="Page_294"></a></p> + <p>"Oh, do stay, Mr. Bates," said Norah. "It'll be such a disappointment to Mr. + Dale."</p> + <p>"Some other evening, Miss—ah, Norah. But you must excuse me this time."</p> + <p>And, having picked up his hat and stick, Mr. Bates bade them good night.</p> + <p>Dale and Norah went out into the road and watched him as he walked away.</p> + <p>"There, Norah;" and Dale, slipping his arm within hers, drew her closer to his + side. "Look with all your eyes. You'll never see a better man than that."</p> + <p>They watched him till he disappeared in the gathering darkness; and he seemed just + like a pilgrim with his staff, slowly approaching the end of a cruelly long + journey.<a id="Page_295" name="Page_295"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXV" name="XXV"></a>XXV</h2> + <p>It was perhaps a month after this when Dale heard news which plainly indicated + that the wicked son had completed his horrible task. He had eaten up all that there + was to eat.</p> + <p>Mr. Osborn said that old Bates had given his landlord notice, and he was leaving + his cottage almost immediately. The matter had been brought to the pastor's knowledge + because one of the Baptist congregation thought of taking the cottage, and had asked + Mr. Osborn's advice.</p> + <p>Other people, who professed to know more than Mr. Osborn, said it was true that + Bates had given notice, but it was also true that he owed two quarters' rent and that + the landlord was determined to have his money. To this end everything the cottage + contained would be seized and sold. And what would happen to Mr. Bates when not only + his house was gone, but all his sticks of furniture too?</p> + <p>"It do seem a pity he ben't a young orphan female instead of a wore-out old man, + for then he cud move on into Barradine Home and be fed on the best for naught."</p> + <p>The cottage and other cottages about Otterford Mill, although close to the Abbey + estate, did not belong to it. They were the property of various small owners, and + Bates' landlord, as Dale knew, was a tradesman at Old Manninglea.<a id="Page_296" + name="Page_296"></a></p> + <p>Dale, having heard the news on a Sunday evening, put his check-book in his pocket + very early next morning and rode over the heath to the market town. There he saw + Bates' landlord, readily obtained leave to withdraw the notice, cleared off the + arrears, and paid rent for a year in advance. Then he rode straight to Otterford + Mill.</p> + <p>"Good morning, William. Pray come in. But will your horse stand quiet there?"</p> + <p>"Oh, yes, sir. He'll stand quiet enough. Only too glad of the chance to stand. I + keep him moving, you know."</p> + <p>"Don't he ever get jerking at the rein, and break his bridle?"</p> + <p>"If he did he wouldn't run away. He'd be too ashamed of himself for what he'd + done."</p> + <p>"Then step inside, William," said Mr. Bates once more.</p> + <p>He ushered Dale into a bare, sad-looking room; and the whole cottage smelled of + nakedness, famine, misery.</p> + <p>"Now, my dear old friend," said Dale cheerily, "what's all this whispering that + reaches my ears <i>in re</i> you thinking of changing your quarters and leaving + us?"</p> + <p>"It's the truth, William. I can't afford these premises any longer."</p> + <p>"Oh, come, we can't have that. We haven't so many friends that we can put up with + losing the one we value most of all."</p> + <p>Then he told Mr. Bates what he had done at Manninglea.</p> + <p>The old man frowned, flushed, and began to tremble.<a id="Page_297" + name="Page_297"></a></p> + <p>"You shouldn't 'a' done that, William. It was a liberty. I must write and say my + notice holds good."</p> + <p>Then there was a brief but most painful conversation, Dale nearly shedding tears + while he pleaded to be allowed on this one occasion to act as banker, and Bates + resolutely refusing help, refusing even to admit how much help was needed.</p> + <p>"William," he said obdurately, "I recognize your kind intention—but you've + made a mistake. You shouldn't have done it, without a word to me. I can only repeat, + it was a liberty."</p> + <p>Dale of course apologized, but went on pleading. It was all no use. Obviously Mr. + Bates' pride had been wounded to the quick. He was white, shaky, so old, so feeble, + and yet firm as a rock. Never till now had he spoken to Dale in such tones of stiff + reproof.</p> + <p>"William, we'll say no more. I have paid my way all my days, and at my present age + it's a bit too late to start differently."</p> + <p>His last words were: "I shall write next post to confirm the notice."</p> + <p>And he did so.</p> + <p>Then the tale ran round that Mr. Bates was going to the workhouse. People declared + that he had ceded all his furniture to the landlord, who could now sell it quietly + and advantageously, in a manner which would yield more than enough to wipe out the + debt. Perhaps there might even be a trifling balance in the debtor's favor + eventually; but meanwhile the homeless and stickless old gentleman would fall as + another burden on the rates to which he had so long subscribed.</p> + <p>It was curious, perhaps, but the humble folk spoke of him as the old gentleman, + and not as the old man, <a id="Page_298" name="Page_298"></a>all at once giving him + the title which they only now began to think he had fairly earned as a master and + employer, an important personage who used to drive about in gigs, wear a black coat + at church, and always have a kind word for you when you touched your cap to him.</p> + <p>"'Tis all a pity but so 'tis, and can't be gainsaid. Th' old gentleman hev come + down so low, that 'tis the Union and nought else."</p> + <p>"Is that for sure?"</p> + <p>"Oh, yes, for certain sure. He is a-goin' into workhouse to-morrow maarning."</p> + <p>But he did not go there.</p> + <p>In the morning some one came running into Dale's yard, and shouted what had + happened since dark last night.</p> + <p>"Th' old gentleman hev a done fer hisself."</p> + <p>He had been found hanging from the biggest of the apple trees behind his cottage. + He had set a ladder against the tree, gone up it, fixed the rope firmly, put the + noose round his neck, and stepped off into the air. That was the way they did for + themselves in this part of Hampshire.<a id="Page_299" name="Page_299"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXVI" name="XXVI"></a>XXVI</h2> + <p>The suicide of Mr. Bates had a great effect on Dale. The sadness and regret that + he felt at the time continued to tinge his thoughts for a long while afterward. He + could not shake off the horror of that midnight scene, as he imagined it—the + God-fearing man breaking the divine laws, the man full of years who was so near the + grave and yet could not wait till it received him naturally, the poor feeble old + creature taxing all his remnant of strength to knock out the small spark of life that + already had begun to gleam so dimly. How long did he take to drag and raise the + ladder, pausing to recover breath, holding his side and coughing, then again + toiling?</p> + <p>Another thing that depressed Dale's spirits was the departure of Mr. Osborn, who + had gone to the Midlands to take up the ministry of a large church in a large town. + And never had Dale more felt the want of priestly support than at this period. The + new pastor was a young man who preached eloquently, but Dale would not be able to + talk to him as he had talked to Osborn.</p> + <p>Mavis observed again what she had not seen for ages, the gloom on her husband's + face when he sat alone, or thought that he was alone. The dull brooding look that + spoiled his aspect at such times was like the shadow of a dark cloud on a field; but + as in the past the shadow went rapidly, and she fancied she could<a id="Page_300" + name="Page_300"></a> chase it away as surely as if she had been the sunshine. She + would have been startled and pained if she could have seen his face now, as he rode + from Manninglea after luncheon at the club.</p> + <p>It was a wet spring day, with dark clouds hanging low over the heath, a cold wind + cheeping, soughing, sighing; and Dale's face was darker and sadder than the day. + Before mounting his horse in the hotel yard at Manninglea he had gone to the station + and bought <i>The Times</i> newspaper; now he drew the paper out of his pocket, and + sheltering it with his rain cloak, read an advertisement on the front page.</p> + <p>The advertisement told him that a London hospital gratefully acknowledged the + receipt of one hundred pounds, being the twenty-first donation from the same hand, + and making two thousand and twenty pounds as the total received to date. In + accordance with the request of their anonymous benefactor, they inserted this notice, + and they offered at the same time their heartfelt thanks.</p> + <p>Dale tore out the advertisement and threw away the rest of the paper.</p> + <p>To his mind, this money was the payment of a very old debt. The amount of his + first charitable donation sent nearly fifteen years ago, had been twenty pounds. + That, the most urgent part of the debt, represented the four bank-notes given to the + wife by Mr. Barradine in London. The other twenty instalments made up the amount of + the legacy that came to her at his death. Mavis had lent the money to her husband, + had in due course received a similar sum of money from him, and she held it now + safely invested; but, as Dale told himself, she did not in truth hold one penny of + the dead<a id="Page_301" name="Page_301"></a> man's gifts. All that she had now was + the gift of him, Dale; and the money that soiled her hands in touching it, the money + that had burned his brain, the filthy gold that had made him half-mad to think of, + had gone to strangers whom neither of them had ever seen. He had been slow about it; + but, thank God, he had done at last what he wanted to do at the very beginning.</p> + <p>He folded the scrap of paper that was his receipt or quittance, put it in his + breast pocket, and rode on at a foot-pace. He was absolutely alone, not a soul in + sight wherever he turned his eyes, not a beast, not a bird moving, the desolate brown + heath and the sad gray sky alike empty of life; straight ahead, about a mile distant, + lay the Cross Roads, the tavern, and the small hamlet of cottages, but as yet they + were hidden by a rise of the intervening ground; only the fringe of cultivated land + at the point where it met the barren waste indicated the work or proximity of + mankind. His face grew still darker as he approached these fields and saw the cluster + of houses on their edge. He looked at the deep ditch that surrounded the outermost + field; then turning his head looked again at the heath, its bleak contours mounting + gradually till they showed an ugly ridge beyond which the downs swelled up soft and + vague against the hanging curtain of clouds. And he thought of what lay on the far + side of this long grass rampart of down country—the fat-soiled valley, the + other railway line, the trains from the West of England, full of queer people, + running by night as well as by day.</p> + <p>As he passed the Barradine Arms, he saw three louts leaning against a dry bit of + wall under the eaves of an outhouse. They stared at him stupidly, not speaking<a + id="Page_302" name="Page_302"></a> or touching their caps, just loutishly staring; + and he stared at them with black severity. He thought how he himself had been like + one of those oafs, living in a cottage not so many miles from this spot. No one now + seemed to remember his humble birth, his unhappy youth, his sordid home. Other people + forgot everything; while he could forget nothing.</p> + <p>At the Cross Roads he drew rein for a moment, as if undecided as to which way to + turn. Before going home he had to pay a business call, and his destination was + straight ahead of him, about four miles off as the crow flies. The quickest way to + get there, the line nearest to the crow's line, would be to leave the road here and + ride through Hadleigh Wood, under the bare beeches, among the somber pines, along the + gloomy rides; and the alternative route would be to turn to the right, hold to the + open road, and follow its deflected course past the Abbey gates and park, and all + round the wild forest. That way would be three miles longer than the other way. He + turned his horse's head to the right; and as he went on by the road, he was thinking + of the terrible chapter in his life that closed with the death of Mr. Barradine.</p> + <p>Nearly fifteen years ago; yet in all that time, although dwelling so near to the + tragic fateful wood, he had been into it only once—and then he had gone there + with the hounds and jolly loud-voiced riders, cub-hunting, on a bright September + morning. The wood symbolized everything that he wished to forget. And he thought that + if he were really a rich man—not a poor little well-to-do trader, but a + fabulous millionaire—he'd buy all this woodland, cut down every tree, chase + away every shadow, and grow corn in the sunlight.<a id="Page_303" + name="Page_303"></a> He would buy woodland and parkland too—he would burn Aunt + Petherick's hidden cottage, the Abbey with its inner, outer and middle courtyards, + yes, and its church also; he would burn and fell, and grub and plough, and then plant + the seeds of corn that symbolize the resurrection of life; and the sun should shine + on a wide yellow sea, with waves of hope rippling across it as the ripened ears bowed + and rose; and there should be no trace or stain to mark the submerged slime that had + held corruption and death. Then, if he could do that, he would have nothing to remind + him of all he had gone through in the past.</p> + <p>Nothing to remind him?</p> + <p>It made no difference whether the Abbey towers and the North Ride chimneys were + visible or invisible; no screen of trees, whether leafless as now or carrying the + full weight of foliage, could really screen them from him; they were inside him, + together with all that they had once signified, a part of himself. If he did not look + at them with introspective eyes, if he ignored their existence, if he succeeded in + not thinking of them, there was always something else, inside him or outside him, to + carry his thoughts back into the black bad time.</p> + <p>At this moment it was the Orphanage, with its wet red roofs and dripping white + verandas. His road took him close in front of it—a lengthy stretch of building + composed of a central block that contained the hall and schoolrooms, and two lesser + and lower blocks connected by cloisters. He glanced at these blocks—long and + low, only a ground floor and an upper story—and noticed the veranda and broad + balconies. The girls slept here, as Mavis had told him; the younger in one <a + id="Page_304" name="Page_304"></a>block and the older in the other block. The whole + institution had an air of old-established order and unceasing care; all the paint was + new and clean; the gardens and terraces, with hedges and shrubs that had grown high + and thick, were beautifully kept; not a weed showed in borders or paths; the copper + bell in the belfry turret was so well polished that it seemed to shine, even though + no glint of sunlight touched it. As he rode by he heard the sound of children's + voices, and, raising himself in his stirrups, looked over the clipped yew hedge that + guarded the lower garden from the roadway. A dozen or fifteen small blue-cloaks were + romping joyously under one of the verandas, and perhaps twenty of the bigger + blue-cloaks were soberly parading two by two in a cloister.</p> + <p>Nothing carried him back so promptly and surely as the sight of these blue-cloaked + girls, and scarcely a day ever passed without his seeing them. Two by two they were + incessantly tramping the roads for miles round. He could not walk, ride, or drive + without meeting them. When he heard their footsteps and knew that they were coming + marching by Vine-Pits, he turned his back to the office window, or went into the + depths of granary or stable. He had hated that day when Mavis brought them off the + road and into the heart of his home.</p> + <p>With the sound of their shrill cries and merry laughter lingering in his ears he + rode on.</p> + <p>What a hideous and damnable mockery! This was the monument of that good kind man, + the late Mr. Barradine. Every red tile, every dab of white paint, every square inch + of clean gravel, gave substance and solidity to the lasting fame of that dear sweet + gentleman.<a id="Page_305" name="Page_305"></a> Visitors to the neighborhood always + stopped their carriages or motor cars outside the Orphanage gates, questioned and + gaped, sent in their cards, begged for permission to go all over it. Inside, no doubt + they admired the rows of clean white beds, some of them quite little cots, others big + enough for almost full-grown bouncing lasses; they stood with hushed breath before + his portrait in the refectory hall or his bust on the stairs; and perhaps they patted + the cheeks of some pretty inmate and asked if, when saying her prayers, she always + included the name of the patron saint. On high occasions clergymen and bishops came, + there to hiccough and weep over his blessed memory. Great lords and ladies praised + him, newspaper writers praised him, ignorant fools in cottages praised him; and to + high and low the crowning grace of his glorious charity was the selection of the + softer, gentler, and too often downtrodden sex as the object of such tender care. + That was what set the sentimental rivers flowing. It proved the innate gentleness and + sweetness of him who was now an angel in Heaven. When it came to choosing the guests + for the lovely home he had built in his mind, he had said: "I will not fill it with a + lot of hulking boys. Boys are naturally rough and coarse animals, and can generally + fight their way out on top, no matter how stiff the struggle. Give me so many + graceful delicate girls; pretty helpless things, dainty little innocent fascinating + creatures; not necessarily fatherless girls, but unprotected girls—girls that + grievously need protection."</p> + <p>And Dale thought how the man, when he was alive, dealt with any innocent + unprotected girl who chanced to fall into his power. In imagination he saw him <a + id="Page_306" name="Page_306"></a>taking care of Mavis, when she was young and + tender, and scarcely knew right from wrong. In imagination he saw it all + again—the pattings and pawings, the scheming and devising, the luring and + ensnaring—Barradine and Mavis—the man of many years and the girl of few + years, the serpent and the dove, the destroyer and the destroyed. Those torturing + mental pictures glowed and took form, and were as vivid now as when, in the hour of + his grief and despair, he first made them and saw them.</p> + <p>This departed saint, whose memory had become as a fragrance of myrrh, whose name + sounded like the clinking of an incense-pot swung by devout hands, whose monument + stood firm as a temple built upon the rock, was simply a dirty old beast for whom no + excuse could be possible. What worse crime can there be than that of befouling youth? + Who is a worse enemy to the commonweal than he who snatches and steals for his + transient gratification treasures that are accumulating to make some honest man's + life-long joy? Such wanton abuse of society's law and nature's plan is the + unpardonable sin; it is sin as monstrous as the enormities that brought down fire + upon the dwellers in the cities of the plain.</p> + <p>To Dale the idea of an offense so gross that its perpetrator deserved neither pity + nor mercy was if anything stronger now than when it had first entered and filled his + mind.</p> + <p>Yet it seemed to him that now, after all the years that had gone by, he could for + the first time perfectly understand the dark and shameful tangle of emotions through + which the sinner moved onward to his sin. It seemed that with luminous clearness he + could look <a id="Page_307" name="Page_307"></a>right into the corrupt heart of the + dead man. He could understand all, though he could forgive nothing. He could measure + the force of every thought and sensation that had pushed the dead man on and on.</p> + <p>After middle-age the blood grows stagnant, habit dulls the edge of appetite, a + weariness of the mind and of the body makes one cease to taste well-used delights; a + strong new stimulus is required to revive the emotional life that is sinking to + decay. Such a stimulus must not only be strong and new, it must be light, delicate, + altogether strange. The effect it produces is due to charm and spell as much as to + substance and form.</p> + <p>To people who are elderly, youth itself, merely because it is youth, exercises a + tremendous fascination. It sheds an atmosphere that is pleasant to breathe. It seems + like a fountain of life in which, if we might bathe, we should take some rejuvenating + virtue as well as a soothing bliss. There is a common saying that it makes one feel + young just to consort with young people.</p> + <p>Then imagine the selfish unprincipled wretch who at the same time feels the new + stimulus, experiences the mysterious fascination, and craves for the revivifying + delight. Putting himself in the sinner's place, Dale could realize the pressure that + drove him to his sin. He could estimate the fearful temptation offered by the mere + presence of the fresh young innocent creature that one has begun to think about in + this improper manner. She comes and she goes before one's eyes, piercing them with + her beauty; she fills one with desire as wine fills a cup; she absorbs one, whether + she knows it or not, dominates, overwhelms, makes one <a id="Page_308" + name="Page_308"></a>her sick and fainting slave. And suppose that while one becomes + her slave one remains her master. To what a gigantic growth the temptation must rush + up each time that one thinks she is utterly in one's power! How irresistible it must + seem if she herself does not aid one to resist it, if through her ignorance or + childish faith she invites the disaster one is struggling to avoid, if instead of + flying from her danger she draws nearer and nearer to it.</p> + <p>But to yield to such temptation, however tremendous it may be, is abominable, + disgusting, and inexpressibly base. No explanation can palliate or apology + prevail—the crime remains the same crime, and he who commits it is not fit to + live with decent upright men. That was what Dale had felt fifteen years ago, and he + felt it with increased conviction now because of the religious faith that had become + his guide and comfort. To a believing Baptist there is a peculiar sacredness, in + unsullied innocence.</p> + <p>Two hours afterward, when he had transacted his business and drew near to home, he + was still thinking of Mr. Barradine and the Orphanage for unguarded innocent girls. + He shook himself in the saddle, squared his shoulders, and held up his head as he + rode into the yard.</p> + <p>"Here, take my horse," he said sternly, as he swung his foot out of the + stirrup.</p> + <p>Then, at the sound of a voice behind him, he felt a little shiver run down his + spine, like the cold touch of superstitious fear.</p> + <p>It was only Norah calling to him. She had come out into the rain to tell him that + Mavis Dale had gone to Rodchurch and could not be back to tea.<a id="Page_309" + name="Page_309"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXVII" name="XXVII"></a>XXVII</h2> + <p>A lassitude descended upon him. Things that had always seemed easy began to seem + difficult; little bits of extra work that used to be full of pleasure now brought a + fatigue that he felt he must evade; interests that he had allowed to widen without + limit all at once contracted and shrank to nothing.</p> + <p>He surprised Mavis by telling her that he had resigned his membership of the + District Council. During the last winter he had retired from the fire brigade, and + Mavis thoroughly approved of this retirement; but she thought it rather a pity that + he should cease to be a councilor. She had always liked the sound of his official + designation. Councilor Dale sounded so very grand.</p> + <p>The fire brigade had proved a disappointment to him. Since its enrollment he and + his men had often been useful at minor conflagrations, of ricks, cottage thatch, and + kitchen flues; but they had never been given a chance of really distinguishing + themselves. They had saved no lives, nor met with any perilous risks. However, the + captain's retirement was made the occasion of showing the regard and respect in which + Mr. Dale was held by the whole neighborhood. Secretly subscriptions had been + collected for the purpose of giving Mr. Dale a testimonial, and at a very large + meeting in the Rodchurch Schoolroom, it was presented by one of the most important + local gentlemen.<a id="Page_310" name="Page_310"></a> "Mr. Dale," said Sir Reginald, + "our worthy vicar has mentioned the fact that I have come here to-night at some + slight personal inconvenience; but I can assure you that if the inconvenience had + been very much greater I should have come all the same." (Considerable cheering.) + "And in handing you this inscribed watch and accompanying chain, I desire to assure + you on behalf of all here"—and so on. Dale, for his part, said that "had he + guessed this testimonial was on foot, he might have been tempted to burk it, because + he could not have conscientiously countenanced it. But now accepting it, although he + did not desire it, he felt quite overcome by it. Nevertheless he would ever value + it." (Loud and prolonged cheers.) The record of all these proceedings, faithfully set + forth in the <i>Rodhaven District Courier</i>, formed the proudest and finest snippet + in Mavis' bulging scrap album; and brought moisture to her eyes each time that she + examined it anew.</p> + <p>"I was never more pleased," she said, "than when I knew you wouldn't ever have to + wear your fire helmet again; but now I'm wondering if you won't <i>miss</i> the + Council."</p> + <p>"No, Mav, I shan't miss it."</p> + <p>"One thing I'm sure of—they'll miss <i>you</i>."</p> + <p>"They'll get on very well without me, my dear." And then he told her that he was + not quite the man he had been. "I'm not so greedy nowadays for every opportunity of + spouting out my opinions; and I've come to think one's private work is enough, + without putting public work on top of it. You'll understand, I don't mean that I want + to fold my hands and sit quiet <a id="Page_311" name="Page_311"></a>for the rest of + my days. But I do seem to feel the need of taking things a little lighter than I used + to do."</p> + <p>This explanation was more than sufficient for Mavis; she sympathetically praised + him for his wisdom in dropping the silly old useless Council.</p> + <p>But it was later this evening, or perhaps one evening a little afterward, when + something he said set her thoughts moving so fast that they rushed on from sympathy + to apprehensive anxiety.</p> + <p>He spoke with unusual kindness about her family, and asked if she had suffered any + real discomfort because of his having forbidden intercourse with all the Petherick + relations. She said "No." Then he said he had been actuated by the best intentions; + and he further added that all his experience of the world led him to believe that one + got on a great deal better by one's self than if chocked up with uncles and cousins + and aunts. "So I should hope, Mav, that you'd never now feel the wish to mend what I + took the decision of breaking. I mean, especially as your people have mostly + scattered and gone from these parts, that you'd never, however you were situated, + wish to hunt them all out and bring them back to your doors again." Mavis dutifully + and honestly said that her own experience had led her to similar conclusions. She + thought that relatives were often more trouble than they were worth, and she promised + never to attempt a regathering of the scattered Petherick clan.</p> + <p>"You know," he said, "if anything happened to me, you'd be all right. I have made + my will long ago. There's a copy of it in there," and he pointed to the lower part of + the bureau; "while th' instrument itself lies snug in Mr. Cleaver's safe, over at + Manninglea."<a id="Page_312" name="Page_312"></a></p> + <p>"Oh, for goodness' sake, don't speak of it. I can't bear even to hear the word." + And then, taking alarm, she said he must be feeling really ill, or such things as + wills would never have come into his head. "Tell me the truth, dear. Tell me what you + do feel—truly." And she asked him all sorts of questions about his health, + begging him to consult a doctor without a day's delay.</p> + <p>"Only a bit tired, Mav—and that's what I never used to feel."</p> + <p>"No, you never did. And I don't at all understand it."</p> + <p>"It's quite natural, my dear."</p> + <p>"Not natural to you."</p> + <p>Then he took her hand, pressed it affectionately, and laughed in his old jolly + way. "My dear, it's nothing—just an excuse for slacking off now and then. + Remember, Mav, I am not a chicken. I shall be fifty before th' end of this year."</p> + <p>He convinced her that there was no cause for her anxiety; and only too happy not + to have to be anxious, she thought no more of this strange thing that her untiring + Will now sometimes knew what tiredness meant.</p> + <p>But his lassitude increased. He uttered no further hints about it to anybody; he + endeavored to conceal it; he refused to admit its extent even to himself. On certain + days to think made him weary, to be active and bustling was an impossibility. + Instinct seemed to whisper that he was passing through still another phase, that + presently he would be all right again—just as vigorous and energetic as in the + past; and that <a id="Page_313" name="Page_313"></a>meanwhile he should not flog and + spur himself, but just rest patiently until all his force returned to him.</p> + <p>Since to do anything was a severe effort, he had better do nothing. He ceased to + bother about Billy's schooling. He postponed making his harvest arrangements; he + forgot to answer a letter asking for an estimate, and one Thursday he omitted to wind + the clocks. He tried to let his beard grow, in order to escape the trouble of + shaving. It grew during three days; but the effect was so disfiguring—a stiff + stubble of gray, hiding his fine strong chin, and spreading high on his bronzed + cheeks—that Norah and Mavis implored him to desist. Even Ethel the housemaid + ventured to say how very glad she felt when he shaved again.</p> + <p>The month of May was hot and enervating; the month of June was wet and depressing. + Day after day the rain beat threateningly against the windows, and night after night + it dripped with a melancholy patter from the eaves. On three successive Sundays Dale + considered the rain an adequate excuse for not going to chapel. He and Norah had a + very short informal service within sound and within smell of the roast beef that was + being cooked close by in the kitchen, and afterward he meditatively read the Bible to + himself while Norah laid the cloth for dinner.</p> + <p>He had said that he did not want to fold his hands and sit quiet for the remainder + of his existence; but that was precisely what he desired to do for the moment. He + allowed Norah to relieve him of more and more of his office duties, and he idly + watched her as she stood bending her neck over the tall desk or sat stooping her back + and squaring her elbows at the writing-table. And still sitting himself, he would <a + id="Page_314" name="Page_314"></a>maintain long desultory conversations with her + about nothing in particular when, having completed the tasks that he had entrusted to + her, she moved here and there about the office tidying up for the night.</p> + <p>Thus on an evening toward the end of June he talked to her about love and the + married state. It had been raining all day long, and though no rain fell at the + moment, one felt that more was coming. The air was saturated with moisture; heavy + odors of sodden vegetation crept through the open window; and one saw a mist like + steam beginning to rise from the fields beyond the roadway. Mr. Furnival, the new + pastor, had just passed by; and it was his appearance that started the + conversation.</p> + <p>"He is a conscientious talented young man," said Dale; "and with experience he + will ripen. At present he seems to me deficient in sympathy."</p> + <p>"Yes, so he does," said Norah, as she opened the desk drawer.</p> + <p>"He hasn't the knack of putting himself in the place of other people. There's + something cold and cheerless in his preaching—I don't say as if he didn't feel + it all himself, but as if he hadn't yet caught the knack of imparting his feelings to + others."</p> + <p>"No more he has," said Norah, putting away her papers.</p> + <p>"Between you and me and the post," said Dale, "I don't like him."</p> + <p>"No more do I."</p> + <p>"What! Don't you like Mr. Furnival either?"</p> + <p>Norah shook her head and said "No" emphatically.</p> + <p>"But he is handsome, Norah. I call him undoubtedly <a id="Page_315" + name="Page_315"></a>a handsome man. And they tell me that the girls are falling in + love with him."</p> + <p>Norah laughed, and said that, if Mr. Dale had been correctly informed, she was + sorry for the taste of the girls.</p> + <p>"Then you don't admire his looks, Norah?"</p> + <p>"It rather surprises me, because I should have thought he was just the sort of + person to attract and fascinate the other sex—a bachelor too, without ties, + able to take advantage of any success in that line that came his way. I mean, of + course, by offering marriage to the party who fancied him."</p> + <p>Norah said again that she thought nothing of Mr. Furnival's alleged handsomeness. + She considered him a namby-pamby.</p> + <p>"You are young still. Perhaps I oughtn't to talk like this—putting nonsense + in your head. But it'll come there sure enough of its own accord. Your turn will + come. You'll fall in love one day, Norah."</p> + <p>Norah, putting the big account-books back on the shelf over the desk, did not + answer.</p> + <p>"You've never fallen in love yet, have you?"</p> + <p>Norah would not answer.</p> + <p>"Ah, well." Dale got up from his chair, and stretched himself. "But you'll have to + marry some day, you know."</p> + <p>"Oh, no, I shan't."</p> + <p>"Oh, yes, my dear, you will. That's a thing there's no harm for girls to think of, + because it's what they've got to prepare themselves for." And Dale delivered a + serious little homily on the duties and pleasures of wedlock, and concluded by + telling Norah that when <a id="Page_316" name="Page_316"></a>she had chosen an honest + proper sort of young fellow, neither himself nor Mrs. Dale would stand in the way of + her future happiness. "Yes, my dear, you'll leave us then; and we shall miss you + greatly—both of us will miss you very greatly, but we shan't either of us + consider that. And you mustn't consider it yourself. It's nature—quite proper + and correct that under those circumstances you should leave us."</p> + <p>"Never," said Norah. "Never—unless you send me away;" and stooping her head + on her arms, she began to cry.</p> + <p>"Oh, my dear, don't cry," said Dale bruskly. "What in the name of reason is there + to cry about?"</p> + <p>"Then say you won't send me away," sobbed Norah. "Promise me you won't do + that."</p> + <p>"Of course I won't," said Dale, in the same brusk tone. "That is, unless I'm + morally certain that—"</p> + <p>"No, no—never."</p> + <p>"Oh, don't be silly. Dry your eyes, and be sensible;" and Dale, plunging his hands + in his pockets, hurried out of the office.</p> + <p>He walked as far as the Baptist Chapel, and straight back again; and before he got + home he made a solemn resolution to rouse himself from the idle lethargic state into + which he felt himself slipping deeper and deeper. Thinking about business and other + matters, he decided now that the odd weariness which he had been experiencing must be + struggled with, and not submitted to. There was no sense in calmly accepting such a + mental and bodily condition. It might be different if there was anything organically + wrong with him; but he was really as strong and fit as ever—only a bit tired; + but he thought with scorn of the folly of allowing dark days <a id="Page_317" + name="Page_317"></a>and foul weather to influence one's spirits or one's capacity for + effort. That sort of rubbish is well enough for rich old maids who go about the world + with a maid, a hot-water bottle, and a poll parrot; but it is degrading and + undignified in a successful business man who has a wife and two children to work for, + whether the sun shines or the sky is overcast.</p> + <p>At supper he told Mavis that he was going to make a long round of it next day, + starting early, and riding far to pay several calls that were overdue. He added that + he would not require Norah's assistance in the office, either to-morrow or for some + time to come.</p> + <p>"I fear me," he said, "that I've been selfish, and abused the privilege of taking + her away to act as secretary, and thereby thrown more on you."</p> + <p>"Not a bit," said Mavis. "Take her just as long as she makes herself useful."</p> + <p>"She has done fine," said Dale, "and lifted a lot off my shoulders. But now I feel + I'm all clear, and I restore her to her proper place and duties."</p> + <p>Mavis, if aware of the fact, would have thought it curious that Dale had spoken to + Norah of falling in love, because she herself was at this time worried by thoughts of + such possibilities with regard to the girl. She noticed various changes in Norah's + manner and deportment. Norah, although Dale said she worked well enough for him in + the office, showed a perceptible slackness at her household tasks. She seemed to have + lost interest, especially in all kitchen work; she was often careless in dusting and + cleaning the parlor, and had done one or two very clumsy things—such as + breaking tea-cups when washing up—as if her wits had gone wool-gathering + instead of being concentrated <a id="Page_318" name="Page_318"></a>on the job in + hand. Her temper, too, was not so even and agreeable as it ought to have been. She + was distinctly irritable once or twice to the children, when they were trying to play + with her as of old, and not, as she declared, wilfully teasing her. And once or twice + when she was reproved, there had come some nasty little flashes of rebellion.</p> + <p>Mavis, seeking any reason for this slight deterioration of conduct and steadiness, + wondered if Norah by chance had a little secret love affair up her sleeve. That would + account for everything. But if so, who could it be who was upsetting her? Girls, even + at what matrons call the silly age, can not give scope to their silliness without + opportunities; and there were no visitors to the house, and certainly none of the men + in the yard, who could conceivably be carrying on with her.</p> + <p>Then the suspicions of Mavis were aroused by discovering that Norah was at her old + tricks again. If you sent her as messenger of charity to one of the cottages, and + more still if you gave her an hour or two for herself, she went stealing off into the + forbidden woods. She had been seen doing it twice, and, as Mavis suspected, had done + it often without being seen. She knew that she wasn't allowed to do it. There was the + plain house-rule that neither she nor Ethel were ever to leave the roads when they + were out alone. Yet she broke the rule; and Mavis now suspected that she did not + break this rule in order to pick wild flowers and look at green leaves but to meet a + sweetheart.</p> + <p>Mavis, thinking about it, was at once angry and apprehensive. A fine thing for all + of them, if the little fool came to trouble and disgrace that way. She <a + id="Page_319" name="Page_319"></a>would not immediately bother Dale about it; but she + promptly tackled Norah, roundly accused her of improper behavior, expressed a firm + conviction that she was playing the fool with some young man, and threatened to lay + the whole matter before the master.</p> + <p>"D'you understand, Norah? We won't put up with it—not for a moment. We're + not going to let you make yourself the talk of the place and bring us to shame into + the bargain."</p> + <p>Norah, alternately flushing and turning pale, defended herself with vigor. She was + indignant not with the threats, but with the suspicion. She swore that she had never + for one instant thought of a young man, much less spoken to or made appointments with + a young man; and that she had broken the house-rule simply because she found it + almost impossible to keep it. She had always loved wandering about under the trees: + she used to go there all alone as a baby, and she thought it unreasonable that she + might not go there alone as a grown-up person.</p> + <p>Norah's indignant tone suggested complete innocence, and Mavis felt relieved in + mind, but yet not quite sure whether the girl was really telling the truth.</p> + <p>She indirectly returned to the charge on the following Sunday, when Norah was + about to start for her afternoon out.</p> + <p>"Norah, I want a word with you."</p> + <p>The girl came back along the flagged path to the kitchen door.</p> + <p>"It's just this, Norah. You'll please to remember what I've told you, and act + accordingly."</p> + <p>Norah turned her head and answered over her shoulder, rather sullenly, as Mavis + thought.<a id="Page_320" name="Page_320"></a></p> + <p>"All right. I remember."</p> + <p>"Don't answer me like that," said Mavis sharply. "And please to remember your + manners, and look at people when you speak to them."</p> + <p>"All right," said Norah again, and, as Mavis judged, very sullenly this time.</p> + <p>"Look you here, young lady," she said, with increasing warmth. "I'm not going to + stand any of your nonsense—and of that I give you fair warning. Now you just + answer me in a seemly manner and tell me exactly where you are going this afternoon, + or I'll send you straight back into the house to take off your finery and not go out + at all."</p> + <p>Dale, close by in the little sitting-room, heard his wife's voice raised thus + angrily, closed the book that was lying open on his knees, and came to the + window.</p> + <p>"What's wrong, Mav?"</p> + <p>"It's Norah offering me her sauce, and I won't put up with it."</p> + <p>Dale, with the book in his hand, came out through the kitchen, and stood by Mavis + on the stone flags.</p> + <p>"Norah," he said seriously, "you must always be good, and do whatever Mrs. Dale + tells you."</p> + <p>"Yes, but that's just what she doesn't do;" and Mavis explained that, in spite of + repeated orders, Norah had several times gone mooning off into the woods all by + herself. "So now I'm reminding her, and asking where she means to go this + afternoon."</p> + <p>Norah, with her eyes on the flags, said that she would go to Rodchurch.</p> + <p>"Very good," said Mavis. "Then now you've answered, you may go."</p> + <p>When Norah had disappeared round the corner of <a id="Page_321" + name="Page_321"></a>the house, Mavis talked to her husband apologetically and + confidentially.</p> + <p>"Will, dear, I'm sorry I disturbed you when you were reading;" and glancing at the + book in his hand, she felt ashamed of her recent warmth. "I couldn't help blowing her + up, and I'll tell you why." Then she spoke of the necessity of keeping a sharp eye + and a firm hand on a girl of Norah's age and attractions; and she further mentioned + her suspicion, now almost entirely allayed, of some secret carryings-on.</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't think there's anything of that sort," said Dale. "No, I may say I'm + morally sure Norah isn't deceiving you there."</p> + <p>"I'm glad you think so. Yes, it's what I think myself. I should have bowled her + out if there'd been anything going on. But, Will, there's other dangers for + her—worse dangers."</p> + <p>"What dangers, Mavis?"</p> + <p>"Well, all the lads naturally are looking at her. Norah has come on faster than + you may have noticed. I don't want her to mix herself up with any of those louts that + hang about the Cross Roads."</p> + <p>"No."</p> + <p>"And she'll come across them for certain if she gets trapesing through the trees + like she does. There's her brothers would bring them together. Besides, it isn't + <i>safe</i>—at her age. You know yourself what's always been said of it."</p> + <p>"Quite so," said Dale. "You are wise, Mavis—very wise to be watchful and + careful."</p> + <p>Then he returned to the sitting-room, settled himself again in the porter's chair, + and reopened his book at the place where he had been interrupted.<a id="Page_322" + name="Page_322"></a></p> + <p>It was the New Testament; and just now, while reading the twenty-first chapter of + Saint Matthew, he had enjoyed a clear vision of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Making + his picture from materials supplied by an article in the <i>People's + Encyclopedia</i>, he seemed to be able to see the ancient city and its exotic life as + the Redeemer and the disciples must have seen it on that memorable day. Here were the + narrow streets and the crowded market-places; the towers and domes; the strangely + garbed traders, laden camels, gorgeous Roman soldiers, brown-faced priests, + black-bodied slaves; sunlit hills high above one, distant faintly blue mountains far + ahead of one—a thronged labyrinth of shadow and light, of noise and confusion, + of pomp and squalor.</p> + <p>But the picture was gone, the dream was broken, the hope was darkened. He tried to + bring it all back again, and failed utterly. He could not think of Christ riding into + Jerusalem; he could only think of Norah walking along the road to Rodchurch.<a + id="Page_323" name="Page_323"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXVIII" name="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII</h2> + <p>Extreme heat came that year with the opening of July, and the atmosphere at night + seemed as oppressive as in the day.</p> + <p>After an unusually wet June the foliage was rich and dense, but flowers were few + and poor—except the roses, which had prospered greatly. Throughout the daylight + hours trees close at hand looked solid, as if composed of some unbending green + material; while those a little way off were rather firm, presenting the appearance of + trees during heavy rain. Indeed that was the appearance of the whole scene—a + country-side being drenched and rendered vague by a heavy downpour; but it was sheer + heat that was descending, with never an atom of moisture in it.</p> + <p>The shadows beneath the trees were absolutely black, impenetrable; a dark cave + under each ring of leaves. Then toward nightfall this shadow grew lighter and + lighter, until it was a transparent grayness into which one could see quite clearly. + Thus a girl and a man sitting under a hedgerow elm five or six hundred yards away + were distinct objects, although perhaps themselves unaware that they had gradually + lost their shelter and become conspicuous.</p> + <p>Dale, crossing his fields and staring at these two figures, for a moment fancied + that one of them was Norah. Yet that would have been an impossibility, because he had + just left her behind him at the house; <a id="Page_324" name="Page_324"></a>and she + could not have swum round in a great half-circle, through the drowsy air, to confront + him at a distant point where he did not expect to see her. But the heat made one + stupid and slow-witted. This man and woman were farmer Creech's people, and they had + come sauntering along the edge of uncut grass to make lazy love to each other. Dale + turned aside to avoid disturbing them.</p> + <p>As he returned toward the house presently, he thought of Norah's unwonted pallor. + Poor child, the heat seemed to be trying her more than anybody. And he thought of how + wan and limp and sad she looked early this morning, when he had again sent her out of + his office and flatly refused to let her do any more writing or tidying for him. Even + her red lips had gone pale; she dropped her head; her white eyelids and black lashes + fluttered as she looked up at him piteously, seeming to ask: "What have I done that + you treat me like this, oh, my cruel master?" He had driven his hands deep into his + pockets, had shrugged his shoulders, and spoken almost roughly—telling her to + go about her business, and not bother. He thought if he gave her time to do it, she + might cry again; and he did not want to see any more of her tears.</p> + <p>But off and on throughout the day he had watched her when she did not in the least + know that she was being observed. Just after breakfast he had watched her as she + scrubbed the kitchen floor, and had noticed the pretty lines of her figure in these + sprawling attitudes—her ankles, stockings, and the upturned soles of her + buckle-shoes.</p> + <p>He was watching her when she came up from the dairy with the pail that held Mavis' + afternoon supply <a id="Page_325" name="Page_325"></a>of milk, and he noticed her + stretched arm, bare to the elbow, and the other arm balancing, the tilted body + helping also to maintain equilibrium. Almost more than she could manage—why + didn't that broad-backed thick-legged lump of a dairy-maid carry the house-pail? He + would have liked to go out and carry the pail himself; but that was one of the many + things which he must carefully refrain from doing.</p> + <p>And all day long, though he saw her so often, he never once heard her sing. She + made no song over her work, as used to be her habit. He wondered if Mavis was not + working her too hard in this terribly exhausting weather. He wondered also if he + would ever be able to say quite naturally what he had for so long wished to say and + felt he ought to say—that Norah must be given a holiday, that she must be sent + somewhere at a considerable distance and stay there in charge of kind and respectable + people for an indefinite period. Mavis might consider the suggestion so strange; and + it might be impossible to explain that, strange as it seemed, it was nevertheless + full of wisdom—a suggestion that should be acted upon without an instant's + delay.</p> + <p>The supper table had been brought out into the open air, and it stood upon the + flagged path, where they had spread their hospitable feast for the higgler's wedding. + Norah was coming in and out of the kitchen, and Dale sat watching her as she arranged + knives, forks, and glasses. Both the children were to be of the party; and they might + stay up as late as they pleased, because as it was too hot to sleep in their beds, it + did not matter how long the young people remained out of them. They were now roaming + about the orchard with Mavis, <a id="Page_326" name="Page_326"></a>hunting for a + coolness that did not exist anywhere except in one's memory, and their voices sounded + at intervals languidly.</p> + <p>More and more color was now perceptible; distances were extending; lines of meager + flowers, crimson and blue as well as white, showed in a border of the kitchen garden; + and the sky, seeming to lift and brighten, was a faint orange above the horizon and a + most delicate rose tint toward the zenith—so that till half-past eight, or + later, one had the illusion that the night was going to be more brightly lighted than + the day.</p> + <p>Nobody had much appetite for supper, but they all sat a long while at the table, + glad to rest if they could not eat, hoping that when they moved from their chairs + they would find the temperature lower within the house walls than outside them. Mavis + gave little oppressed sighs as she fanned her jolly round face and broad matronly + chest with a copy of the <i>Courier</i>. Ethel, who to-night seemed an + extraordinarily cumbrous awkward creature, flumped the dishes down on the table and + shuffled away on her big flat feet. Norah glided to and fro, now here, now there, + pouring out milk and water for the children, and ducking prettily when a bat came + close to her white face and black hair.</p> + <p>"What, Norah," said Mavis, laughing, "you a country girl, and afraid of a + flitter-mouse!"</p> + <p>"Yes," said Billy, "she's afraid of the flitty-mouse. Isn't she a coward? You are + a coward, Norah."</p> + <p>And then the laugh was turned against Billy; for the bat passing again and lower + than before, Billy himself ducked and crouched automatically.</p> + <p>"Who's the coward now, young sir?"</p> + <p>"I don't mind anything that has wings," said Rachel.<a id="Page_327" + name="Page_327"></a> "It's what goes creeping and crawling that I'm afraid of."</p> + <p>"I don't mind ear-wigs," said Billy defiantly.</p> + <p>And Dale, while he talked without interest and ate without appetite, watched + Norah. She had changed her gown an hour ago, and obviously when changing had + discarded the burden of under-petticoats; this other gown hung close and yet limp + about her limbs, modeling itself to each slim length and shapely curve; and he + thought it made her look like the statue of a Grecian hand-maiden-such as he had seen + many years before in illustrations of learned books. When she stood near him, he + noticed nothing but the blackness of her hair or the whiteness of her cheeks; and + then he thought she looked somehow wild and fantastic, like a person that one can see + only in dreams. But whether she was near him or at a little distance, so long as she + remained in sight, he was unintermittently conscious that the essential charm that + she shed forth could be traced directly to her youth.</p> + <p>"Good night, daddy."</p> + <p>"Good night, Rachel."</p> + <p>His daughter had kissed him, and she stood between his knees while he patted her + and caressed her. She too was young and fresh and sweet-smelling; and yet the touch + of her purified one. So long as he was holding her, it seemed to him that a father's + love is so great and so pure that there can not be any other love in the world.</p> + <p>But a minute afterward, when his own girl had gone and the other girl was again + before his eyes, all the impure unworthy unpermissible desires came rushing back upon + him.<a id="Page_328" name="Page_328"></a></p> + <p>They lighted lamps in the kitchen presently, and he sat staring at the open + doorway, alone now, after the table had been cleared. The doorway seemed like an + empty picture-frame. But each time that Norah came and stood there looking out for a + moment, the picture was in its frame. With the light behind her, she was just a thin + black figure; and he thought how slight, how weak and small a thing to possess such + tremendous, almost irresistible power over him.</p> + <p>Next evening, between tea-time and supper-time, Norah absented herself without + leave. Mavis did not miss her at first. Then she thought that very probably the girl + was wandering about with the children, or gossiping with the maid at the dairy; but + then old Mrs. Goudie, who had come to pay a call at the back door, said she had met + Norah and had a chat with her "up th' road." On being further examined, Mrs. Goudie + said that Norah, after bidding her good night, had got over the stile at the second + footpath into Hadleigh Wood.</p> + <p>Mavis at once became angry and suspicious again, and she went to her husband to + report this act of rebellion. The office was empty, but she found him at the yard. He + was in his shirt-sleeves, sitting on a corn-bin, and he seemed to be greatly troubled + by what she told him that she wished him to do. She asked him to go into the wood + himself and spy out Norah quietly, and see if she was really alone there.</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't much like this job, Mav. Besides, it's to hunt for a needle in a + bundle of hay. How do I know which way the lass has gone?"</p> + <p>"I'm telling you she went in at the second path. She <a id="Page_329" + name="Page_329"></a>won't have gone far. Probably you'll come upon her this side of + the rides—along by the stream, very likely."</p> + <p>But Dale still showed reluctance to undertake the detective mission.</p> + <p>"Then I must go," said Mavis. "I can't put up with this sort of thing, and I mean + to stop it. She must be made to understand once for all—"</p> + <p>"Very well," said Dale; and he got off the corn-bin and picked up his jacket.</p> + <p>"She'll pay more heed to you than she would to me. But, one word, Will. If you + catch her with a young man don't go and lose your temper with him. Don't bother about + him. Just bring the young minx straight home."</p> + <p>"An' suppose there's no young man."</p> + <p>"Bring her back just the same, and lecture her all the way on her + disobedience—and the trouble and annoyance she is giving us. Tell her we're not + going to stand any more of it."</p> + <p>"Very well."</p> + <p>He walked along the road at a fairly brisk pace until he came to the second stile, + and then he stood hesitatingly. The firs grew thick here, and the shadows that they + cast were dark and opaque, encroaching on the pathway, making it a narrow strip of + dim light that would lead one into the mysterious and gloomy depths of the wood.</p> + <p>He crossed the stile, and went along the path very slowly, pausing now and then to + listen. There was not a sound; the whole wood was as silent as the grave.</p> + <p>Presently the fir-trees on each side of him opened out a little, and here and + there beeches and ashes appeared; then the path passed through a glade, the <a + id="Page_330" name="Page_330"></a>shadows receded, and he had a sensation of being + more free and able to breathe better. If he kept on by the path he would soon come to + the main ride, that long widely cut avenue which goes close to Kibworth Rocks and + gives access to the other straight cuts leading to the Abbey park. He left the path + and struck across through the trees, making a line that would take him soon to the + wildest part of the ancient Chase, and that, if he pursued it far enough, would + eventually bring him out on the big ride near the rocks.</p> + <p>The dark stiff firs gave place to solemnly magnificent beeches; glade succeeded + glade; thickets of holly and hawthorn dense as a savage jungle tried to baffle one's + approach to lawnlike spaces where the grass grew finely as in a garden, and the white + stems of the high trees looked like pillars of a splendid church; the stream ran + silently and secretly, not flashing when it swept out under the sky, or murmuring + when it slid down tiny cascades beneath the branches.</p> + <p>Dale was following the stream, whether it showed itself or hid itself, and could + have found his way blindfold. He knew the wood by night as well as he knew it by + day.</p> + <p>He stopped on the edge of the biggest of all the glades, looked about him + cautiously, advanced slowly, and stopped again to wipe the perspiration from his + forehead. He was very near to the main ride now; straight ahead of him, say two + hundred yards away, on the other side of the invisible ride lay the invisible + rocks.</p> + <p>One of the beech-trees had fallen, and been left as it fell two months ago. Most + of its tender young foliage had shriveled and died, but on branches near its upturned + <a id="Page_331" name="Page_331"></a>roots a few leaves were bright and green, still + drawing life from the ruined trunk. Dale stood by the fallen tree, looking out across + the glade. It was all silent and beautiful, with that curious effect of increasing + light which made the distances clearer every moment, gave more color to the earth and + a more tender glow to the sky.</p> + <p>Then he saw her, a long way off, coming from the direction of the ride through the + trees; and he felt the pressure of blood pumping into his head, the weight on his + lungs, the laboring pain of his heart, that a man might feel just before he sinks to + the ground in an apoplectic fit.</p> + <p>She was all alone, sauntering toward him with her hands full of flowers. She had + no hat, and she was wearing the same loose frock that she wore last night.</p> + <p>With the gesture that had become habitual to him, Dale put his hands in his + pockets—those wicked hands that no prison could much longer hold, that would + defy control, that seemed now to be stretched forth across all the intervening space + to touch the face and limbs they hungered for. He moved away from the shadow by the + fallen tree, stepped out into the open, went slowly to meet her, and his longing was + intolerably acute. He was sick and mad with longing: he wanted her as a man dying of + thirst wants the water that will save his life.</p> + <p>"Oh, Mr. Dale, how you hev made me jump!"</p> + <p>At sight of him she dropped the flowers and raised one of her hands to press it + against her breast. She had been so startled that she still breathed fast, almost + pantingly; but her lips were smiling, and her eyes shone with pleasure.<a + id="Page_332" name="Page_332"></a></p> + <p>"Now look here, Norah; this won't do—no, really this won't do." He had taken + his hands out of his pockets and clasped them behind his back. He too was breathing + fast, though he spoke deliberately and rather thickly. "No, all this sort of thing + won't do; it can't be allowed;" and he laid his right hand on her shoulder.</p> + <p>"I'm sorry," she said, watching his face intently.</p> + <p>"You mustn't go and moon about by yourself, like this. You know you mustn't, don't + you?"</p> + <p>"Yes, I know. But I couldn't stay indoors."</p> + <p>He had slid his hand downward, and was holding her arm above the elbow. "It is + very disobedient. Often and often Mrs. Dale has told you that you mustn't come + here."</p> + <p>"I know," she said humbly.</p> + <p>"So now, you see, I am sent to fetch you—and to tell you that you mustn't do + it." He was struggling hard to speak in his ordinary tone of voice, but failing. And + his imitation of his usual fatherly manner, as he held her arm and led her along, was + clumsy and laborious. He stopped moving when they reached the prostrate beech-tree, + but continued to talk to her, saying the same things again and again. "Norah, it can + not be allowed. You mustn't be disobedient. We can't allow it."</p> + <p>They lingered by the tree, she looking at him all the time, and he scarcely ever + looking at her, but glancing about him furtively. Then they sat down side by side on + one of the great branches, and as if unconsciously he began to caress her.</p> + <p>"Is Mrs. Dale very angry with me?"<a id="Page_333" name="Page_333"></a></p> + <p>"Yes, Norah, she is angry. You can't be surprised at that."</p> + <p>"Not so angry that she won't never forgive me?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no, she's not so angry as all that."</p> + <p>"But she isn't fond of me, as she used to be."</p> + <p>"Yes, of course she is, Norah." His arm was round her waist, and he lifted her + upon his lap, and held her there. "We are both very fond of you."</p> + <p>"<i>You</i> are," she whispered. "I know that.... I should die if you ever turned + so as not to care for me;" and she nestled against him.</p> + <p>"Norah."</p> + <p>With a last assumption of the fatherly manner he stooped and kissed her forehead. + Then she raised her lips to his, and they kissed slowly.</p> + <p>"Norah," he muttered. "Oh, Norah."</p> + <p>He felt as though almost swooning from delight. It was a rapture that he had never + known—a voluptuous joy that yet brought with it complete appeasement to nerves + and pulses.</p> + <p>"Norah, Norah;" and he continued to kiss her lips and mutter her name.</p> + <p>All thought had gone. It was as though all that was trouble and pain inside him + had melted into sweet streams of delight—streams of fire; but a magical flame + that soothes and restores, instead of burning and destroying. He went on fondling + her, glorying in her freshness, her immature grace, her youthful beauty. And she was + silent and passive, yielding to his gentle movements, pressing close if he held her + to him, relaxing the pressure and becoming limp if he wished to see her face and held + her from him, making him understand <a id="Page_334" name="Page_334"></a>by messages + through every sense channel that she was his absolutely.</p> + <p>Then after a while she began to talk in the pretty birdlike whisper that enchanted + and enthralled him.</p> + <p>"Why didn't she want me to come here—really?"</p> + <p>"She—she thought you came to meet some lad."</p> + <p>"Oh, no;" and she gave a little laugh, and pressed against him. "It's the truth, + what I've always answered to her. I came because I couldn't help it. Shall I tell you + all my secrets—secrets I've never told any one?"</p> + <p>"Yes."</p> + <p>"Ever since I was a child—quite small—I hev always thought something + wondersome would happen to me in Hadleigh Wood."</p> + <p>"Why should you think that?"</p> + <p>He had sat up stiffly, and while she clung whispering at his breast he looked out + over her head, glancing his eyes in all directions. Straight in front of him across + the glade, the great beeches were gray and ghostly, and beyond them in the strip that + concealed the ride it seemed that the shadows had suddenly thickened and + blackened.</p> + <p>"I'll tell you. But <i>you</i> tell me something first. Does Mrs. Dale think this + place is haunted?"</p> + <p>He changed his attitude abruptly, put his hands on her shoulders and held her away + from him, so that he could see her face.</p> + <p>"What was it you asked me?"</p> + <p>"Does she fancy the wood is haunted?"</p> + <p>"No, why?"</p> + <p>"I believe she does."</p> + <p>"Rubbish. Why should she?"<a id="Page_335" name="Page_335"></a></p> + <p>"They used to say it was. Granny used to say so. She gave me some dreadful + whippings for coming here. Poor Granny was just like Mrs. Dale about it—always + saying it wasn't right for me to come here."</p> + <p>Dale had settled the girl on his knees so that she sat now without any support + from him. His hands had dropped to the rough surface of the tree; and he spoke in his + ordinary voice.</p> + <p>"Look here, Norah, never mind for a moment what your Granny said. Tell me what it + was that my wife said."</p> + <p>"When do you mean? Last time she was angry?"</p> + <p>"I mean, whatever she said—and whenever she said it—about ghosts or + hauntings."</p> + <p>"Oh, a long time ago. It was to Mrs. Goudie."</p> + <p>"I expect you misunderstood her. But I'd like to know what first put such nonsense + into your head—that Mrs. Dale thought the wood was haunted. Can't you remember + exactly what she did say?"</p> + <p>"She said something about the gentleman's being killed here, and she wondered at + the people coming a Sundays like they used to."</p> + <p>"Was that all?"</p> + <p>"No, she said something about it would serve them right for their pains if they + saw the gentleman's ghost."</p> + <p>Dale grunted. "That was just her joke. There are no such things as ghosts."</p> + <p>"Aren't there?" Norah laughed softly and happily, and snuggled down again with her + face against his jacket. "<i>You</i> aren't a ghost—though you made me jump, + yes, you did. But I wasn't afraid of you."</p> + <p>"Hush," he muttered. "Norah, don't go on—don't." His hands were still on the + tree, rigidly fixed <a id="Page_336" name="Page_336"></a>there, and he sat bolt + upright, staring out over her head.</p> + <p>"Why not? You said I might tell my secrets. I wasn't afraid. I thought 'Oh, aren't + I glad I done what Mrs. Dale told me not to—and come into my wondersome, + wondersome wood, and drawn <i>you</i> after me!'"</p> + <p>"Norah, stop."</p> + <p>"Why? You're glad too, aren't you? I <i>know</i> you are. I knew it when you came + walking so tall and so quiet; an' I thought 'This is it—what I always hoped + for—wonders to happen to me in Hadleigh Wood.' But I was afraid of the wood + once—more afraid than Granny knew. I wouldn't tell her."</p> + <p>"What d'you mean? What wouldn't you tell her?"</p> + <p>"What I'd seen here."</p> + <p>"What had you seen?"</p> + <p>"I kep' it as my great secret—but I'll tell you, because you've found out + all my secrets, now, haven't you?"</p> + <p>"Well, let's hear it."</p> + <p>"I saw a man hiding, crawling, ready to spring out on me."</p> + <p>"Oh. When was that?"</p> + <p>"Ages and ages ago, when I was almost a baby."</p> + <p>"Heft yourself, Norah. I want to get up, an' stretch ma legs."</p> + <p>The gentle soothing fire had faded—an invincible coldness crept on + slow-moving blood from his heart to his brain. The girl was safe now. He would not + injure her to-night. He got up, and stood looking down at her.<a id="Page_337" + name="Page_337"></a></p> + <p>"Well," he said quietly, "let's hear some more. What sort of a man was it?"</p> + <p>"A wild man—with water dripping off him. He had crept out of the river."</p> + <p>"Do you mean—a sort of ghost or demon?"</p> + <p>"I didn't know."</p> + <p>"Not like an ordinary man—not like any other man you've ever seen?"</p> + <p>"Oh, no. All wild—fierce and dreadful. Not standing upright—more like + an animal in the shape of a man."</p> + <p>"But surely you told your Granny, or somebody?"</p> + <p>"No. I've never told a soul except you."</p> + <p>"An' you say you were scared, though?"</p> + <p>"Oh, I was, rarely scared."</p> + <p>"Then you must have told your Granny, or one of 'em. You've forgotten, but I + expect you told people at the time."</p> + <p>"I didn't. I didn't dare to at first. I thought he'd come after me, if I did. I + was afraid."</p> + <p>Dale grunted again. "An' d'you mean to say you'd the grit in you to come back here + all the same, after that?"</p> + <p>"Not for a little while. Then I did. I was all a twitter, so frightened still, but + I was fascinated for to do it too—just to see."</p> + <p>"But you never saw him again."</p> + <p>"No, and then I began to think it was all a fancy. D'you think it was a fancy, and + not real?"</p> + <p>"My dear girl, no;" and Dale shrugged his shoulders. "You prob'ly saw some poor + devil of a tramp who had slept here, and was getting on the move after <a + id="Page_338" name="Page_338"></a>his night's rest." Then he took a step away from + the tree, and spoke curtly. "Come. We must go home."</p> + <p>Norah sprang off the tree, hurried to his side, and, with her hands linked about + his arm, looked up at him anxiously.</p> + <p>"Yes, but it's all right, isn't it? You're not angry with me—not turning + against me?"</p> + <p>"No, it's all right."</p> + <p>"Then, don't let's go. Let's stay here a little longer"</p> + <p>"No, we must go—or Mrs. Dale will be coming to fetch us;" and he began to + walk briskly. "And look here, Norah. I shall inform her I found you here by yourself, + and I have lectured you at full length, and you've said you'll be good for the + future. So don't answer back if she speaks sharp."</p> + <p>"Oh, I don't mind what she says now;" and Norah laughed happily as she trotted + after him through the trees.</p> + <p>That evening he sat outside on the bench long after the supper table had been + taken away and the kitchen door closed. Quite late, when Mavis spoke to him from an + upper window, he said he must have one more pipe before he turned in.</p> + <p>Norah had been singing in the kitchen while she washed the plates; then he had + heard her humming softly in the sitting-room; now she had gone up-stairs and was + silent. The thoughts and sensations that had been suddenly and strangely inhibited a + few hours ago came into play again, warmed his blood once more, repossessed his + brain. Soon he was impotent to struggle against them. As he sat huddled and + motionless, he revived each memory and wilfully renewed its delight.<a id="Page_339" + name="Page_339"></a> The brick walls, the timber beams, the flooring boards, and + plastered partitions could not divide her from him; though hidden at a distance, she + shed emanations, fiery atoms, darting sparks, that infallibly reached him: when he + closed his eyes in order not to see the empty space before him, she herself was here. + He could feel again the light weight of her body upon his knees, her hair brushed + against his chin, her face gave itself to his lips.</p> + <p>Then more remote memories came to join the recent memories, deepening the spell + that subjugated him. He thought of her crying when he teased her about love and + marriage, and when her poor little innocent heart was bursting because of his + pretense of not understanding that she craved for no love but his. And he thought of + how she had looked in the middle of the night when he covered her with his jacket, + and she stood before him trembling and blushing, with her hair all tumbling loose. + That had been one of the mental pictures which he could not even make dim, much less + obliterate.</p> + <p>He groaned, got up from the bench, and walked very slowly round the kitchen and + behind the house. The first breath of air that he had noticed for days was stirring + the leaves, and he saw the new moon like a golden sickle poised above the broken + summit of a hayrick. It was a serenely beautiful nights with an atmosphere + undoubtedly cooler than any they had had of late; he looked at the peaceful fields, + and the fruit trees and the barn roof, all so gently, imperceptibly touched by the + young and tender moonbeams; and he thought that the thin yellow crescent was being + watched by thousands and thousands of eyes, that men <a id="Page_340" + name="Page_340"></a>were turning their money, and wishing for luck, for fame, or for + satisfied love. But he only of all men might not wish for the desire of his heart, + and to him only the moon could bring nothing but pain.</p> + <p>He went through the kitchen garden, and stood under an apple tree staring back at + the window of her room. And still older memories sprang up and grew strong, so that + they might attack and overcome and utterly undo him. The wild bad fancies of his + adolescence came thronging upon him. Imagination and fact entangled themselves; the + past and the present fused, and became one vast throbbing distress. He thought if he + crept beneath the window and called to her, she would answer his call. If he told her + to do so, she would come out in her night-dress—she would walk bare-footed + through the fields, and plunge with him into the wonderful wood. If he told her to do + it, she would go into the stream, and dance and splash—realizing that old + dream—the white-bodied nymph of the wood for him to leap at and carry off into + the gloom. He wrenched himself round, and made his way rapidly from the garden to the + meadow. He could not support his thoughts. The proximity of the girl was driving him + mad.</p> + <p>All through the little meadow and again in the wider fields the air had a soft + fragrance; the sky was high and quite clear, with a few stars; the whole earth, for + as much as he could see of it, seemed to be sleeping in a deep delightful peace. + Beyond his fences there were the neighbors' farms, and then there were the heath, the + hills; and beyond these, other counties, other countries, the rest of the turning + globe, the universe it turned in—and once again he had that feeling of <a + id="Page_341" name="Page_341"></a>infinite smallness, the insect unfairly matched + against a solar system, the speck of dust whirled as the biggest stars are whirled, + inexorably.</p> + <p>At the confines of his land he leaned upon a gate, groaning and praying.</p> + <p>"O Christ Jesus, Redeemer of mankind, why hast Thou deserted me? O God the Father, + Lord and Judge, why dost Thou torment me so?"<a id="Page_342" + name="Page_342"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXIX" name="XXIX"></a>XXIX</h2> + <p>Very early in the morning he told Mavis that he felt sure they ought to send Norah + away on a holiday for the good of her health.</p> + <p>"This hot weather has been a severe test for all of us," he said; "and of course + what I should consider equally advisable would be to send you and the children along + with her, but I suppose—"</p> + <p>"What, me go away just when you're going to cut the grass!"</p> + <p>"Very well," he said, "I won't urge it. But as to Norah, that's a decision I've + come to; so please don't question it. She's been working too hard—"</p> + <p>"Did she complain to you yesterday, when you lectured her?"</p> + <p>"No. Not a word. An' she'll prob'ly resist the idea. But she must be overruled, + because my mind is made up. So now the only question that remains is—where are + you to send her? What about that place for servants resting—at Bournemouth, the + place Mrs. Norton collects subscriptions for?"</p> + <p>"Yes, I might ask Mrs. Norton if she could spare us a ticket."</p> + <p>"No, send the girl as a paying guest. I don't grudge any reasonable expense. Or + again there's Mrs. Creech's daughter-in-law, over at S'thaampton Water."</p> + <p>"Oh, there's half a dozen people I could think of—"</p> + <p>"All right," he said; "but I want it done now, <a id="Page_343" + name="Page_343"></a>straight away. And look here, Mav. Take this thing off my + shoulders, and don't let me be bothered. I shouldn't have decided it, if I didn't + know it was right. I've a long and difficult day before me. You just hop into the + gig, and Tom'll drive you round—to see Mrs. Norton or anybody else. Only let me + hear by dinner-time that the arrangement is made."</p> + <p>"You shall," said Mavis cheerfully.</p> + <p>"Thank you, Mav. You're always a trump. You never fail one."</p> + <p>What had seemed an insuperable difficulty was thus in a moment accomplished. His + quietly authoritative tone had made Mavis accept the thing not only easily but + without a doubt or question, and he thought remorsefully that, except for his + sneaking, cowardly delay, all this might have occurred a month ago. He felt a + distinct lightening of the trouble as he went back into his own room, and then the + weight of it fell upon him again. He had succeeded so far as Mavis was concerned; but + how about Norah?</p> + <p>He stood meditating in front of the looking-glass before he began to shave. When + he picked up the shaving-brush, he noticed that his hand was trembling—not + much, yet quite visibly. It never used to do that, and he looked at it with disgust. + It seemed to him like an old man's hand.</p> + <p>Then he began to study his face in the glass. No one would have guessed that this + was a man who had been praying all night. The whole face showed those signs of + fatigue that come after base pleasures, after riotous waste of energy, after long + hours of debauch. It seemed to him that his gray hair was finer of texture than it + ought to be, hanging straight and thin, <a id="Page_344" name="Page_344"></a>with no + strength in it; that his eyes were too dim, that the flesh underneath them had puffed + out loosely, and that his lower lip was drooping slackly—and he shuddered in + disgust. It seemed to him that his face changed and grew uglier as he looked at it. + It was becoming like an old man's face he had seen years ago.</p> + <p>In spite of the slight shakiness of his hand he managed to shave himself without a + cut, and he was just about to wash the soap away when he heard a sound of lamentation + on the lower floor. It was Norah loudly bewailing herself. Mavis had gone down-stairs + and published his sentence of banishment.</p> + <p>Suppose that the girl betrayed their secret. Suppose that she was even now telling + his wife what had happened in the wood. Well, he must go down to them and flatly deny + whatever Norah said. But he tingled and grew hot with a most miserable shame; his + heart quailed at the mere notion of the sickening, disgraceful character of such a + scene—he, the highly respected Mr. Dale, the good upright religious man, being + accused by a little servant girl and having to rebut her accusations in the presence + of his wife.</p> + <p>He dipped his head in the basin, and even when under the cold water the tips of + his ears seemed as if they were on fire. He must go down-stairs the moment he had + cooled his face; but he would go as some wretched schoolboy goes to the headmaster's + room when he guesses that his unforgivable beastliness has been discovered, and that + first a thrashing and then expulsion are awaiting him.</p> + <p>Some of the lying words that he must utter suggested themselves. "Oh, Norah, this + is a poor return <a id="Page_345" name="Page_345"></a>you are making for all my + kindness. Aren't you ashamed to stand there and tell such ungrateful false-hoods. Ma + lass, your cheek surprises me. I wonder you can look me in the face."</p> + <p>But it would be Mavis, and not Norah, who would look him in the face—and she + would read the truth there. She would see it staring at her in his shifting eyes, his + slack lip, and his weak frown. Her first glance at him would be loyal and frank, just + an eager flash of love and confidence, seeming to say, "Be quick, Will, and put your + foot on this viper that we've both of us warmed, and that is trying to bite me;" then + she would turn pale, avert her head, and drop upon a chair. And for why? Because she + had seen the nauseating truth, and her heart was almost broken.</p> + <p>Then he suddenly understood that there was no real danger of all this. It was only + his own sense of guilt that unnerved him. Nothing had happened in the wood. If he + behaved quietly and sensibly, he would be altogether safe, and Mavis would never + guess. Truly all that he had to conceal was that he had been stopped on the very + brink of his sin, that but for a startling interference, an almost miraculous + interference, the wicked thoughts would infallibly have found their outlet in wicked + deeds.</p> + <p>If Norah said he took her on his knees and kissed her, Mavis would think nothing + of it—would not even think it undignified; would merely take as one more + evidence of his kindly nature the fact that, instead of upbraiding the silly child, + he had embraced her. If the girl howled and said she did not want to go because she + was fond of him, Mavis would think nothing of <a id="Page_346" + name="Page_346"></a>that either. Mavis knew it already, and had never thought + anything of it.</p> + <p>Therefore if he did not betray himself, the girl could not betray him. All that + was required of him was just to maintain an ordinary air of ingenuousness. He had + done enough acting in his life to be at home when dissimulating. He must do a little + more successful acting now.</p> + <p>After a minute or so he went down-stairs, and was outwardly staid and calm, + looking as he had looked on hundreds of mornings: the good kind father of a + household, whose only care is the happiness and welfare of those who are dependent on + him.</p> + <p>Directly he entered the breakfast-room Norah ran sobbing to him and clung to his + hand.</p> + <p>"She is sending me away. Oh, don't let her do it. You promised you wouldn't. Oh, + why do you let her do it?"</p> + <p>"This is <i>my</i> plan, Norah," he said gently; "not Mrs. Dale's. I wish + it—and I ask you not to make a fuss."</p> + <p>"I've told her," said Mavis, "that it's only for her own good; and that she'll be + back here in a fortnight or three weeks. But she seems to think we want to be rid of + her forever."</p> + <p>"No, no," said Dale. "Nothing of the sort. It's merely for the good of your + health—and not in any way as a punishment for your having been rather + disobedient."</p> + <p>"Why, I'm sure," said Mavis cheerfully, "most girls would jump for joy at the + chance. You'll enjoy yourself, and have all a happy time."</p> + <p>"No, I shan't," Norah cried. "I shall be miserable;"<a id="Page_347" + name="Page_347"></a> and she looked up at Dale despairingly. "Do you promise I'm + really and truly to come back?"</p> + <p>"Of course I do. And it's all on the cards that Mrs. Dale and Rachel and Bill may + follow you before your holiday is over."</p> + <p>"Oh, I doubt that," said Mavis.</p> + <p>"No," cried Norah, "when I'm gone you'll turn against me, and forget me. I shall + never see you again, and I shall die. I can't bear it." And she began to sob + wildly.</p> + <p>Then Dale, standing big and firm, although each sob tore at his entrails, pacified + and reassured the girl. He said that she must not be "fullish," she must be "good and + sensible," she must fall in with the views of those "older and wiser" than herself; + finally, after his arguments and admonitions, he laid his hand on her bowed head as + if silently giving a patriarchal blessing; and Mavis watched and admired, and loved + him for his noble generosity in taking so much trouble about the poor little waif + that had no real claim on him.</p> + <p>"There," she said, "dry your eyes, Norah. Mr. Dale has told you he wishes it, and + that ought to be enough for you."</p> + <p>And then Norah said she would do what Mr. Dale wished, even if she died in doing + it.</p> + <p>"Oh, stuff, stuff," said Mavis, laughing cheerily. "I never heard such talk. Now + come along with me, and get the breakfast things;" and she took Norah down the steps + into the kitchen.</p> + <p>Norah came back to lay the cloth presently, and would have rushed into Dale's + arms, if he had not motioned to her to keep away, and laid a finger on his lips <a + id="Page_348" name="Page_348"></a>warningly. But he could not prevent her from + whispering to him across the table.</p> + <p>"Will you come and see me, wherever it is?"</p> + <p>"Perhaps."</p> + <p>"Come and see me without <i>her</i>. Come all for me, by yourself."</p> + <p>Dale did more work in that one morning than he had done for months. The wet season + had naturally postponed the hay-making, but negligence was postponing it still + further; now at last he gave all necessary orders. But it was only his own grass that + he had to deal with. Letting everything drift, he had not made any of the usual + arrangements with his neighbors; this year he would not have to ride grandly round + and watch dozens of men and women laboring for him; and there would be no farmers' + banquet or speeches or cigar-smoking.</p> + <p>When he came in to dinner he found Mavis all hot and red, but pleased with herself + after her bustling activities. The whole business was settled. Norah was to go as a + paying guest to that place at Bournemouth, and Mavis would drive her over to + Rodchurch Road and put her into the four-fifteen train. At the station they would + meet a girl called Nellie Evans, whom by a happy chance Mrs. Norton was despatching + to-day; and so the two girls could travel together, and prevent each other from being + a fool when they changed trains at the junction; and altogether nothing could have + turned out better or nicer.</p> + <p>Mavis, babbling contentedly all through dinner, harped on the niceness both of + people and things. Mrs. Norton, and indeed everybody else, had been so nice about it. + All Rodchurch had seemed anxious to assist<a id="Page_349" name="Page_349"></a> Mr. + and Mrs. Dale in contriving their little maid's holiday. "And it is nice," said Mavis + simply, "to be treated like that." Mrs. Norton had taken her all round the vicarage + garden, and she had never seen it looking nicer. "Although the flowers aren't + anything to boast of, any more than ours are."</p> + <p>"And what <i>do</i> you think? Here's a bit of news you'll be sorry to hear, + though it mayn't surprise you." Then Mavis related how it had been necessary to + procure some sort of trunk to hold Norah's things, because there wasn't a single + presentable bit of luggage in the house, and she had discovered exactly what she + wanted—something that was not immoderate, appearing solid, yet not + heavy—at the new shop that had recently been opened at the bottom of the + village near the Gauntlet Inn. First, however, she had gone to their old friend the + saddler's, wanting to see if she could buy the box there. But Mr. Allen's shop was + empty, woe-begone, dirty with cobwebs, dead flies, and mud on the window; and Mr. + Allen himself was ill in bed, being nursed hand and foot, and fed like a baby, by + poor Mrs. Allen. He had been stricken down by some dreadful form of rheumatism, and + three doctors had said the same thing—that he had brought this calamity upon + himself by his ridiculous, ceaseless tramping after the hounds.</p> + <p>Dale nodded and smiled, or made his face appropriately grave, while Mavis prattled + to him; but truly his mind was occupied only by Norah. She came in and out of the + room, looking pale and limp and resigned; she knew all about the trunk, and that it + was up-stairs and that already the mistress and Ethel had begun to pack it; she was + submitting to destiny, but <a id="Page_350" name="Page_350"></a>out of her soft blue + eyes there shot a glance now and then that made him quiver with pain.</p> + <p>He went out of the house the moment dinner was finished, and kept moving about, + now in the office, now in the yard, never still. Then, when he was pottering round + and round the office for the fiftieth time in two hours, he heard a footstep, and + Norah came—to whisper and cling to him, to make him kiss her again; to + penetrate him with her ineffable sweetness; to plant the seeds of inextinguishable + desire in the last few cells and fibers of his brain that as yet she had not + reached.</p> + <p>"I don't ast you to stand in th' road when we drive away. I'd rather not. Say + good-by to me now, when there's nobody watchin'."</p> + <p>Then he had to take her in his arms once more; and they stood close to the door, + far from the window, pressed heart to heart, mute, throbbing.</p> + <p>"I'm kissing you," she whispered presently, "but you're not kissing me. Kiss + me."</p> + <p>And he obeyed her.</p> + <p>"No," she whispered. "Different from that. Kiss me like you did yesterday."</p> + <p>"Very well," he said hoarsely. "This is the good-by kiss. This is good-by." And + once again he felt the swift lambent ecstasy of a love that he had never till now + guessed at; a joy beyond words, beyond dreams, beyond belief. "Now, you must go;" and + he slowly released himself, and held her at arm's length. "That was our good-by. + Good-by, my Norah—my darling—good-by." Then he went to the table in front + of the window, and sat down.<a id="Page_351" name="Page_351"></a></p> + <p>She came a little way from the door, and spoke to him before going out and along + the passage.</p> + <p>"I shan't mind now—however miserable I am—because I know it's all + right. An' I promise to be good, an' do all I'm told, an' always be your own + Norah."</p> + <p>Then she left him—the gray-haired respected Mr. Dale of Vine-Pits Farm, + sitting in his office window for all the world to see; looking livid, shaky, old; and + feeling like a Christian missionary in some far-off heathen land, who, having + preached to the gang of pirates into whose hands he had fallen, lies now at the + roadside with all his inside torn away, and waits for birds with beaks or beasts with + claws to come and finish him.</p> + <p>Before the horse was put into the wagonette and the trunk brought down-stairs, + Dale had left the house and gone some distance along the road in the direction of the + Barradine Arms. Even if Norah had not said that he need not be there at the moment of + departure, he would have been unable to remain. He could not stand by and see her + piteous face, her slender figure, her forlorn gestures, while they carried her + off—the poor little weak thing sent away from hearth and home, cast out among + strangers because any spot on the earth, however bare or hard, had become a better + shelter for her than the place that should have been sacredly secure.</p> + <p>He walked heavily, with a leaden heart and leaden feet; his eyes downcast, not + glancing at the dark trees on one side or the bright fields on, the other. But after + passing the first of the woodland paths and before coming to the second, he looked + up. He had heard the <a id="Page_352" name="Page_352"></a>sound of many footsteps and + the murmur of many voices. All those blue-cloaked orphans, two and two, an endless + procession, were advancing toward him.</p> + <p>Never had the sight and the sound of them been so horribly distasteful to him. + They were still a long way off, and he thought he could dodge them, at any rate avoid + meeting them face to face, if he hurried on to the second footpath and dived into the + wood there. But then it seemed as if he had stupidly miscalculated the distance, or + that his legs were failing him, or that the girls came sweeping down the road at an + impossibly rapid pace; so that they were right upon him just as he reached the stile. + He drew aside, and, feeling that it was too late now to turn his back, watched them + as they passed.</p> + <p>The mistresses must have issued a sudden order of silence, for they all went by + without so much as a whisper. There were fifty of them, but they seemed to be + thousands. Dressed in their light blue summer cloaks, golden-haired, brown-haired, a + very few black-haired, they passed two by two, with the little ones first, and bigger + and bigger girls behind—an ascending scale of size, so that he had the illusion + of seeing a girl grow up under his eyes, change in a minute instead of in years from + the small sexless imp that is like an amusing toy, to the full-breasted creature that + is so nearly a woman as to be dangerous to herself and to everybody else.</p> + <p>Not one of them spoke, but all of them, little and big, looked at him—very + shyly, and yet with intense interest. He stood staring after them, and presently + their tuneful young voices sounded again, filled the air with virginal music. He + swung his leg over the stile, <a id="Page_353" name="Page_353"></a>and went along the + path through the trees where he had followed Norah yesterday.</p> + <p>He had not intended to leave the highroad, but it was as if that dead man's girls + had driven him into the wood to get away from their shyly questioning eyes. He might + meet them again if he stayed out there. In here he could be alone with his + thoughts.</p> + <p>To-day there was plenty of sunlight, and instead of turning off the path he went + straight on to the main ride. This too was bright with sunshine, a splendid broad + avenue that was shut close on either side by the thickly planted firs; the mossy + track seeming soft as a bed, and the sky like an immensely high canopy of delicate + blue gauze. A heron crossed quickly but easily, making only three flaps of its + powerful wings before it disappeared; there was an unceasing hum of insects; and two + wood-cutters came by and wished Dale good afternoon and touched their weather-stained + hats.</p> + <p>"Good afternoon," he said, in a friendly tone. "A bit cooler and pleasanter + to-day, isn't it?"</p> + <p>"You're right, sir. 'Bout time too."</p> + <p>Then he walked on, alone with his thoughts again, along the wide sunlit ride + toward Kibworth Rocks; and a phrase kept echoing in his ears, sounding as if he said + it aloud. "It is the finger of God. It is the finger of God." He was quoting himself + really, because he had once used that phrase in a pompously effective manner. Could + one repeat it as effectively in regard to what happened near here yesterday? Could + one dare to say that the finger of God interposed, touching his blood with ice, + making his muscles relax, forcing him to loosen his hold on the delicious <a + id="Page_354" name="Page_354"></a>morsel that like a beast of prey he was about to + devour and enjoy.</p> + <p>He walked with hunched shoulders and lowered head, but there was great resolution, + even an odd sort of swaggering defiance in his gait. He stopped short, raised his + head, and looked about him at a certain point of the ride. Here he was very near to + the open glade where he met Norah; but he was nearer still to the strewn boulders, + jagged ridges, and hollow clefts of Kibworth Rocks. If he left the ride, he would see + them, brown and gray, glittering in the sunshine.</p> + <p>And he thought again of those fifty orphans or waifs. Why weren't they here to bow + and do honor to him who had been the friend of girls in life and who was the guardian + angel of girls in death? This was the hallowed spot, the benefactor's resting-place + till devout hands raised him and priests sang over him, the rocky shrine of their + patron saint.</p> + <p>Dale grunted, shook himself, and went off the ride in the opposite + direction—to tread the moss that had been crushed by Norah's footsteps, to push + against the branches that had touched her shoulders, to see the dead flowers that had + dropped from her hands. He found a shriveled sprig or two of her woodland posy, and + carried them to the fallen beech tree.</p> + <p>She was gone now—already a long way from him—at the railway station, + with ticket bought, and box labeled, waiting for the train to take her still farther + from him. Only a heron could fly fast enough to get to her now before the train + possessed her. And he quoted himself again, really saying the words aloud this time. + "Good-by—my darling—good-by, good-by."<a id="Page_355" + name="Page_355"></a></p> + <p>That was what he meant when he gave her the last kiss. He had said so. He had + called it the last kiss. But she—poor lamb—thought it was the last kiss + till next time; that it was good-by for three weeks, not good-by forever. He must + never see her again. There could be no two ways about <i>that</i> decision. He + mustn't palter, or trifle, or shilly-shally about that iron certainty. But how + without Heaven's unceasing aid would he have strength to keep such a vow?</p> + <p>And sitting on the tree, and thinking for a little while about himself rather than + about her, he endeavored to survey his situation in the logical clear-sighted way + that had once been customary with him. To what a blank no-thoroughfare he had brought + himself. What a damnable mess he had made of his peaceful, happy home.</p> + <p>Of course he had known for a long time what was the matter with him. His disgust + with himself at the revelation of his own weakness dated from a long time ago; but + the progress of his passing from perfectly pure and normal thoughts about the girl to + cravings that he struggled with as morbid impurities was so subtle that it defied + analysis. At first when he put his hand on her head, or patted her shoulder, every + thought behind the fatherly gesture was itself fatherly; and then, without anything + to startle one by a recognition of change, the time had come when he felt a slight + thrill in touching her, when he was always seeking occasions or excuses for doing it, + when the wider the contact the more massive was his satisfaction. Her white neck, her + round fore-arms, her thin wrists, irresistibly attracted a caress. He could not keep + his hands off her—and it distressed and worried <a id="Page_356" + name="Page_356"></a>him whenever he saw anybody else doing quite innocently what he + did with an unavowable purpose. Perhaps this was the real cause of his dislike for + the new pastor. After Mr. Furnival's initial appearance at the chapel, they all three + walked a little way together, and the good-looking young man paid Norah compliments + about her singing, and held her hand and patted it. Nothing could have been more + innoxious, more completely ministerial; and yet Dale had felt that he would like to + take the clerical gentleman by the collar of his black coat and the seat of his gray + trousers, and send him sprawling over a quick-set hedge into a ploughed field.</p> + <p>He knew then the nature of the poison that had crept insidiously into his blood + and was beginning to spread and rage with deadly power. He fought against it bravely, + he fought against it despairingly. He hoped that chance would cure him, he prayed + that heaven would cleanse him.</p> + <p>He would not believe that his ruin was irretrievable. That would be too monstrous + and absurd. Because, except for this expanding trouble, everything inside him, all + the main component parts that made up the vast and still solid thinking organism + which had been labeled for external observers by the name of William Dale, remained + quite unchanged. His religious faith stood absolutely firm, was strengthened rather + than shaken; he regarded his wife with exactly the same affection; he loved his + children as much as, more than ever; only this astounding dreadful new thing was + added to him: he worshiped Norah.</p> + <p>In his struggles to free himself from the new mental growth, he had turned to his + children. Instinct seemed <a id="Page_357" name="Page_357"></a>to say that from them + and through them should come an influence sufficiently potent to resist temptation, + however tremendous. He felt so proud of the boy. Billy was never afraid of him, + looked at him so firmly even when threatened, holding up the pink and white face, + with its soft unformed features and yet a determined set to the chin and mouth + already—a real little man. Dale took his son's hand in his, took Billy with him + into the granary, the hay loft, or across the fields, cut bits of willow and showed + how to make a whistle, took a hedge sparrow's nest and blew the eggs; and the boy was + proud and happy in such noble society, but he could not exorcise the evil spell for + his grand companion.</p> + <p>Nor could Rachel give freedom. Dale embraced his daughter with the truest paternal + fervor, pumping up sweet clean love from deep unsullied wells, thinking honestly and + as of old so long as she stood by his side. At such moments he forced himself to + imagine a man playing the fool with Rachel, and immediately there came a full normal + explosion of parental rage; and he knew, without the possibility of doubt, that such + a man had better never have been born than encounter Rachel's father. But these + imaginations could not help him. Thoughts about Rachel and thoughts about Norah, + which once had mingled, were now like two rivers running side by side but never + meeting.</p> + <p>Again, what had rendered the fight hopeless was his recognition of the + overwhelming fact that the spell was mutual. It was not only that he wanted her, + Norah wanted him. There lay the sweetly venomous throb of the poison. In her eyes he + was <i>not</i> old; his gray hair did not appall her, his rugged frame did not repel + her.<a id="Page_358" name="Page_358"></a> All night and all day, during months, yes, + during years, she had told him: "You are <i>not</i> old; you <i>need</i> not be old; + <i>I</i> can make you young."</p> + <p>He thought, as he had thought again and again, of her artlessness, her ignorance, + and her total absence of compunction. It seemed so wonderful. She drifted toward him + as the petal of a flower comes on running water, as corn seeds blow through the air, + as anything small and light obeying a natural law. She did not in the least + understand social conventions. She was not troubled with one thought of right or + wrong; she neither meditated nor remembered. How wonderful. The ten commandments and + the catechism that she knew by heart, all the hymns she had sung and all the sermons + she had heard, did not exert the faintest restraining influence. They had no real + meaning for her probably, and she could not therefore bring them into relation with + concrete facts. In her innocence, in her virginal simplicity, she would keep the book + of life close—sealed until he opened it roughly for her at its ugliest + page.</p> + <p>He, or somebody else!</p> + <p>Suddenly he threw away the faded wood-blossoms, sprang up from the tree, and paced + to and fro. A wave of revolt came sweeping through and through him. Was he not making + mountains out of mole-hills?</p> + <p>If he could trample down all this sentimental fiddle-de-dee, what was the plain + English of the case so far as she was concerned? Unbidden, innumerable circumstances + stored from local knowledge offered themselves as guides for argument. Take any girl + of that class—well, what are her chances? Why, you are lucky if you keep 'em + straight until the time comes to <a id="Page_359" name="Page_359"></a>send 'em out + into domestic service; their parents scarcely expect it, barely seem to desire it. + But after that time, when they get among strangers and there's nobody with an eye on + them, they fall as victims—if you choose to call it so—to the first + marauder—to the young master, the nephew home for his Christmas holidays, or + the man who comes to tune the piano. If not himself, it would be somebody else.</p> + <p>And he thought. "Blast it all, am I a man or a mouse? Who's to judge me, or stan' + in my way, if I do what I please? Suppose it's found out, well, it must be smoothed + over, covered up, and put behind the fireplace. I shan't be Number One that's bin th' + same road!" and he remembered how lightly other married men, his neighbors, country + farmers, or town tradesmen, amused themselves with their servants, and how their + middle-aged wives just had to grin and bear it. "An' Mavis," he thought, "can do the + same. Heavens an' earth, I've got an answer ready if she tries to make a fuss, or + wants to take the dinner-bell and go round as public crier—an answer that ought + to flatten her as if a traction engine had bin over her. 'My lass, who began it? + Bring out your slate and put it alongside mine, an' we'll see which looks dirtiest, + all said and done.'" While he was thinking in this manner, his face became very ugly, + with hard deep lines in it, and about the mouth that cruel pouting expression once + seen by Mavis.</p> + <p>He came back to the tree; and sat down, letting his hands hang loose, his head + droop, and his shoulders contract. The fire had gone cold again.</p> + <p>Now he felt only disgust and horror. Norah's ignorance and disregard of moral + precepts, or readiness <a id="Page_360" name="Page_360"></a>to yield to the snares of + unlicensed joy, were summed up in the better and truer word innocence. The greater + her weakness, the greater his wickedness. If he could not save her from others, he + could save her from himself. Then if she fell, it would at least be a natural fall. + It would not be a foul betrayal of youth by age; it would not be the sort of degraded + crime that makes angels weep, and ordinary people change into judges and + executioners.</p> + <p>When a man has reached a certain time of life he must not crave for forbidden + delights, he must not permit himself to be eaten up with new desire, he must not risk + destroying a girl's soul for the gratification of his own body. If he does, he + commits the unpardonable sin. And there is no excuse for him.</p> + <p>The Devil's reasonings to which a few minutes ago he had listened greedily were + specious, futile, utterly false. That sort of argument might do for other + men—might do for every other man in the wide world—but it would not do + for <i>him</i>, William Dale. Its acceptance would knock the very ground from under + his feet.</p> + <p>For, if there could be any excuse, why had he killed Everard Barradine?<a + id="Page_361" name="Page_361"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXX" name="XXX"></a>XXX</h2> + <p>Then Dale lived again for the hundred thousandth time in the thoughts and passions + of that distant period.</p> + <p>The forest glade grew dim, vanished. He was lying on the grass in a London park, + and Mavis' confession rang through the buzzing of his ears, through the chaos of his + mind. It seemed that the whole of his small imagined world had gone to pieces, and + the immensity of the real world had been left to him in exchange—crushing him + with an idea of its unexplored vastness, of its many countries, its myriad races. And + yet, big as it all was, it could not provide breathing space for that man and + himself.</p> + <p>Soon this became an oppressive certainty. Life under the new conditions had been + rendered unendurable. And then there grew up the one solid determination, that he + must stand face to face with his enemy and call him to account. It must <i>at + last</i> be man to man. He must tell the man what he thought of him, call him filthy + names, strip him of every shred of dignity—and strike him. A few blows of scorn + might suffice—a backhander across the snout, a few swishes with a stick, a kick + behind when he turned. He was too rottenly weak a thing to fight with.</p> + <p>His mind refused to go further than this. However deeply and darkly it was working + below the surface of <a id="Page_362" name="Page_362"></a>consciousness, it gave him + no further directions than this.</p> + <p>He got rid of his wife. That was the first move in the game—anyhow. He did + not want to think about her now; she would be dealt with again later on. At present + he wished to concentrate all his attention on the other one.</p> + <p>He took a bed for himself in a humbler and cheaper house farther west, a little + nearer to the house of his enemy; and almost all that day he spent in thinking how + and where he should obtain the meeting he longed for. He understood at once that it + would be hopeless to attempt such an interview at Grosvenor Place. In imagination he + saw himself escorted by servants to that tank-like room at the back of the + mansion—the room where the man had treated him as dirt, where his first + instinct of distrust had been aroused, where all those photographs of girls had + subtly suggested the questioning doubts that led him on to suspicion and discovery. + The man would come again to this room, with his tired eyes and baggy cheeks and + drooping lip; would stare contemptuously; and at the first words of abuse, he would + ring a bell, call for servants, call for the police, and have the visitor + ignominiously turned out. "Policeman, this ruffian has been threatening me. He is an + ill-conditioned dog that I've been systematically kind to, and he now seems to have + taken leave of his senses and accuses me of injuring him. For the sake of his wife, + who is a good respectful sort of person, I do not give him in charge. But I ask you + to keep an eye on him. And if he dares to return to my door, just cart him off to the + police station." No, that would not do at all. He and Mr. Barradine <a id="Page_363" + name="Page_363"></a>must meet somewhere quietly and comfortably, out of reach of + electric bells, butlers, and police officers.</p> + <p>That first night after the confession he slept sound and long. In the morning when + he woke, feeling refreshed and strengthened, his determination to bring about the + interview had assumed an iron firmness, as if all night it had been beaten on the + anvil of his thoughts while he lay idle. But he was no nearer to devising a scheme + that should give effect to the determination.</p> + <p>Mr. Barradine had said that he was going down to the Abbey to-morrow, or next day, + Friday, at latest; and in the course of this Wednesday morning Dale decided that the + interview must be delayed. It was impossible up here. It would be much easier to + arrange down there. He must wait until Mr. Barradine went down to Hampshire, and go + down after him. He could call at the Abbey, where the man would be more accessible + than up here; and, by restraining himself, by simulating his usual manner, by lulling + the man to a false security, he could lure him out of the house—get him out + into the open air, away from his servants, perhaps beyond the gardens and as far off + as the park copses. Then when they were alone, they two, at a distance from the + possibility of interruption, Dale could drop the mask of subservience, turn upon him, + and say "Now—"</p> + <p>No, that would not do. It was all childish. For a thousand obscure reasons it + would not do at all.</p> + <p>Then, brooding over his wife's confession—the things she had merely hinted + at as well as the things she had explicitly stated—he remembered how in the + beginning the wood near Long Ride was their <a id="Page_364" + name="Page_364"></a>meeting-place, how the man had met her there, and led her slowly + beneath the trees to the cottage of the procuress. And then an inspiration came. A + note to be sent in his wife's name, as soon as Mr. Barradine got home to the Abbey. + "Meet me in the West Gate copse. I want to show my gratitude"—or—"I want + to thank you again"—something of that sort. "Meet me at the end of North Ride + by the Heronry. I will be there if possible four o'clock to-morrow. If not there + to-morrow, I will be there next day. Mavis."</p> + <p>He wrote such a letter, in a hand sufficiently like his wife's. Yes, that would + fetch him. The old devil would have no suspicions.</p> + <p>Then a cold shiver ran down his spine. It was a thought rising from the depths, + warning him, terrifying him. The note would remain <i>afterward</i>. If Mr. Barradine + did not destroy it—and very likely he would not do so—the note would be + found afterward. But after what?</p> + <p>He tore up the note, tore it into tiny pieces. It seemed to him that he had + escaped from a danger. His plan had been the idea of a madman. But why? With his skin + still cold and clammy, he found himself whispering words which sounded explanatory, + but which did not explain: "Suppose a mistake occurred. Yes, suppose a mistake + occurred." Then trying to think quietly and sensibly, instead of in this fluttered, + erratic way, he forced himself to interpret the real significance of the whisper. + Well, suppose he struck too hard, and too often. But again there came the + blankness—an abrupt check to thought—the depths refusing to give anything + more to the surface.</p> + <p>He decided that he would go down to Hampshire <a id="Page_365" + name="Page_365"></a>secretly, letting no one know of his movements; and, stationing + himself at some likely spot near the Abbey, he would wait till chance brought them + face to face. Yes, that would do. Almost immediately he chose Hadleigh Wood as the + place to hide in. Instinct seemed to have suggested the wood rather than any point + nearer to the Abbey, and instinct now ordered him to go there and nowhere else. It + was a likely road to so many parts; it was full of good hiding-places; and, although + it was tricky, with its close thickets suddenly terminating on the edge of unexpected + open spaces, he knew it all as well as the back of his right hand. He could lie snug, + or range about cautiously, seeing but unseen; and he would not have long to wait + before the grand gentleman passed by on his way to or from the Abbey park.</p> + <p>He had got it now. This was right; and he laid all his plans accordingly. First he + pawned his silver watch and chain, so obtaining a little money without bothering + anybody. The pawnbroker's shop was in Chapel Street, and he went on along the Edgware + Road and up a narrow street in search of a shop where he could procure a suit of old + clothes. Here again it was as though instinct guided him, because he had no knowledge + of London and did not know where to look for a slop-shop; but he pushed on, noticing + that the houses were shabby, and feeling sure that he would soon find what he wanted. + And this happened. All at once he was among the second-hand clothes; every shop on + both sides of the street invited him—the whole street at this sordid end of it + was trying to help him. For a very few shillings he bought just the garments that he + had imagined—loose and big made of drab <a id="Page_366" + name="Page_366"></a>canvas or drill, the suit of overalls that had been worn by some + kind of mechanic, with two vast inside pockets to the jacket, in which the wearer had + carried tools, food, and his bottle of drink. Dale also bought a common soft felt + hat, a thing you could pull down over your eyes and ears, and make into any shape you + pleased.</p> + <p>When he put on the suit and the hat in his bedroom, he felt satisfied with their + appearance. He said to himself, "After I have slept out a night, and got plenty of + earth stains and muck on this greasy old canvas, I shall look just a tramp wandered + from the highroad, and no one will recognize me if they do chance to see + me—that is, unless I take my hat off. And I don't do <i>that</i>, until I take + it off for the purpose of being recognized by <i>him</i>."</p> + <p>He locked the suit of overalls and the slouch hat safely in his bag. But next day + he brought out the hat, and wore it while making a very careful tour of inspection in + the neighborhood of the Grosvenor Place mansion. Approaching it from the western side + he spied out the lie of the land, found a mews that had an entrance in the side + street, and judged that this mews contained Mr. Barradine's horses and carriages. + This proved to be true. Sauntering up and down, and lurking at corners on the side + street, Dale waited and watched. Always seeming to be strolling away from the house, + but glancing back over his shoulder now and then, he saw Mr. Barradine's brougham + come out of the mews and stand at Mr. Barradine's door. No luggage was brought down + the steps: Mr. Barradine was merely starting for a drive about town. Dale came in the + evening and observed the house as he <a id="Page_367" name="Page_367"></a>strolled + along the main thoroughfare of Grosvenor Place. There were lights in several rooms, + and the window of the porch showed that the hail was lighted up. Mr. Barradine had + said that he hoped to be able to get home to-day, but evidently his journey had been + postponed until to-morrow. He had said he would go on Friday at the latest.</p> + <p>He did not, however, go on Friday. Dale kept the house under observation off and + on all day, and again in the evening. Mr. Barradine went out driving twice; but the + carriage brought him back each time. How many more postponements? Would he go + to-morrow? Yes, he would go to-morrow; but this involved more delay. It would be + useless to follow him to-morrow, because he would never pass through the wood on + Sunday. No, he would spend Sunday inside his park-rails, going to the Abbey church, + walking about the garden, looking at the stables and the dairy. Moreover, Sunday + would be the one dangerous day in the woods—nobody at work, everybody free to + wander; young men with their sweethearts coming off the rides for privacy; cottagers + with squoils hunting the squirrels all through church time perhaps. Dale ground his + teeth, shook his fist at the lighted windows, and thought. "If he does not go + to-morrow—I can't wait. My self-control will be exhausted, and I shall + certainly do something fullish."</p> + <p>But Mr. Barradine went home that Saturday. Between ten and eleven in the morning + the brougham stood at the door, a four-wheeled cab was fetched and loaded with + luggage, and the two vehicles drove off round the corner southward on their way to + Waterloo. And Dale felt his spirits lightening and a fierce gaiety <a id="Page_368" + name="Page_368"></a>filling his breast. The time of inaction was nearly over; this + hateful sitting down under one's wrongs would not last long now; soon he would be + doing something. He took quite a pleasant walk through Chelsea, and over the river to + Lambeth, where, after a snack of lunch, he read the newspapers in a Public Library. + The Library was a quiet, convenient resort; and yesterday he had written a letter + there, to Mr. Ridgett at Rodchurch Post Office—not because he really had + anything to communicate, but because it seemed necessary, or at least wise, to send + off a letter from London.</p> + <p>He enjoyed a good night's rest, and lay in bed till late on Sunday afternoon. He + intended to travel by the mail train—the train that left Waterloo at + ten-fifteen, and went through the night dropping post-bags all the way down the line; + and it was extremely improbable that he would meet any Rodchurch friends in this + train, but he understood that the dangerous part of his proceedings would begin when + he got to Waterloo, and he was a little worried, even muddled, as to how and where to + change his clothes—or rather to put on that canvas suit over his ordinary + clothes. If he made the change here, and any one saw him going out, it might seem a + bit odd.</p> + <p>But then his confusion of ideas passed off, and all became clear. He must change + at the last possible moment, of course; and he thought, "Why am I so muddled about + such simple things? I must pull myself together. Of course I don't mind being seen in + London; it is down there that I don't wish to be seen. Anybody is welcome to see me + till I'm started, an' perhaps the more people that see me the better."<a + id="Page_369" name="Page_369"></a></p> + <p>He therefore shaved, and dressed neatly and carefully; packed his valise with the + bowler hat in it, turned up the brim of the common slouch hat and wore it jauntily. + The overalls were rolled in an unobtrusive brown-paper parcel to be carried under the + arm; and, having paid for his bedroom, he went out at about eight o'clock, walking + boldly through the streets—just as Mr. Dale of Rodchurch, dressed in blue serge + and not in his best black coat—Mr. Dale dressed for the holidays, with a rakish + go-as-you-please soft hat instead of the ceremonious hard-brimmed bowler, and not too + proud to carry his bag and parcel for himself.</p> + <p>All straightforward now. It would be still Mr. Dale at Waterloo, depositing the + bag at the cloak-room, buying a ticket, and getting into the train with his + brown-paper parcel. Only Mr. Dale would get lost on the journey, and a queer shabby + customer would emerge at the other end.</p> + <p>But he allowed himself to modify the plan slightly. It was necessary that he + should have a good meal and also procure food to take with him, and for these + purposes he went to an eating-house in the York Road. This turned out to be just the + place he required—a room with tables where diners could sit as long as they + chose, a counter spread out with edibles to be absorbed standing, and the company + consisting of cabmen from the station ranks, some railway porters, and a few humble + travelers.</p> + <p>He ordered a large beef-steak; and he ate like a boa-constrictor, thinking the + while: "This ought to stick to my ribs. I can't put away too much now, because it may + come to short commons if the luck's against me." Then after the meal there came a + temptation to hurry <a id="Page_370" name="Page_370"></a>up his program, and get + through some of the little difficulties at once. He observed his surroundings. The + place was fuller now than when he came in; the atmosphere was thick with tobacco + smoke and the steam of hot food; the kitchen was at its busiest; and at the counter + the stupid-looking girl in charge was handing over refreshments so fast that it + seemed as if soon there would be none left.</p> + <p>He paid a waitress for his supper, and then went into the dark little lavatory + behind the room and put on his canvas suit. Coming out into the room again, he + intended to say something about having slipped on his overalls for a night job; but + nothing of the kind was necessary. Nobody cared, nobody noticed. His difficulty was + to make the counter girl attend to him at all. He spoke to her bruskly at last; and + then she sold him slices of cold meat, cheese, biscuits, a lot of chocolate and some + nuts, with which he filled those two inner pockets of his jacket. They had become his + larders now.</p> + <p>There were not more than a dozen passengers in the whole train, and no one on the + platform at Waterloo took the faintest notice of him.</p> + <p>No one noticed him three hours later when he left the train at a station short of + Manninglea Cross; and soon he was far from other men, striking across the dark + country, with the stars high over his head, and his native air blowing into his + lungs. He came down over the heath on the Abbey side of the Cross Roads, and reached + Hadleigh Wood just before dawn.</p> + <p>He felt at home now, alone with the wild animals, on ground that he had learned + the tricks of when he was like a wild animal himself. He knew his wood as <a + id="Page_371" name="Page_371"></a>well as any of them. He could make lairs beneath + the hollies, glide imperceptibly among the trees, crawl on his belly from tussock to + tussock, and startle the very foxes by creeping quite close before they smelled + peril. So he hid and glided as the sun climbed the sky, and then waited and watched + when the sun was high, now here, now there, but always very near the open rides along + which people would be passing. And that day many passed, but not the man he + wanted.</p> + <p>He was three days and nights in the wood; and on the morning of the fourth day + somebody saw him.</p> + <p>He had moved stealthily to the stream to drink, and while creeping back on hands + and knees among some holly bushes by a glade, he paused suddenly. Out there on the + grass, so small that she had not shown above the lowest bushes, there was a little + girl—a child of about five, in a tattered pinafore, picking daisies and making + a daisy chain. Breathless and with a beating heart, he watched her, and he dared not + move forward into the sunlight or backward into the shade. She had not seen him yet. + She was playing with the chain of flowers—a small wood goblin sprung out of + nowhere, a little black-haired devil fired up from hell through the solid earth and + out into this empty glade to squat there right in his track. Then she stood upon her + feet, and admired the length of the chain as she held it dangling.</p> + <p>Then she dropped the chain, gave a little cry like the note of a frightened bird, + and scampered away—never looking back.</p> + <p>Never looking back. But she had seen him. He tried to hope that she had not seen + him.</p> + <p>He was hungry now. His provisions were exhausted; he had eaten nothing since last + night, and he <a id="Page_372" name="Page_372"></a>felt excited and fretful. He said + to himself: "If to-day my enemy is not delivered into my hands, I must go out into + the open and seek him at all risks, at all costs." It was a dominant idea now. + Nothing else mattered.</p> + <p>But that day the man came. When the day was almost over, when the whole wood was + fading to the neutral tints of dusk, he came. He was on horseback, sitting easily and + proudly, and his chestnut horse paced daintily and noiselessly over the moss.</p> + <p>Dale took off his hat. Then presently he came out of the bracken into the ride, + gripped the horse by its bridle, and spoke to the rider.</p> + <p>"Halloa! Dale? But, my good fellow, what the deuce—Damn you, let go. What + are you trying to—"</p> + <p>"I'll show you. Yes, you"—and violent, obscene, incoherent words came + pouring from Dale in a high-pitched querulous voice. All his set speeches had been + blown to the clouds by the blast of his passion. All his plans exploded in flame at + the sight of the man's face—the eyes that had gloated over Mavis' reluctant + body, the lips that had fed on her enforced kisses. But what did the words matter? + Any words were sufficient. They could understand each other without words now.</p> + <p>He was holding the bridle firmly, pulling the horse's head round; and he grasped + Mr. Barradine's foot, got it out of the stirrup, and jerking the whole leg upward, + pitched him out of the saddle. The horse, released, sprang away, jumping this way, + that way, as it dashed through the brake to the rocks—the clatter of its hoofs + sounded on the rocks, and the last glimpse of it showed its empty saddle and the two + flying stirrup-irons.<a id="Page_373" name="Page_373"></a></p> + <p>Dale was mad now—the devil loose in him—only conscious of unappeasable + rage and hatred, as he struck with his fists, beating the man down every time he + tried to get up, and kicking at the man's head when he lay prostrate.</p> + <p>Then there came a brief pause of extraordinary deep quiet, a sudden cessation of + all perceptible sounds and movements. Dale was confused, dazed, breathing hard. That + was a dead man sprawling there—what you call a corpse, a bleeding carcass. Dale + looked at him. Beneath his last kick, the skull had cracked like a well-tapped + egg.</p> + <p>As abruptly as if his legs had been knocked from under him Dale sat down, and + endeavored to think.</p> + <p>Then it was as if all his thought and the action resulting from his thought were + beyond his control. In all that he did he seemed to be governed by instinct.</p> + <p>At any minute some one might pass by. He must drag the body out of sight. And the + instinctive thoughts came rapidly, each one as the necessity for it arose. He must + leave no foot-prints, or as few as possible. He unlaced and pulled off his boots, + and, noticing the blood on them, made a mental note to wash them as soon as he could + find time to do so.</p> + <p>He took the dead man by the heels, and dragged him cautiously toward the + rocks—seeking the zigzag line taken by the galloping horse. That was the + chance. Instinct directed and explained the task—to make it seem that the horse + had dragged him, and battered his life out over the rocks. A good chance. Those + stirrups didn't come out. He might truly have been dragged by one of them.</p> + <p>The track of the horse was lost directly the rocks <a id="Page_374" + name="Page_374"></a>began. Dale left the body, and cautiously clambered upon the + rocks to see if any living thing observed him.</p> + <p>Then he took the corpse by the heels again, and hauled it over the jagged surfaces + and through the hollows—conscious all the while of great pain—and finally + left it in a cleft, staring stupidly upward. He hurried back to the ride, and sat + down by the rank-smelling bracken where he had left his boots. He was startled when + he looked at his feet—their soles were covered with blood. He thought it was + the dead man's blood, but then discovered it was his own. He had torn his feet to + pieces on the rocks. He put on his boots in agony, picked up his hat, and limped away + through the hollies into the gloom of the pines. Down in the stream, with the water + rippling over his ankles, he stood and listened.</p> + <p>What to do next? They had not yet discovered the dead man; but it seemed to him + that they would do so in another minute or two. He tried to think logically, but + could not. It seemed now necessary to get clear away before the body was + seen—get as far off as possible. Vaguely it occurred to him that he should wait + here till night, and it was still only dusk. But then he had a clear vision of the + wood at night—lanterns moving in every direction, men's voices, a cordon of men + all round the wood. Yes, that would be the state of affairs when they had found the + body and were beginning to look for the murderer. This wood was a death-trap. He + forgot the pain in his feet, and began to run with the long trotting stride of a + hunted stag, careless now of the crash of the bushes and fern as he swung through + them.<a id="Page_375" name="Page_375"></a></p> + <p>He paused crouching on the edge of the wood, then came out over the bank, across a + road, and into the fields. With arched back he went along the deep ditch of the first + field, through a gap, and into the ditch of the next field. To his right lay + Vine-Pits Farm; to his left lay the Cross Roads, the Barradine Arms, the clustered + cottages. He ran on, in ditch after ditch, under hedges and banks, swinging + left-handed in a wide detour till he came to the last of the fields and the highroad + to Old Manninglea.</p> + <p>But he had to wait here. He saw laborers on the road, and waited till they were + gone. Then he crept through the gap where the ditch went under the road culvert, + crossed this second road, and ran stooping on the open heath.</p> + <p>The sky was red, with terrible clouds; and a wind followed him, keeping his spine + cold, although all the rest of him was burning. When he looked back he fancied that + he saw men moving, and that he heard distant shoutings from Beacon Hill. Rain + fell—not much of it, just showers, wetting his hands, and mingling with the + perspiration in front, but making him colder behind; and he muttered to cheer + himself. "That's luck. That'll wash away the blood. Yes, that's luck. Yes, I must + take it for a good sign—bit o' luck."</p> + <p>He walked and ran for miles—over the bare downs, through the fertile + valleys, and alongside the other railway line; and late that night he got into a + feeding train for Salisbury, where, he was told, he would catch a West of England + express for London.</p> + <p>There was delay at Salisbury, and he ate some food and drank some brandy.<a + id="Page_376" name="Page_376"></a></p> + <p>Then at last he found himself in the London train, in an empty compartment of a + corridor coach. He sat with folded arms, his hat pulled low on his forehead, his eyes + peering suspiciously out of the window, or at the door of the corridor. Whenever + anybody went by in the corridor, he stooped his head lower and pretended to be + asleep.</p> + <p>There were strange people in this train—soldiers and sailors from Devonport; + some foreigners too, or people dressed up to look like foreigners; numbers of men + also who kept their heads down as he was doing, as if for some jolly good private + reason. Who the hell were they really? Detectives?</p> + <p>The train was going so fast now that it rocked to and fro, and hummed and sang; + but it seemed to Dale to be standing still—to be going backward. This illusion + was so strong for some moments that he jumped up and went out into the corridor, to + look down at the permanent way on that side also. The lamplight from the train showed + on both sides that the sleepers, the chairs, the gravel, slipped and slid in the + correct direction. The train was flying, simply flying along the inner up-track of + the four sets of metals.</p> + <p>"I mustn't be so fullish," he kept saying to himself. "I'm all safe now."</p> + <p>A sudden noise of voices drew him to the corridor; and he stood holding a + hand-rail, watching the leather walls and the gangway that led into the next coach + leap and dance and bob and sink, while he listened eagerly. The roar of the train was + so great here that he could not catch what the hidden men were saying, but he + understood that they were sailors making too much noise and a railway guard rebuking + them. "It's <a id="Page_377" name="Page_377"></a>nothing to do with me," he said to + himself. "Why <i>am</i> I so fullish?"</p> + <p>He returned to the compartment, sat with his shoulder to the corridor, and brooded + dully and heavily. All that fiery trouble about Mavis and her being dishonored had + gone out of his mind as if forever; the grievance and the rage and the hatred had + gone too; temporarily there was nothing but a most ponderous self-pity.</p> + <p>"What a mess this is," he thought. "What a hash I've made of it. What a cruel + thing to happen to me. What an awful hole I've put myself into."</p> + <p>The train swept onward, and he began to doze. Then after a while he slept and + dreamed. He dreamed that he was here in this train, not fettered, but spell-bound, + unable to move and hide, only able to understand what was happening and to suffer + from his perception of the hideous predicament that he was in. Another train, on + another of the four tracks, was racing after this train, was overhauling it, was + infallibly catching it. Mysteriously he could see into this following, hunting + train—it was a train full of policemen, magistrates, wardens, judges, hangmen: + all the offended majesty of the law.</p> + <p>He woke shivering, after this first taste of a murderer's dreams. His punishment + had begun.</p> + <p>It was daylight at Waterloo, and he slunk in terror; but things had to be done. He + washed himself as well as he could, took off his dirty canvas, got his bag from the + cloak-room and hurried away. No questions were asked, no bones made about giving him + a room at a house in Stamford Street; and he at once went to bed and slept + profoundly.<a id="Page_378" name="Page_378"></a></p> + <p>When he woke this time he was quite calm, and able to think clearly again.</p> + <p>He went out late in the afternoon, and saw a message for him on newspaper bills: + "Fatal Accident to ex-Cabinet Minister." Then, having bought a paper, he read the + very brief report of the accident. He stood gasping, and then drew deep breaths. The + <i>Accident</i>. Oh, the joy of seeing that word! No suspicion so far. It was working + out just as one might hope.</p> + <p>And it seemed that his courage, so lamentably shaken, began to return to him. He + felt more himself. He marched off to a post office, and sent his telegram to Mavis: + "Evening paper says fatal accident to Mr. Barradine. Is this true?" The main purpose + of the telegram was to prove that here he was in London, where he had been last + Friday, and where he had remained during all the intervening time; its secondary + purpose was to put on record at the earliest possible moment his + surprise—surprise so complete that he could scarcely believe the sad news. He + gave his utmost care to the wording of the telegram and was satisfied with the + result. The turn of words seemed perfectly natural.</p> + <p>Then, having despatched his telegram, he hurried off to call at Mr. Barradine's + house in Grosvenor Place—to make some anxious inquiries.</p> + <p>There were people at the door, ladies and gentlemen among them, and the servants + looked white and agitated as they answered questions. Dale pushed his way up the + steps almost into the hall, acting consternation and grief—the honest, rather + rough country fellow, the loyal dependent who forgets his good manners in his sorrow + at the death of the chieftain. He would not go <a id="Page_379" + name="Page_379"></a>away, when the other callers had departed. He told the butler of + the services rendered to him by Mr. Barradine. "Not more'n ten days ago."</p> + <p>"Don't you remember me? I came here to thank him for his kindness."</p> + <p>"Ah, yes," said the agitated butler, "he was a kind gentleman, and no + mistake."</p> + <p>"<i>Kind!</i> I should think he was. Well, well!" And Dale stood nodding his head + dolefully. Then he went away slowly and sadly, and he kept on nodding his head in the + same doleful manner long after the door was shut—just on the chance that the + servants might look out of the hail windows and see it before he vanished round the + corner.</p> + <p>He could think now, as well as he had ever done. It was of prime importance that + no outsiders should ever learn that Everard Barradine had injured him. This guided + him henceforth. It settled the course of his life there and then. He must return to + Mavis; he must by his demeanor cover the intrigue—or so act that if people came + to know of it, they would suppose either that he was ignorant of his shame or that he + was a complaisant husband, taking advantage of the situation and pocketing all gifts + from his wife's protector. No motive for the crime. That was his guide-post.</p> + <p>In the night he got rid of the canvas suit and slouch hat. Next day he went home + to Rodchurch Post Office, and, speaking to Mavis of Mr. Barradine's death, uttered + that terrific blasphemy. "<i>It is the finger of God.</i>"<a id="Page_380" + name="Page_380"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXXI" name="XXXI"></a>XXXI</h2> + <p>He acted his part well, and everything worked out easily—more easily than + one could have dared to hope for.</p> + <p>Not a soul was thinking about him. He had to assert himself, thrust himself + forward, before people in the village would so much as notice that he had come back + among them again. The inquest, as he gathered, was going to be a matter of form: it + seemed doubtful if the authorities would even make an examination of the ground over + there. All was to be as nice as nice for him.</p> + <p>Yet he was afraid. Fear possed him—this sneaking, torturing, emasculating + passion that he had never known hitherto was now always with him. He lay alone in the + camp-bedstead sweating and funking. The events of the day made him seem safe, but he + felt that he would not be really safe for ages and ages. Throughout the night he was + going over the list of his idiotic mistakes, upbraiding himself, cursing himself for + a hundred acts of brainless folly. The plan had been sound enough: it was the + accomplishment of the plan that had been so damnably rotten.</p> + <p>Why had he changed his addresses in that preposterous fashion? Instead of + providing himself with useful materials for an alibi, he had just made a lot of + inexplicable movements. Then the pawning of the watch—in a false name. How + could he ever explain<a id="Page_381" name="Page_381"></a> <i>that</i>? Anybody short + of money may put his ticker up the spout, but no one has the right to assume an + alias. And the buying of the clothes and hat. Instead of bargaining, as innocent + people do, however small the price demanded, he just dabbed down the money. He must + have appeared to be in the devil's own hurry to get the things and cut off with them. + The two men at that shop must have noticed his peculiarities as a customer. They + would be able to pick him out in the biggest crowd that ever assembled in a + magistrate's court.</p> + <p>But far worse had been his watchings and prowlings round and about the house in + Grosvenor Place. Could he have blundered upon anything more full of certain peril? + Why, to stand still for ten minutes in London is to invite the attention of the + police. Their very motto or watchword is "Move on;" and for every policeman in helmet + and buttons there are three policemen in plain clothes to make sure that people + <i>are</i> moving on. While watching that house he had been watched himself.</p> + <p>Then, again, the insane episode of the eating-house—the wild hastening of + his program, the untimely change of appearance in that thronged room—and his + rudeness to the woman behind the counter. With anguish he remembered, or fancied he + remembered, that she had looked at him resentfully seeming to say as she studied his + face. "I'm sizing you up. Yes, I won't forget you—you brute."</p> + <p>His bag too—left by him at Waterloo for a solid proof that he was <i>not</i> + in London as he pretended. The bag was at the cloak-room all right when he came to + fetch it, but perhaps in the meantime it had been <a id="Page_382" + name="Page_382"></a>to Scotland Yard and back again. Besides, Waterloo was a station + he should never once have showed his nose in; the link between Waterloo and home was + too close—his own line—the railway whose staff was replenished by people + from his own part of the country. While he was feeling glad that the passengers were + strangers, perhaps a porter was saying to a mate: "There goes the postmaster of + Rodchurch. He and I were boys together. I should know him anywhere, though it's ten + years since I last saw William Dale." He ought to have used Paddington + Station—he could have got to Salisbury that way, and gone into the woods the + way he came out of them.</p> + <p>Last of all, that child in the glade—a child strayed from one of the + cottages, or the child of some woodcutter who had brought her with him, who was + perhaps a very little way off, who listened to the tale of what the child had seen + five minutes after she had seen it. Of course nothing much would be thought of the + child's tale at first; but it would assume importance directly suspicion had been + aroused; it would link up with other circumstances, it would suggest new ideas and + further researches to the minds of detectives, it might be the clue that eventually + hanged him.</p> + <p>It seemed to Dale as he went over things in this quivering, quaking manner that, + from the little girl weaving flowers back to the two Jews selling slops, he had + recruited an army of witnesses to denounce and destroy him.</p> + <p>Only in one respect had he not bungled. He got rid of the clothes and hat all + right. Cut and torn into narrow stripes they had gone comfortably down the drains of + the temperance hotel in Stamford Street. That was <a id="Page_383" + name="Page_383"></a>a night's wise labor. But the labor and thoughtful care had come + too late, on top of all the previous folly.</p> + <p>And he said to himself, "It's prob'ly all up with me. This quiet is the usual + trick of the p'lice to throw you off the scent. They're playin' wi' me. They let me + sim to run free, because they know they can 'aarve me when they want me."</p> + <p>With such thoughts, he went down-stairs of a morning to talk jovially with + Ridgett, to chaff Miss Yorke; and with the thoughts unchanged he came up-stairs to + glower at Mavis across the breakfast-table.</p> + <p>His thoughts in regard to Mavis were extraordinarily complicated. At first he had + been horribly afraid of her—dreading their meeting as a crisis, a + turning-point, an awful bit of touch-and-go work. It seemed that she of all people + would be the one to suspect the truth. When she heard of the man's death, surely the + idea <i>must</i> have flashed into her mind: "This is Will's doing." But then + perhaps, when no facts appeared to support the idea, she might have abandoned it. + Nevertheless it would readily come flashing back again—and again, and + again.</p> + <p>To his delight, however, he saw that she did not suspect now, and there was + nothing to show that she ever had suspected. And he thought in the midst of his great + relief: "How stupid she is really. Any other woman would have put two and two + together. But she is a stupid woman. Stupidity is the key-note to her + character—and it furnishes the explanation of half her wrong-doing."</p> + <p>This reflection was comforting, but he still considered her to be a source of + terrible danger to him. For the moment at least, all his resentment about her past <a + id="Page_384" name="Page_384"></a>unchasteness and her recent escapade was entirely + obliterated; it was a closed chapter; he did not seem to care two pence about + it—that is, he did not feel any torment of jealousy. The offense was expiated. + But he must not on any account let her see this—no, because it might lead her, + stupid as she was, to trace the reason. He knew himself that if Mr. Barradine had + died otherwise than by his blows, he would have felt quite differently toward Mavis. + He would have felt then "The swine has escaped me. We are not quits. That dirty turn + is not paid for." He would have continued to smart under the affront to his pride as + a man, and association with Mavis would have still been impossible.</p> + <p>Logically, then, he must act out these other feelings; Mavis must see him as he + would have been under those conditions. But it made it all so difficult—two + parts to render adequately instead of one. In the monstrous egotism produced by his + fear, he thought it uncommonly rough luck that the wife who ought to have been + dutifully assisting him should thus add to his cares and worries. Sometimes he had to + struggle against insane longings to take her into his confidence, and compel her to + do her fair share of the job—to say, slap out, "It's you, my lady, who've + landed me in this tight place; so the least you can do is to help pull me into open + country."</p> + <p>Moreover, as the days and nights passed, instincts that were more human and + natural made him crave for re-union. He yearned to be friends with her again. He felt + that if he could safely make it up, cuddle her as he used to do, hold her hands and + arms when he went to sleep, he would derive fortitude and support against <a + id="Page_385" name="Page_385"></a>his fear, even if he obtained no aid from her in + dodging the law.</p> + <p>He thought during the inquest that the fear had reached its climax. Nothing that + could come in the future would be as bad as this. Yet all the time he was telling + himself, "There is no cause for the fear. It is quite baseless. All is going as nice + as nice."</p> + <p>Indeed, if he had conducted the proceedings himself, he could not have wished to + arrange anything differently. The whole affair was more like a civilian funeral + service—a rite supplemental to the church funeral—than a businesslike + inquiry into the circumstances and occasion of a person's death. A sergeant and + constable were present, but apparently for no reason whatever. Allen talked nonsense, + grooms and servants talked nonsense, everybody paid compliments to the + deceased—and really that was all. At last Mr. Hollis, the coroner, said the + very words that Dale would have liked to put into his mouth—something to the + effect that they had done their melancholy duty and that it would be useless to ask + any more questions.</p> + <p>But Dale, sitting firmly and staring gloomily, felt an internal paroxysm of + terror. Near the lofty doors of the fine state room common folk stood whispering and + nudging one another—cottagers, carters, woodcutters; and Dale thought "Now I'm + in for it. One of those chaps is going to come forward and tell the coroner that his + little girl saw a strange man in the wood." He imagined it all so strongly that it + almost seemed to happen. "Beg pardon, your honor, I don't rightly know as, it's wuth + mentionin', but my lil' young 'un see'd a scarecrow sort of a feller not far from + they rocks, the mornin' afore."<a id="Page_386" name="Page_386"></a></p> + <p>It did not, however, happen. Nothing happened.</p> + <p>And nothing happened when he came to the Abbey again to attend the real burial + service—except that he found how wrong he had been in supposing that the fear + had reached its highest point. He nearly fainted when he saw all those + policemen—the entire park seeming to be full of them, a blue helmet under every + tree, a glittering line of buttons that stretched through the courtyards and right + round the church. Inside the church he said to himself, "They've got me now. They'll + tap me on the shoulder as I come out."</p> + <p>Standing in the open air again he wondered at the respite that had been allowed, + and thought, "Yes, but that is always their way. They never show their hand until + they have collected all the evidence. The detectives, who've been on my track from + the word 'go,' prob'ly advised the relatives to accept the thing as an accident in + order to hoodwink the murderer. The tip was given to that coroner not to probe deep, + because they weren't ready yet with their case;" and it suddenly occurred to him that + he had left deep footsteps in the wood, and that plaster casts had been made of all + these impressions.</p> + <p>He looked across a gravestone in the crowded churchyard and saw a strange man who + was staring at the ground. A detective? He believed that this man was watching his + feet, measuring them, saying to himself, "Yes, those are the feet that will fit my + plaster cast."</p> + <p>After the funeral he began to grow calmer, and soon he was able to believe during + long periods of each day that the most considerable risks were now over.</p> + <p>Then came news of the legacy to Mavis—the cursed <a id="Page_387" + name="Page_387"></a>money that he hated, that threw him back into the earlier + distress concerning his wife's shame, that restored vividness to the thoughts which + had faded in presence of the one overpowering thought of his own imminent peril.</p> + <p>But here again he was governed by what he had set before himself as his unfailing + guide-post—the necessity to conceal any motive for an act of vengeance. What + would people think if he refused the money? It was a question not easy to answer, and + the guide-post seemed to point in two opposite directions. He was harassed by + terrible doubt until he and Mavis went to see the solicitor at Old Manninglea. During + the conversation over there he assured himself that the solicitor saw nothing odd in + the legacy, and made no guess at there having been an intrigue between Mavis and the + benefactor; and further he ascertained that this was only one of several similar + legacies. All was clear then: the guide-post pointed one way now: they must take the + money.</p> + <p>But this necessity shook Dale badly again. It seemed as if the man so tightly put + away in his lead coffin and stone vault was not done with yet. It was as if one could + never be free from his influence, as if, dead or alive, he exercised power over one. + Dale resisted such superstitious fancies in vain. They upset him; and the fear + returned, bigger than before.</p> + <p>It was irrational, bone-crumbling fear—something that defied argument, that + nothing could allay. It was like the elemental passion felt by the hunted + animal—not fear of death, but the anguish of the live thing which must perforce + struggle to escape death, although prolonged flight is worse than that from which it + flies.<a id="Page_388" name="Page_388"></a></p> + <p>Dale had no real fear of death—nor even fear of the gallows. If the worst + came, he could face death bravely. He was quite sure of that. Then, as he told + himself thousands of times, it was absurd to be so shaken by terror. Terror of what? + And he thought, "It is because of the uncertainty. But there too, how absurdly + fullish I am; for there is no <i>real</i> uncertainty. My crime can not and will not + be discovered. If I were to go now and accuse myself, people would not credit + me."</p> + <p>He thought also, in intervals between the paroxysms, "I suppose what I've been + feeling is what all murderers feel. It is this that makes men go and give themselves + up to the police after they have got off scot free. They are safe, but they never can + believe they're safe; they can't stand the strain, and if they didn't stop it, they'd + go mad. So they give themselves up—just go get a bit o' quiet. And that is what + I shall do, if this goes on much longer. I'd sooner be turned off short and sharp + with a broken neck than die of exhaustion in a padded cell."</p> + <p>Then suddenly chance gave the hateful money an immense value, converted it into a + means of escape from the outer life whose monotony and narrowness were assisting the + cruelly wide inner life to drive him mad.</p> + <p>He went to Vine-Pits, and the strangeness of his surroundings, the difficulties, + the hard work, produced a salutary effect upon him; but most of all he drew strength + and courage from the renewal of love between Mavis and himself. That was most + wonderful—like a new birth, rather than a reanimation. They loved each other as + a freshly married couple, as a boy and girl who <a id="Page_389" + name="Page_389"></a>have just returned from their honeymoon, and who say, "We shall + feel just the same when the time comes to keep our silver wedding."</p> + <p>So he toiled comfortably, almost happily. Mavis was perfectly happy, and he found + increasing solace in the knowledge of this fact.</p> + <p>Thence onward his busy days were free from fear, except for the transient panics + which, as he surmised, he would be subject to for the remainder of his life. They did + not matter, because he could control them to the extent of preventing the slightest + outward manifestation. All at once while transacting business he would feel the + inward collapse, deadly cold, a sensation that his intestines had been changed from + close-knitted substance to water; and he would think "This person"—a farmer, a + servant, old Mr. Bates, anybody—"suspects my secret. He guessed it a long while + ago. Or he has just discovered the proofs of guilt." Nevertheless he went on talking + in exactly the same tone of voice, without a contraction of a single facial muscle, + with nothing at all shown unless perhaps a bead of perspiration on his forehead.</p> + <p>"Good morning, sir. Many thanks, sir.... Yes, Mr. Envill, the stuff shall be at + your stables by one P.M. sharp. I'm making it my pride to obey all orders punctually, + whether big or small."</p> + <p>Thus he got on comfortably enough during the daylight waking hours. But the fear + that had gone out of the days had made its home in the night. Sleep was now its + stronghold.</p> + <p>His dreams were terrible. They were like immense highly-colored fabrics reeling + off the vast gray thought-loom—that dreadful thought machine that <a + id="Page_390" name="Page_390"></a>worked as well when the workshop was darkened as + when all the lamps were burning. Their pattern displayed infinite variety of detail, + but a constant similarity in the main design.</p> + <p>They began by his being happy and light-hearted, that is, he was <i>innocent</i>; + and then gradually the horrible fact returned to his memory. Recently, or a long time + ago, he had killed a man. That was always the end of the dream; his lightness and + gaiety of spirits vanished, and he felt again the load that he was eternally forced + to carry on his conscience.</p> + <p>The details of one form in which the dream worked itself out were repeated + hundreds of times. There was a strange man who at first made himself extremely + agreeable, and yet in spite of all his amiability Dale did not like him. Nevertheless + there was some mysterious necessity to keep friends with him, even to kow-tow to him. + And Dale gradually felt sure that he and this man had met before, and that the man + knew it, but for some sinister purpose concealed his knowledge. They went about + together in gay and lively scenes, and the man grew more and more hateful to + Dale—becoming insolent, making disparaging remarks, sneering openly; and + laughing when Dale only tittered in a nervous way and swallowed all insults. And Dale + could not do otherwise, because he was afraid of the man.</p> + <p>And finally this false friend disclosed his true hostile character in some + strikingly painful manner.</p> + <p>For instance, the man would make Dale take off his boots for him in some public + place. They were together in a place like the lounge of some grand music-hall; the + electric light shone brilliantly, a band played <a id="Page_391" + name="Page_391"></a>at a distance, the gaily dressed crowd gathered round + them—young London swells with white waistcoats, pretty painted women, old men + and young girls, and all of them watching, all contemptuously amused, all grinning + because they understood that, though so big and strong, he was at heart a pitiful + sort of poltroon, and that his companion was showing him up publicly. "Yes, you shall + take my boots off for me. That's all you're fit for." And in spite of his anguish of + resentment, Dale dared not refuse. The man had moved to a divan, he reclined upon his + back, lifted his feet; and Dale, pretending to laugh it off as a bit of fun, took him + by the heels.</p> + <p>Then he uttered a terrified cry—because he saw it was Barradine, dead, + battered, with glassy staring eyes. All the people rushed away screaming, the lights + went out, the music ceased: Dale was alone, at dusk, in a rocky wilderness, still + dragging the dead man by the heels.</p> + <p>And then he would wake—to find Mavis bending over him, to hear her saying, + "My dearest, you are sleeping on your back, and it is making you dream." He clung to + her desperately, muttering, "Quite right, Mav. Don't let me dream. It's a fullish + trick—dreaming."</p> + <p>Then he would settle himself to sleep again, thinking, "It is all no use. I love + my wife; I bless her for the generous way in which she has risked all that money to + give me a fresh start; I enjoy the work; I believe I may succeed with the + business—but I shall never know real peace of mind. And sooner or later my + crime will be brought home to me. It is always so. I've read it in the papers a dozen + times. Murderers <a id="Page_392" name="Page_392"></a>never get off altogether. Years + and years pass; but at last justice overtakes them."</p> + <p>Already, although he did not recognize it, had come remorse for the wickedness of + his deed. He had no regret for the fact itself, and not the slightest pity for the + victim. Mr. Barradine had got no more than he deserved, the only proper adequate + punishment for his offenses; but Dale knew that, according to the tenets of all + religions, God does not allow private individuals to mete out punishment, however + well deserved—especially not the death penalty.</p> + <p>He resolutely revived his idea of the dead man as a thing unfit to live—just + a brute, without a man's healthy instincts—a foul debauchee, ruining sweet and + comely innocence whenever he could get at it. Such a wretch would be executed by any + sensible community. In new countries they would lynch him as soon as they caught + him—"A lot of chaps like myself would ride off their farms, heft him up on the + nearest tree, and empty their revolvers into him. And it wouldn't be a murder: it + would be a rough and ready execution. Well, I did the job by myself, without sharing + the responsibility with my pals; and I consider myself an executioner, not a + murderer."</p> + <p>He could now always make the hate and horror return and be as strong as they had + ever been, and thus solidify the argument whereby he found his justification; no + mercy is possible for such brutes. Subconsciously he was always striving to reinforce + it; as if the voice of that logical faculty which he admired as his highest attribute + were always whispering advice, reminding him: "This is your strong point. It is the + only firm ground you stand on. You can't possibly <a id="Page_393" + name="Page_393"></a>hope to justify yourself to other people; but if you don't + justify yourself to yourself, then you are truly done for."</p> + <p>And he used to think: "I have justified myself to myself all along. I was never + one who considered human life so sacred as some try to make out. Why should it be? + Aren't we proved to be animals—along with the rest? The parsons own it nowadays + themselves, allowing a man's soul to be what God counts most important, but not going + so far as to say any animal's soul isn't immortal too. Then where's the sacredness? + If it's right to kill a vicious dog or a poisonous snake, how is it so wrong to out a + man that won't behave himself?"</p> + <p>Insensibly this consideration had the greatest possible effect on his conduct. + Without advancing step by step in a reasoned progress, he understood that any one + holding his views on human life generally should not attach an excessive value to his + own individual life. He must carry his life lightly, and be ready to lay it down + without a lot of fuss. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. He acted on the + maxim, risking his life freely, courting dangers that he would have avoided in the + days before the day on which he executed Mr. Barradine.</p> + <p>Executed—yes. But God would not have authorized him, although Judge Lynch + would. God would say: "It must be left to Me. I will attend to it in My own good + time. From My point of view perhaps, keeping the man alive is in truth his + punishment, and to kill him is to let him off. You have come blundering with your + finite intelligence into the department of omniscient wisdom. Instead of + interpreting<a id="Page_394" name="Page_394"></a> My laws, you have set up a law of + your own invention."</p> + <p>And Dale sometimes thought: "But there isn't any God. All that is my eye and my + elbow. I believed it once, but I shall never believe it again."</p> + <p>His thoughts about God's laws were curious, and baffling to himself. They had been + always there, always active, but in a manner secondary and faint when compared with + his thoughts about his infringement of men's laws. Faith in God had seemed to be + quite gone. It used to permeate his entire mind; and yet it dropped out as though it + had been only in one corner of his mind, and a hole had been made under that corner + for it to fall through. Now he sometimes had the notion that it went out through many + holes, as if it had been forcibly ejected, and that his whole mind was left in a + shattered and unstable condition.</p> + <p>Then it began to seem that the faith had not truly been altogether got rid of. + Fragments of it remained.</p> + <p>Rapidly then he reached the certainty that he wished to have the faith back again. + His was an orderly solid mind that could not do with cracks and holes in it, + trimness, neatness, and firmness of outer wall were necessary to its well-being; + openness to windy doubts ruined it. He felt that an accidental universe was the wrong + box for it. He wanted to believe in the God who created order out of chaos, the God + who settled cut-and-dried plans for the whole of creation—yes, the God made in + man's image, and yet the Maker and Ruler of man.</p> + <p>And some days he did believe, and some days he couldn't. But all at once an idea + came, first soothing then cheering him. He thought: "Whether I believe <a + id="Page_395" name="Page_395"></a>or not, I'll take it for granted. I'll act as if + God is real."</p> + <p>He did so, acting as if God were believed in as truly by him as by the most stanch + believers. He clung to the idea. It seemed to be the way out of all his troubles. He + would make peace with God—then there would be no need to bother about men, or + offer any confession of his guilt to <i>them</i>.</p> + <p>He grew calmer now. Doing things had always suited him better than brooding over + things. His new determination illuminated the reason for reckless adventures, and + lifted their purpose to a higher plane. He thought now that he held his life at God's + will—to be given back to God at a moment's notice.</p> + <p>This thought made him calmer still, made him strong, almost made him happy. A life + for a life. He would expiate his offense in God's good time. So no danger was too big + for William Dale to face; his courage became a byword; gentlefolk and peasants alike + admired and wondered.</p> + <p>Out of the consistent course of action came the consistency of the thought that + was governing the action. Assumption of the reality of God as a working hypothesis + led to conviction of the existence of God.</p> + <p>Yet strangely and unexpectedly the attempt to formalize his faith almost shook his + faith out of him again. Although throughout the episode of his acceptance by the + Baptists he seemed so stolid and matter-of-fact, he was truly suffering storms of + emotion. He fell a prey to old illusions; that unreasoning fear returned; he was + thrown back into the state of terrified egoism which rendered lofty impersonal + meditation beyond attainment.<a id="Page_396" name="Page_396"></a></p> + <p>That evening when for the first time he went to the Baptist Chapel, the illusion + was strong upon him that every man, woman, and child in the congregation had + discovered his secret. When they all stood up to sing, it seemed that he was naked, + defenseless, utterly at their mercy. With every word of their carefully selected hymn + they were telling him that they knew all about him. When they began their third + verse, they simply roared a denunciation straight at him:</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But thus th' eternal counsel ran:<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">'Almighty love, <i>arrest that man</i>.'"<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>And the second and third hymns were just as bad, shaking him to pieces, tumbling + him headlong into the terror he had felt when his crime was no more than a week old. + The rest of the service entranced and delighted him, made him think: "These people + are in touch with God, and their God is full of love and mercy. If He would accept + me, I should feel safe." At the end of the service he knelt, praying for this to + happen. Then he went home and doubted.</p> + <p>The fear was on him again in the beginning of his interview with Mr. Osborn the + pastor. He thought: "This man has seen through me. He knows. Perhaps his past + experiences have taught him to be quick in spotting criminals. He may have been a + prison chaplain some time or other. Anyhow, he knows; and he'll try to get a + confession out of me, as sure as I sit here." But the beauty of the conception of God + as unfolded by Mr. Osborn banished the fear. He thought: "If I had been told these + things before, I should have never ceased to believe. I feel it through <a + id="Page_397" name="Page_397"></a>and through me. This is God; and if I am not too + late, if He will still accept me, I shall be saved. Christ, the friend, the brother + of man—same as described by Mr. Osborn two minutes ago—can do it for me + if He will. He can take me home to Father." A verse of one of those hymns echoed in + his ears:</p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"None less than God's Almighty Son<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">Can move such loads of sin;<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">The water from His side must run,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">To wash this dungeon clean."<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p>And once more he prayed to the God of the Baptists; and then once more + doubted.</p> + <p>While he was walking home, he thought: "It is too good to be true. Perhaps I'm + fullish to pin my trust to it. Do I believe in it all, or do I not?" He wanted a + sign; and when the storm of thunder and lightning burst like the most tremendous sign + one could ask for, he seized this opportunity of risking his life, and said: "Now I + stand here for God to take me or leave me."</p> + <p>He was left, not taken. The fear vanished, the doubt passed, and he made his way + into the Baptist Church exactly as if, as Mr. Osborn had said, there was an + irresistible pressure behind him, and he could not make his way anywhere else.</p> + <p>It was all right after his baptism. He knew then that he would never doubt again. + The faith was permanent now: it would last as long as he himself lasted. He had no + more evil dreams. He slept soundly, as a man sleeps when he has got home late after a + tiring journey. And in the morning and the <a id="Page_398" + name="Page_398"></a>evening of each day he thanked God for having accepted him.</p> + <p>Then came the years of tranquillity, the respite from pain, his golden time. He + was prosperous, respected; he had a loved and loving wife, and lovely lovable + children; he had grain in his barns, money in his bank, peace in his mind. He felt + too all the better part in him growing bigger and bigger; religion, in simplifying + his ideas, had increased their value; his intellectual power seemed wider and more + comprehensive when exercised with regard to all things that can be learned, now that + he had entirely ceased to exercise it with regard to things that must not be + questioned.</p> + <p>And then there had happened something that was like the knocking down of a house + of cards, the blowing out of a paper lantern, or the obliteration of a picture + scratched on sand when the inrushing tide sweeps over it.</p> + <p>His soul turned sick at the thought that God had not accepted, but rejected him. + God refused his offer of humble homage, had seen the latent wickedness in him, had + kept him alive until he also could see and loathe himself for what he really + was—a wretch who in wishes and cravings, if not in accomplished facts, was as + vile as the man he had slain.<a id="Page_399" name="Page_399"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXXII" name="XXXII"></a>XXXII</h2> + <p>Dale's meditations had carried him backward and forward through the past years, + and left him against the blank wall of the present.</p> + <p>He was sitting on the fallen beech tree in the woodland glade. The sun had set, + and the night promised to be darker than recent nights; when he looked at the grand + gold watch given to him by his admirers, he could only just see its hands. Nearly + nine o'clock. He had been here a long while. It was hours and hours since Norah went + away. He sighed wearily, got up, and walked back to his empty home.</p> + <p>Quite empty—that was the impression it made upon his mind both to-night and + all next day. He looked at it in the bright morning sunshine, across the meadows, + while the scythes laid down the first long swathes of fragrant grass, and it seemed + merely the shell of a house. He looked at it in the midday glare, as he came up the + field to his dinner, and it seemed cold and black and cheerless. He looked at it in + the softer, kinder light of late afternoon, and it seemed to him tragically + sad—a monument of woe rather than a house, a fantastic tomb built in the shape + of a house in order to symbolize the homely joy that had perished on this spot.</p> + <p>Yet smoke was rising from its chimneys, sound issuing from its windows. All day + long it had been full of active cheerful life. It and the fields were <a + id="Page_400" name="Page_400"></a>happy in the animating harvest toil. Men with + harvesters' hats, women with sunbonnets, cracked their rustic jokes, laughed, and + sang at their labor; Mavis cooked food, filled the big white bobs with beer, sent out + bannocks and tin bottles of tea; Dale's children had rakes and played at hay-making. + Only the master, the husband, the father, was unhappy.</p> + <p>No one knew it, of course. To other people he appeared to be just the same as + usual, naturally preoccupied with thoughts about the weather as one always is at + grass-cutting time, giving his orders firmly, and seeing that they were obeyed + promptly, smiling and nodding when you showed yourself handy, frowning and looking + rather black if you did anything "okkard or feckless." Who could have guessed, as he + looked at his watch and then at the sky, that he was thinking: "It wants five minutes + of noon, and she is prob'ly out on what they term an esplanade. There is a nice + breeze down there, comin' to her over the waater, blowin' her hair a bit loose, + flappin' her skirts, sendin' out her neck ribbon like a little flag behind her. It's + all jolly, wi' the mil'tary band, an' the smell o' the waves, an' crowds an' crowds + o' people—an' she won't have occasion to think o' me. P'raps they've bid her + wear her best—the white frock Mavis gave her, with the stockings to match, and + the new buckle-shoes—and likely young lads'll eye her all over as they pass. + Yes, she's seeing now the young uns—the mates for her age—the proper + article to make a photograph of a suitable pair; and she'll soon stop thinking + anything about me, if she hasn't done it a'ready."</p> + <p>He was in his office still thinking of her, after the <a id="Page_401" + name="Page_401"></a>busy day, when the postman brought the last delivery of + letters.</p> + <p>"Good evening, sir. Only three to-night."</p> + <p>"Thank you. Good night, George," and Dale had a friendly smile for this old + acquaintance.</p> + <p>Postman George was growing fat and heavy, betraying signs of age. He had been a + sprightly telegraph boy when Dale was postmaster of Rodchurch.</p> + <p>"Good night, sir. Fine weather for the hay."</p> + <p>"Yes, capital."</p> + <p>When the postman had gone Dale stood trembling. One of the letters was from her. + He felt unnerved by the mere sight of her handwriting on the envelope—the hand + that was so like his own, the hand that she had taught herself by laborious study and + imitation of his official copper-plate; and he thought, "If I was wise I shouldn't + open it. If I was strong enough, I should just burn it, without reading. For, + whatever's inside, it's going to make me one bit more desp'rate than I am now."</p> + <p>He snatched up his hat, went out of the house, and walked along the road holding + her letter pressed tight against his heart. There was a gentle air that floated + pleasantly over the fields, and in spite of all the heavy rain that had fallen such a + little while ago, the white dust rose in high clouds when a motor-car came whizzing + by. After the car two timber wagons crept slowly, and then there were children + trailing a broken perambulator; but directly the road became vacant again, he leaned + against a gate and opened the envelope. He had felt that he must be quite alone when + he read what she said to him, and had intended to go farther, but he could not wait + any more.<a id="Page_402" name="Page_402"></a></p> + <div class="blkquot"> + <p>"Sir, I beg to say"—That was how he had taught her to begin all letters: + she knew no other mode of address. "I beg to say this is a very large place and you + can see the sea from the bedrooms."</p> + </div> + <p>He read on; and his pleasure was so exquisite and his pain so laceratingly sharp + that the sky and the acids swam round and round.</p> + <div class="blkquot"> + <p>... "There's nice girls here, one or two. Nellie Evans do all she can to make me + not so miserable She has a sweetheart at Rodchurch. They all have their boys if you + believe their talk.</p> + <p>"And all the marks at the end are the sweet kisses I give my boy. For you are my + boy now—my own secret one, and I am your loving girl</p> + <p class="signature">"Norah."</p> + </div> + <p>She was thinking only of him; she wanted no one younger and handsomer; in her eyes + and thoughts he was not old: he was her boy. Those words had a terrible effect upon + him. They entered his blood as if they had been an injection of some sweetly narcotic + drug; thy lanced deep into his bowels as if they had been a surgeon's knife; they + made him like a half-anesthetized patient who at the same time dreams of paradise and + feels that he is bleeding to death.</p> + <p>"You are my boy ... and I am your loving girl."</p> + <p>He moved from the gate, hurried along the dusty road, and entered Hadleigh Wood at + the first footpath. As he got over the stile he was saying to himself, "This letter + finishes me. I can't go on with it after this. I'm done for."</p> + <p>Then, as he walked in the cool silence beneath the dark firs, he held her letter + to his lips—kissed the inked crosses that she had set as marks to represent <a + id="Page_403" name="Page_403"></a>her kisses—counted and kissed them and + counted them until his hot tears blinded him.</p> + <p>She wanted him; she longed for him; he was her boy.</p> + <p>He could get to her to-night. She was only twenty or twenty-two miles away, as the + crow flies—say half an hour's journey if one had the wings of a heron. He could + rush home, jump into his gig, and send the horse at a gallop; he could get there by + road or rail, somehow; he could telegraph, telling her not to go to bed, telling her + to go to the station and wait for him there.</p> + <p>Then he would walk with her in the moonlight by the sea, on the wet sand, close to + the breaking waves. When they came back to the Institution no light would be showing + from any of the windows, and she might say, "I'm shut out. When they come down to let + me in, won't they make a fuss?" But he would say, "You are not going in there again." + "What," she would say, "are you taking me back to Vine-Pits after only two days? + Don't you think Mrs. Dale will be angry?"</p> + <p>Then he would say, "I'm not taking you back. I'm going to take you half across the + world with me. I've tried hard, Norah, but I can't do without you. I own up, I'm + beat, I take the consequences. I'm not good, I'm bad. I've done wicked things, and + now I'm ripe for the crowning wickedness. I'm going to break my wife's heart, + dishonor my children's name, and take you down to hell with me."</p> + <p>Or if he could not say and do all that, he might at least do this. He could pick + her up in his arms and wade out to sea with her; he could whisper and kiss <a + id="Page_404" name="Page_404"></a>and wade until the ribbed sand went from under his + feet; and then he would swim, go on whispering, kissing, and swimming until his + strength failed him—yes, he could drown himself and her, so that they died + locked fast in each other's arms, taking in death the embraces that had been denied + them in life.</p> + <p>He was crying now as a child cries, abandoning himself to his tears, not troubling + to wipe them away, temporarily overcome by self-pity. But soon he shook off this + particular form of weakness, and thought, "What nonsense comes into a man's head, + when he's once off his right balance—such wild nonsense, such mad nonsense. + Drown <i>her</i>, poor innocent. Make her pay <i>my</i> bill. Think of it + even—when I'd swim the Atlantic to save her life, if it was in danger."</p> + <p>And then the thought that had been the impetus or origin of these fantastic + imaginations presented itself again, and more strongly than before. He said to + himself, "This letter is my death-warrant. I can't go on. It is my + death-warrant."</p> + <p>He had made straight for the main ride, and he walked straight along it in the + direction of Kibworth Rocks. As he drew toward them it was as if the spirit of the + dead man called him, seeming to say: "Come and keep me company. Our old quarrel is + over. You and I understand each other <i>now</i>. We are two of a kind, just as like + as two hogs from one litter—you the sanctimonious psalm-singer and I the + conscienceless profligate—we are brothers at last in our beastliness."</p> + <p>Dale walked with his hands clasped behind his back, thoughtfully looking at the + trees, and trying to suppress his wild imaginations. But he could not <a + id="Page_405" name="Page_405"></a>suppress them. The dead man seemed to say, "Don't + be a humbug, don't pretend. You know we are alike. Why, when you looked in the glass + the other day, you <i>saw</i> the resemblance. You saw my puffy eye-orbits and my + pendulous lip in your own face."</p> + <p>Dale shrugged his shoulders, held his head high, and grunted fiercely. But when he + was abreast of the rocks, this imagined voice seemed to speak to him again.</p> + <p>"You and I have drawn so near together that there's only one difference + now—that you are alive and I am dead. But even that difference will be gone + soon."</p> + <p>And Dale, walking on rather slower than before, made an odd gesture of his left + hand, a wave of hand and arm together, as of a dignified well-to-do citizen waving + off some impudent mendicant: seeming to say, "Be damned to you. Just you lie quiet + where I put you, and don't worry. I decline to have anything to do with you, or to + allow the slightest communication between us. I simply don't recognize you—nor + will I ever admit again that I see the faintest resemblance. If I wished, I could + explain why. Only I shan't condescend to do so—certainly not to + <i>you</i>."</p> + <p>Out of the big ride he went into one of the narrower cuts, and followed it until + he came to the woodside boundary of the Barradine Orphanage. This was where Mavis had + stood looking at it years ago, when the building was in course of construction. The + wooden fence that she had thought so stiff and ugly then was all weak and old, green + and moss-covered, completely broken down in many places. Inside, the privet hedge had + grown broad and thick; and this <a id="Page_406" name="Page_406"></a>barrier, + although any one could easily thrust himself through it, was evidently considered + sufficient, since no trouble had been taken to repair the outer fence. Indeed, what + protective barriers could be needed for such an enclosure? It contained no money or + other kind of treasure; and who, however base, would attack or in any way threaten a + lot of children?</p> + <p>Dale looked at the top of the belfry tower and the roof of the central block, and + thought of it as a temple of youth, a sacred place dedicated to the worship of tender + and innocent life. He moved through the trees and found a point where, on higher + ground, he could look across into the garden and see a part of the terrace and + verandas. None of the girls was visible. They had been gathered into those hospitable + walls for the night.</p> + <p>Presently he thought he heard them singing. Yes, that was an evening hymn. The + girls were thanking God for the long daylight of a summer's day, before they lay down + to rest, to sleep, to forget they were alive till God's sun rose again.</p> + <p>And Dale began once more to think of God. To-night he would not fly from the sound + of the girls' voices. All that reluctance and distaste was over and done with; it + belonged to the time when he was still struggling against the inevitable drift of his + inclinations. Now he had passed to a state of mind that nothing external could really + affect.</p> + <p>"The finger of God"—Yes, those were unforgivable words. He stretched himself + at full length upon the ground, leaned his head on his elbow, and lay musing.</p> + <p>He taxed his imagination in order to give himself a <a id="Page_407" + name="Page_407"></a>concept of what such a tremendous figure of speech should in + truth convey. One said finger, of course, because one wished to imply that no effort + was used, scarcely any of the divine force drawn upon—just as one says of a + man, he did so-and-so with a turn of the wrist, that is, quite easily, without + putting his back into it. Yes, he thought, that's about right. Then to make up + something for an instance, just to spread the idea as big as it ought properly to be, + one might say that once upon a time God gave our sun and all the other suns the + slightest push with His finger, <i>and they haven't done moving yet</i>.</p> + <p>And it seemed to him that, look where one pleased, one could see the real work of + the finger of God. It had been giving him, William Dale, faint imperceptible pushes + for fifteen years, and see now at the end where it had pushed him. First it had + pushed him upward, higher and higher, to a position of conspicuous pride, to the + topmost summit of a fair mountain, where he could look round and say, "I have all + that I pined for. This is the world's castle, and I am the king of the castle." Then + it had begun to push him down the other side of this mountain, the dark side, the + side that was always in shadow, downward and still downward to the miasmic unhealthy + plain where all was rankness, downward to the level of corruption and death. Yes, it + had brought him, the bold, proud law-maker, down and down till he stood no higher + than the victim of his law.</p> + <p>He remembered the common phrase—so often employed by himself—comparing + mice with men. Am I a man or a mouse? And it seemed that no cat had ever played with + a mouse as the Infinite Ruling Power of <a id="Page_408" name="Page_408"></a>the + universe had been playing with the man William Dale. He had been allowed to break + loose, to frisk and jump, to fancy he was free to run right round the earth if he + wished to do so; and all the while he had truly been a prisoner, the helpless prey of + his captor, held close to the place of ultimate doom.</p> + <p>If he had been promptly convicted and hanged, it would have been no punishment at + all compared with what was happening now. The long delay was the essential part of + the punishment, and of the lesson. The fact that no one suspected his crime had given + him the period of agonized suspense, with all those dream-torments, the fear of death + which was worse than death itself.</p> + <p>He thought of all the things that had appeared to be blind chances but were really + stern decrees. The true function of the money that came from the dead man's hand was + to keep him always on the rack of memory. And with the aid of the money he had been + made to move a little nearer to the site of his crime. He had been made to buy Bates' + business so that he might dwell right up against Hadleigh Wood, see it every day from + his windows, hear it whispering to him every night when he was not asleep and + dreaming of it. But for that apparently lucky chance of Mr. Bates' retirement, he + would have gone to some splendid new country, and severing ties of locality, would + have shattered associations of ideas, and been <i>able to forget</i>. He had made up + his mind to go to one of the Australian colonies and make a fresh start there. But + that didn't match with God's intentions by any manner of means.</p> + <p>His thoughts returned to Norah, and here again—here <a id="Page_409" + name="Page_409"></a>more plainly than anywhere else—he saw the work of God. It + was wonderful and awe-inspiring how God had selected the instrument that should + destroy him. He felt that he could have resisted the charms of any other girl in the + world except this one. In mysterious ways Norah's fascination was potent over him, + while it might have been quite feeble in its effects with regard to other men. But + for Dale she represented the solid embodiment of imagined seductiveness, allurement, + supreme feminine charm; that flicker of wild blood in her was to him an essential + attraction, and it linked itself inexplicably with the amorous reveries of far-off + days when, young and free and wild himself, he loved the woodland glades instead of + hating them.</p> + <p>The selected instrument—Yes, she was the one girl on earth who could have + been safely employed to achieve God's double purpose of overwhelming him with base + passion and bringing his lesson home to him simultaneously. No other girl that ever + was born could have aroused such desire in him, and yet have slipped unscathed out of + his arms at the very moment when the consummation of his sin seemed unavoidable. Any + other girl must herself have been sacrificed in destroying him; only the child who + had frightened him in the wood could instantaneously, by a few unconsidered words, + have taken all the fire out of him and changed his heart to a lump of ice. That was a + stroke of the Master: most Godlike in its care for the innocent and its confusion of + the guilty.</p> + <p>He remembered how grievously he had dreaded this child—the little + black-haired elf that had seen him hiding. It had made him shiver to think of + her—the <a id="Page_410" name="Page_410"></a>small woodland demon, the devil's + spy whose lisping treble might be distinct and loud enough to utter his death + sentence. A thousand times he had wondered about her—thinking: "She is growing + up. She belongs here;" looking in the faces of cottagers' children and asking + himself: "Are you she? Or you? Or you?" Then he had left off thinking about her.</p> + <p>She had come into his life again, into his very home, and he had never once asked + himself: "Is Norah she?" No, because God would not allow him to do so; it had suited + God's purpose to paralyze the outlet of all natural thought in that direction. So she + grew tall and strong under his eyes—the dreaded imp of the wood eating his + food, squatting at his own fireside; changing into the imagined nymph of the wood + that he had seen only in dreams; becoming the very spirit of the wood—yes, the + wood's avenging spirit.</p> + <p>He moved from his recumbent position, sat up, and drew out Norah's letter from the + breast pocket of his jacket. He read her letter again, and his sadness and despair + deepened. There was no revolt now; he felt nothing but black misery. He thought: "I + used to fear that she would be the means of my death, and now death is coming from + her. This letter is my death-warrant."</p> + <p>There was no other way out of his troubles. Life had become unendurable; he could + not go on with it. And this thought became now a fixed determination. He must copy + the example of other and better men; he must do for himself, as old Bates and many + others had done for themselves when they found their lives too hard for them.</p> + <p>If he didn't—oh, the whole thing was hopeless.<a id="Page_411" + name="Page_411"></a> Suppose that he rebelled against this cruel necessity. No, he + saw too plainly the torment that would lie before him—disgrace, grief of wife + and children, soon all the world wishing him dead. And no joy. The girl would be + taken from him. The world—or God—would never allow him to hide and be + happy with her.</p> + <p>Suppose he were to carry her off to the Colonies, and attempt to begin the new + life that he had planned fifteen years ago. Impossible—he was too old; nearly + all his strength had gone from him; the mere idea of fighting his way uphill again + filled him with a sick fatigue. And the girl, when she saw him failing, physically + and mentally, would desert him. <i>Her</i> love could not last—it was too + unnatural; and when, contrasting him with other men, she saw that he was feeble, + exhausted, utterly worn out, she would shake off the bondage of his companionship. + No, there was no possible hope for the future of such a union.</p> + <p>He thought: "Other men at fifty are often hale and hearty, chock-full of vigor. + But that's not my case." He felt that, though his frame remained stout enough, he had + exhausted his whole supply of nerve-force; and this was due not to length of years, + but to the pace at which he had lived them. He thought: "That is what has whacked me + out—the rate I've gone. If I'd been some rich swell treating himself to a harem + of women, horse-racing, gambling at cards; or if I'd been one of these City gentlemen + floating companies, speculating on the Stock Exchange, and so on; or if I'd been a + Parliament man spouting all night, going round at elections all day, people would + have said: 'Oh, what a mighty pity he doesn't give himself a proper <a id="Page_412" + name="Page_412"></a>chance, but lives too fast.' Yet those men would all be reposing + of themselves compared with <i>me</i>. It stands to reason. It could not be + otherwise. And for why? Because a <i>murderer</i> lives other men's years in one of + his minutes—and the wear and tear on him is more than the Derby Race-Course, + the Houses of Parliament, and the Stock Exchange all rolled into one crowd would ever + feel if they went on exciting themselves from now to the Day of Judgment."</p> + <p>And again he felt self-pity, but of another kind than that which had stirred him + an hour ago. Now it was clear-sighted, analytical, almost free from weakness. He + thought: "It is a bit rough—it is rather hard, rather cruel on me, all said and + done. For I know that I might have bin a good man. The good lay in me—it only + wanted drawing out." He remembered the elevating effect of his love for Mavis, how + through all the time of his belief in her purity he had tried to purify himself, to + purge away all the grossness and sensualness that, as he vainly fancied, made him + unworthy to be the mate of so immaculate a creature; but he was not allowed to + continue the purifying process; her horrible revelation ended it—knocked the + sense out of it, made it preposterously absurd. "If Mavis had been in the beginning + what she has come to be at last, she would have kept me on the highroad to Heaven." + But all the chances had gone against him. "My father failed me, my mother failed me, + my wife failed me."</p> + <p>"The worst faults I had in my prime were conceit and uppishness, but they only + came from my ignorance. They'd have been wiped out of me at the start, if I'd had the + true advantages of education; regular <a id="Page_413" name="Page_413"></a>school + training, such as gentlemen's sons enjoy, would have made all the difference. It's + all very well to talk about educating yourself and rising in the world at the same + time, but it can't be done. There's a season for everything, and the best part of + education must be over before you begin to fight for a position. Otherwise the + handicap is too heavy."</p> + <p>His pity for himself became more poignant; yet still there was nothing weakening + in it, at least nothing that tended to alter his determination. "No," he thought, + "take me all round, I couldn't originally have bin meant to turn out a wrong un. I've + never bin mean or sneaking or envious in my dealings with other people. I've never + spared myself to give a helping hand to those who treated me decently. And no one + will ever guess the kindly sentiments I entertained for many other men, or the + pleasure I derived the few times I could feel: 'This chap is one I respect, and he + seems to like me.' I wanted to be liked, but the gift o' making myself liked was + denied me. Yet, except for being cast down into sin, I should have got over + <i>that</i> difficulty. I was on the right road there too. By enlarging my mind I'd + become more sympathetic. Though always a shy man really and truly, I was learning to + smother the false effects of my shyness."</p> + <p>Thinking thus of his mind, and his long-continued efforts to improve its powers, + he felt: "To go and extinguish all this is an awful thing to have to do."</p> + <p>Still his determination was not altered. The mystery of that great pageant, the + mental life of William Dale, could not be permitted to unfold itself any further. It + must cease with a snap and a jerk, much as <a id="Page_414" name="Page_414"></a>when + the electric current becomes too strong for a small incandescent lamp and the bulb + bursts, the filaments fuse, and all that the lamp was showing disappears in + darkness.</p> + <p>Yes, darkness without a glimmer of hope.</p> + <p>The finger of God—one can't get away from it. If it pushes you toward the + light, then rejoice exceedingly and with a loud voice; if it pushes you into the + dark, then swallow your tongue and go silently. It seemed to Dale that he + comprehended the whole scope and purport of his doom, and that God's tremendous logic + made the justice of his doom unanswerable. He understood that the law which he had + himself set up was to be binding now. He must execute himself, as he had executed + Everard Barradine. It is for this, the hour of hopelessness and despair, that God has + been waiting. Now it is God's good time. God has slowly taught him his worthlessness + and infamy, so that he may die despairing.<a id="Page_415" name="Page_415"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXXIII" name="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII</h2> + <p>"Mavis," he said, after supper that evening "I've noticed a branch at the top of + the walnut tree that doesn't look to me too safe. I must lop that tree first chance I + get—or we shall have an accident."</p> + <p>Next morning he was up and dressed before the sun rose, and he came down-stairs + very softly, carrying his boots in his hands, and pausing now and then to listen. The + house was quite silent, with no one stirring yet except himself. He sat on the lowest + step of the stairs and put on his boots, listened again, then quietly let himself out + of the front door.</p> + <p>On the threshold the cool morning air rushed into his lungs, expanding them + widely, making him draw deep breaths merely for the pleasure of tasting its freshness + and sweetness. The light was still gray and dim, and the buildings round the yard + were vague and shadowy. In the garden there was a delicious perfume of + roses—those most beautiful of all flowers pouring out their fragrant charms, + although their glory of color had not yet burst forth from the shadows of night.</p> + <p>Moving like a shadow himself, he hurried noiselessly to his work. One of the + shorter ladders would be long enough to reach the lower branches, and he could climb + from them as high as he wished. He fetched the ladder from the yard, fixed it in + position against <a id="Page_416" name="Page_416"></a>the walnut tree, and then went + back to the yard for the other things he wanted.</p> + <p>In the loft where the tools were kept he remained much longer than he had + intended. At first there was scarcely any light at all up here, and, having stupidly + forgotten to bring a box of matches, he had to grope about fumblingly; but gradually + the light improved. He found a saw, and, attaching it to a light cord, slung it round + his neck in the approved woodman fashion. The saw would be carried merely for the + sake of appearances. Then he hunted for the particular rope that he required for his + purposes, and could not find it. He had seen it two days ago, neatly rolled, in the + corner with other tackle; but now the corner was all untidy, a confused mass of + cordage, and the good new strong rope was concealing itself beneath weak old rubbish. + He knew that he could trust this rope, because it was the exact fellow of the one on + the pulleys—and with the pulley rope they let down loads that were a good deal + heavier than any man.</p> + <p>Then all at once a ray of light shot through a chink in the boarded wall, and came + like a straight rainbow across the dusty gray floor and into the corner where he + stood stooping. His rope was there right enough, showing itself conspicuously, + seeming to rise on its coils like a snake and slip its sinuous neck into his hands, + so that he had picked it up and taken it from the corner before he knew what he was + doing.</p> + <p>It was necessary to arrange things with care, but he was a strangely long time in + making his running noose and satisfying himself that it could not possibly give way + or anyhow fail. He was also slow in making <a id="Page_417" name="Page_417"></a>a + stop-knot at the part of the rope that he proposed to attach to the tree, and he felt + an extraordinary obtuseness of intelligence while making the calculations that he had + so many times thought out during the night. "Yes," he said to himself, "twice the + length of my arms. That's quite right. Six feet is twice the length of my + arms—but I'll try it again. Yes—quite all right. Must be. That's a six + foot drop. That's what I decided—a six foot drop. The rope'll stand that. But + it mightn't stand more. An' less than six feet mightn't be enough either. Yes, that's + right."</p> + <p>Then he thought: "I am wasting time." He was conscious of an imperative necessity + for speed and a great danger in acting too hurriedly; and a queer idea came to him + that while in this loft he had been having a series of cataleptic fits—sudden + blanknesses, total arrests of volition if not of consciousness, during which he had + stood still, listening or staring, but not doing anything to the rope.</p> + <p>He came down from the loft, and in the doorway below a flood of bright sunlight + dazzled him. The sun had risen, Some of Mavis' pigeons were cooing gently on the + granary roof, a horse in the stables began to whinny, and two of the men came + whistling round the outer barn into the yard.</p> + <p>"Good mornin', sir."</p> + <p>"Good morning."</p> + <p>"Another nice day we are goin' to 'aarve, sir."</p> + <p>"Yes, looks like it."</p> + <p>Seeing his rope and saw, the men asked if there was a job on hand in which they + were to help; but he told them "No." He was only going to take down a <a + id="Page_418" name="Page_418"></a>small branch out of the walnut tree, and he could + do it without any assistance.</p> + <p>Then the men went into the stables, and Dale passed through the kitchen garden to + the back of the house. Beneath the walnut tree he slung the coiled rope over one + shoulder and under the other arm; and then he slowly ascended the ladder, saying to + himself: "I am on the steps of my scaffold. The scaffold steps. I am going up the + scaffold steps." From the top of the ladder he got upon a branch, and, putting his + arms about the stem, began to climb. "Yes," he said to himself, "my gallows tree. I + am going up the gallows tree. This is my gallows tree;" and he climbed nimbly and + firmly.</p> + <p>The green leaves were all round him, a green tent with pretty loopholes through + which he could take peeps at the home that was on the point of vanishing forever from + his eyes. He paused on a level with the broad eaves, and looked through between + branches at a window on the first floor landing. The casements stood wide open; the + square of glass glittered; the muslin curtains just stirred, trembled whitely. Far + down below his feet were the flagged pathway, the wooden bench, and three shining + milk-pans.</p> + <p>He climbed higher; and it seemed to him that from the moment he left the ground + till now he had been like a drowsy man shaking off his sloth, like a drugged man + recovering consciousness, like a man who was supposed to be dead rapidly coming to + life again. With every inch added to the height from the ground, he felt stronger, + more active, fuller of nervous and muscular energy. His fingers gripped each branch + as firmly as if they had been iron clamps; his feet, encumbered <a id="Page_419" + name="Page_419"></a>by the stout boots, seemed to catch hold and cling to the + slightest irregularities of the smooth bark as skilfully and tenaciously as if they + had been the prehensile paws of a cat; not a touch of vertigo troubled him; he felt + as fearless and splendidly alive as when he climbed tall trees for buzzards' eggs + thirty-three years ago.</p> + <p>Soon he had climbed so high that he knew it would not be safe to climb higher. He + must stop here. At this point the main stem was still thick enough to take the shock + that in a minute he would give it. Above this point it might not stand the strain. + Besides, this was high enough for appearances. He was within reach of the branch that + had some decayed wood at the top of it. Sitting astride a branch close to the stem, + he adjusted and fixed his rope, binding it round and round the stem and over and + under the branch, reefing it, making it taut and trim so that no strain could loosen + it; and all the while he was conscious of the power in his arms and hands, the volume + of air in his lungs, the flow of blood in his veins, the nervous force bracing and + hardening his muscles. The rope was fast now. Now he assured himself that its free + length—the part from the tree to the noose—was absolutely correct as to + its amount. Nothing remained to do, nothing but to stand upon the branch, fix the + noose round his neck, and step off into the air.</p> + <p>Lightly and easily he changed his position, stood upon the branch, holding the + stem with his left hand, the noose with his right; and the life in him pulsed and + throbbed with furious strength. It tingled through and through him, filled him as if + he had been <a id="Page_420" name="Page_420"></a>a battery overstored with + electricity, shot out at his extremities in lightning flashes.</p> + <p>In this final position his head had emerged into a leafless space, so that he + could see in all directions; could look down at the house, at that open window, the + kitchen door, and the flagged path; could look at the barn roofs, the rick-yard, the + beehives; could look at his fields, where the grass lay drying; or could look away at + woodland, at heath, at distant hill. He paused purposely to give himself one last + look round at all he was leaving.</p> + <p>Yes, here was the world—the bitterly sweet world, smiling once more as it + wakes from sleep. Looking down at it he felt an agony of regret. How intolerably + cruel his doom. Why should he of all mortals have been made to suffer so? But God's + law—his own law. Mentally he was obeying, but physically he was in fierce + revolt. Every fiber of him, every drop of blood, every minute nerve-cell was crying + out against the execution.</p> + <p>The sunlight flowed across the fields in golden waves, the colors of the flowers + sprang out, the soft cool air was like a supremely magnificent wine that could give + old nerveless men the strength of young giants; and the very marrow of his bones + seemed to shrink and scream for mercy. "Ought to 'a' done it at night," he said to + himself. "Mr. Bates didn't wait till daylight. In the dark—that's it. At the + prisons they give you a bonnet—extinguishing cap; high walls all round you too; + and they do it at the double quick—hoicked out of your cell and pinioned in one + movement, bundled through the shed, and begun to dance before you can think. + Darkness, the sound of a bell, <a id="Page_421" name="Page_421"></a>and the + chaplain's whisper, 'Merciful Lord, receive this sinner.' And I've heard say they + stupefy 'em first, make 'em so drunk they don't know where they are while they shove + 'em into nowhere.... Very easy compared with this set-out;" and he groaned. "O God, + you've fairly put top weight on me—and no mistake."</p> + <p>But he would have done it if he had not heard his daughter's voice.</p> + <p>Rachel had come to the open window, and she uttered a frightened cry at sight of + him perched high in the tree.</p> + <p>"Oh, dads, do take care!"</p> + <p>Next moment her mother came to the window; and they stood side by side, each with + a hand to her eyes, watching him in the same attitude of anxiety.</p> + <p>"Don't speak to him," whispered Mavis; and Dale heard the whisper as clearly as if + it had been close against his ear.</p> + <p>He could not do it before them. He had been too slow about it; he could not darken + their lives with the visible horror of it. And it seemed to him that he had not + sufficiently thought of its effect upon them. The whole thing had been clumsily + planned. Just at first, when he was found hanging dead with the saw dangling from his + neck, it might have been believed that he had slipped and fallen, and hanged himself + by accident; but afterward all would have known that it was suicide. The truth would + have been betrayed by the running noose, by recollections of Mr. Bates, and by + everybody's knowledge of an ancient local custom.</p> + <p>"All right," he said. "Don't alarm yourselves, my <a id="Page_422" + name="Page_422"></a>dears. I must give this job up, Mavis. I can't quite reach where + I wanted to."</p> + <p>"Mind how you come down," said Mavis. "Do come down carefully."</p> + <p>"Yes, dads," said Rachel, "do <i>please</i> come down carefully."</p> + <p>He climbed down slowly, feeling no joy in his respite, saying to himself: "I must + think of some other way. I must finish with the hay-making, get the rick complete, + and clear up everything in the office—so's at least poor Mav'll find things all + ship-shape when she has to take over and manage without me. My hurry to get it + through was selfishness; for, after all, I've best part of three weeks to do it in. + The on'y real necessity is to have it done before Norah comes home."</p> + <p>And again he thought of the finger of God. This clumsy hurried execution had been + refused by God. He was being pushed away, so that the last glimpse of his eyes should + not see the pleasant picture of home.</p> + <p>He must do it privately, secretly, in a lonely spot; and he must spare no pains, + must plot and scheme till he contrived all the convincing details of a likely + accident. That was how he had killed Everard Barradine; and he must arrange matters + similarly for himself.<a id="Page_423" name="Page_423"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXXIV" name="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV</h2> + <p>Two or three days passed. The busy yet peaceful life of home and fields was going + on; the hay had been carried; the rick was made, and the rick-sheet covered a + handsome pile.</p> + <p>Dale worked hard, quite in his old untiring way, and seemed just his natural self; + but truly he was mentally detached from the surrounding scene. For the second time in + his life, and to a greater extent than the first time, he was subjugated and + controlled by one dominant idea. Throughout each day all things around him were + dreamlike and unsubstantial, and he performed many actions as automatically as if he + had been a somnambulist. He walked and talked or rode on the shaft of a wagon without + in the least troubling to think what he was doing, and every time his thought became + active it seemed to spring into vigor again merely to obey the prompting of the inner + voice that now governed him.</p> + <p>Thus while sitting on the wagon shaft he thought: "If I pitched myself off and let + the wheels go over me, that would be <i>likely</i>, just the accident that fools are + always making, but it wouldn't fulfil the other conditions that have been laid on me. + Also it might fail. I might only mess myself up, and not quite kill myself."</p> + <p>Half an hour afterward, as he walked beside the empty wagon back to his hay + fields, he was still hammering away at the dominant idea.<a id="Page_424" + name="Page_424"></a></p> + <p>A gun and a hedge—no accident can be more common than that. Say you want to + shoot some rats that have been showing their ugly whiskers in the field ditches; take + your gun, well charged, and blow your brains out among the brambles of an untrimmed + hedge.</p> + <p>Or these motor-cars! He thought of the way they came racing down the highroad from + Old Manninglea. How would it be to wait for one of these buzzing, crashing, stinking + road monsters over there on the edge of the heath, and jump out just in front of it? + If one stooped down and took the full shock on one's forehead, it would mean a mess + that there would be no patching together again. But one could not attempt that in + daylight, because the driver would jam the breaks on, swerve round one, do anything + desperate rather than run into one. And if he could not avoid one, he would tell + everybody at the inquest that it was a plain suicide and nothing else. There would be + passengers in the car too, who would also swear to its being a suicide. And at night + these traveling cars have such powerful head-lamps that the roadway is lighted up for + a hundred yards in front of them. Even at night, they would recognize it as + suicide.</p> + <p>Toward dusk every evening external things became more real, and his hold on life + tightening, he suffered more acutely in each hour that passed. Night after night he + went back to Hadleigh Wood. It was the wood of despair, the focal point of all his + pain, and he was drawn to it irresistibly through the gathering darkness.</p> + <p>On the second evening he found it difficult to get <a id="Page_425" + name="Page_425"></a>away. Mavis stopped him, asked him some domestic question, and + then began to talk about a new suit of clothes for their boy. He was alive again now, + emerged from his somnambulistic state, and he gave full attention to this matter of + Billy's new serge suit; nevertheless, all at once she apologized for troubling him, + and inquired if he had anything on his mind.</p> + <p>"No, Mav, of course not."</p> + <p>"Are you sure, Will? Do tell me if you've something worrying you."</p> + <p>"What should I have to worry me?" and he put his arm round her ample waist, and + gave her an affectionate squeeze.</p> + <p>"The hay's all right, isn't it?"</p> + <p>"Yes, everything is all right.... You can't do better than you've suggested about + Billy. Take him with you to Manninglea—and, look here, if Mr. Jones can't fit + him properly out of stock, let him make the suit to measure. Don't consider the extra + expense. We can afford it."</p> + <p>"Thank you, Will." Mavis was delighted. "You've told me to do the very thing I + wanted to do; but of course I'd never have done it without your authority. I've been + longing to see the little chap in clothes regularly cut out and finished for him, and + nobody else."</p> + <p>Going through the yard Dale was stopped by his men. The foreman wanted directions + for to-morrow's work; the carter asked for three new tires; the stableman regretted + to be compelled to report that one of the horses had broken his manger rack.</p> + <p>As he finally came out on the road, Dale was thinking, "Soon now I shall be gone, + but everything here <a id="Page_426" name="Page_426"></a>will be just the same. They + will all of them find that they can do very well without me: the men, the children, + Mavis—yes, even Norah. Mavis will be the one who will grieve for me. Norah will + suffer most, but it will be only for a little while. She'll take another + sweetheart—a real sweetheart this time, and she'll marry, and give birth to + babies; and it will be to her as if I had died a hundred years ago, as if I had never + lived at all, as if I'd been somebody she'd read of in a story-book, or somebody + she'd dreamed about in one of those silly nasty sort of dreams which young girls + can't help having, but are ashamed to remember and always try to forget."</p> + <p>Mavis, however, would wish to remember him, and be sorry when she found his image + fading. She would struggle to keep it bright and fresh. She would grieve long and + sincerely—and then she would be quite happy. She wouldn't marry again; she + wouldn't do anything foolish. "No," he thought, "she'll just devote herself to the + bairns, working for them late and early, and managing the business as well as I have + managed it myself. She'll be cheated a bit here and there, as a woman always + is—but, all said and done, she'll do very well without me. Customers will + support her—the word will go round. 'Don't let's turn our backs on the widow of + that poor fellow Dale.'"</p> + <p>And he thought, with a bitterness of heart that almost made him sick, that perhaps + after his death many people might speak well of him; that certainly in the little + world of Vine-Pits Farm and the Cross Road cottages there would be a natural + inclination to exaggerate his few good qualities and be gentle to his <a + id="Page_427" name="Page_427"></a>innumerable faults; so that a sort of legend of + virtue would weave itself about his memory, making him a humble, insignificant, but + local saint—to be placed at a respectful distance and yet not too far from the + shrine of that great and illustrious saint the late Mr. Barradine. "Of course," + people might say, "one was a grand gentleman, and the other only a common fellow who + had raised himself a bit by hard work; but both of 'em were good kind men, and both + no doubt have met with the reward of their goodness up there in Heaven."</p> + <p>As soon as he got into the wood he hurried as rapidly as he could toward Kibworth + Rocks; and then when he got near them he walked slowly up and down the ride, with his + head bowed and his hands clasped behind his back. And each evening the same thing + happened. Visions of Norah assailed him; he passed again through the tortures of + yearning desire that he had felt when he first read her letter; and he said to + himself, "If proof was wanted, here's the proof. This would show me, if I didn't know + already, that I must do it."</p> + <p>In imagination he saw her sitting alone on a balk of timber by the sea. Her hands + lay loose in her lap; her neck was bent; her whole attitude indicated dejection, + loneliness, sadness. She was thinking about him. She was thinking, "How cruel of him + not to answer my sad little letter. He can't be so busy but what he could have found + time to send me a few lines with his own hand. Just half a sheet of paper would have + been enough—with one or two ink crosses at the end, to show me he prized the + kisses that I put in my letter to him. It was brutal, yes, and cowardly, <a + id="Page_428" name="Page_428"></a>to make Mrs. Dale write instead. If Mrs. Dale + hadn't written telling me he'd received my letter, I couldn't have found it in my + heart to believe that he'd treat me so abominably cruel."</p> + <p>And, groaning, he spoke to this mental picture that he had evoked for his renewed + torment. "Norah, my sweet one, I can't help myself. Commands have been laid upon me. + I'm no longer free to do what I please. Norah, don't look away from me. Turn to your + boy—let him see your dear eyes, though the sight of them makes him bleed." And + the thought-picture obeyed him. He saw the entrancing oval of the face instead of its + delicate profile, looked into the profound beauty of her eyes, felt that her warm red + lips were close in front of him, and that he would go raving mad if they did not come + closer still and let him kiss them.</p> + <p>After such spasms of burning pain he was temporarily exhausted; he felt completely + emptied of emotional power, as if his nerves had delivered so fierce a discharge that + they must cease from working until time and repose had allowed them to replenish + themselves. Then, so long as this state lasted, his love for the girl was deprived of + all material for passion; it was as though the highest thinking part of him had been + cut off from the sensational mass, and only the top of his head served to keep alive + his memory of the girl.</p> + <p>Then he thought of her with a fantastic longing that seemed to him beautiful, + immaterial, and innocent. He said to himself, "I don't shirk my punishment. I'm going + to take it. But fair's fair—There's no occasion to make myself out worse than I + really am. Norah has taken hold of me a great deal more by my <a id="Page_429" + name="Page_429"></a>int'lect than by the low animal kind of feelings that are the + mark of the abject sinner. I can't live without her; but if I might live with her, I + feel I could be content to let it all remain quite innocent between us. Yes, I feel I + could be happy with her just as a companion, provided she and I were alone together, + far away from everybody else—yes, I'd take my happiness on those terms, that + she was never to be anything else to me but just that."</p> + <p>But soon those treacherous nerves restored themselves, the upper and lower parts + of him were all one again, and the diffuse yet darting pain returned. Anger came too. + It seemed that the dead man mocked him, went on softly laughing at him.</p> + <p>"What a humbug you are"—he gave the dead man words—"what a colossal + humbug. You and your nice Sunday go-to-meeting thoughts. It's so easy, isn't it? to + dress up one's rottenness in pretty sentimental twaddle. But you don't deceive + anybody. You don't even deceive yourself, not for three minutes at a stretch. You + know that underneath all your humbugging pretenses the black sin is unchanged. You + are no better and no worse than I was. You are exactly the same as me."</p> + <p>And Dale, breaking his own rule, or forgetting in his anger that he had refused to + discuss things with this imaginary voice, answered wrathfully.</p> + <p>"This girl cares for me—that's the difference between us. She offers me + love. And that's something you never had."</p> + <p>"How do you know?" said the dead man. "Your Mavis was one of many. And, besides, + don't be so sure that Mavis wasn't fond of me. She never ran <a id="Page_430" + name="Page_430"></a>away from me. She came when I whistled for her."</p> + <p>Dale brandished his arms wildly, turned round, and stared at the pine-trees and + the bracken. It seemed to him that some imperishable essence of the man was really + here, mingling with the shadows, floating in the dusky air; and that possibly over + there among the rocks, if one went to look for it, one might see a simulacrum of the + man's bodily shape—perhaps only a gray shadowy outlined form, the odious + stranger of dreams, but more vague than in the dreams, stretched on his back, holding + up his blood-stained boots, and grinning all over his battered face.</p> + <p>"Yes, perhaps so," said the voice. "But I notice that you don't come in to look + for me. You keep to the ride still. Now you've got so very close to me, why do you + turn shy of the last little bit? Is it that you wish me to save you trouble by + showing myself?"</p> + <p>And Dale made gestures of semi-insane fury, and spoke in a loud, hoarse voice.</p> + <p>"Yes, show yourself if you want to. You 'aarve my leave. Come out an' stan' here + before me. I'm not afraid of you—now or hereafter."</p> + <p>"Hereafter—hereafter—hereafter." As Dale moved away slowly, the dead + man seemed to mock him, to laugh at him derisively. "Hereafter—yes, that's a + big word. Yes, go and talk that out with God."</p> + <p>He went up one of the narrow tracks that led toward the dead man's Orphanage, + intending to look at it and perhaps hear again the evening hymn; but before he got to + those broken fences he turned and began to wander aimlessly through the trees. All + his mind was now full of the awful thought of God, and <a id="Page_431" + name="Page_431"></a>of the eternal punishment to which he believed God had condemned + him.</p> + <p>Christ had tried to save him; but the other two persons of the Holy Blessed and + Glorious Trinity had interposed, had prevented Christ from holding any further + communication with him, and together had issued the fearful decree. That was it. + Christ had not deserted him; he had lost the right ever to approach Christ again. + That accounted for everything—the unutterable desolation, the dark despair, the + overwhelming necessity of death without one ray of hope.</p> + <p>All that lovely and comforting faith in the endless loving mercy of God the Son, + the Redeemer of mankind, the Friend and sometime Comrade of man, was to prove useless + to him; the gentle creed of the Baptists could not be applied to so vile a case as + his; he was at handygrips with the dread Jehovah, the mighty Judge, the offended King + of creation.</p> + <p>Three Persons and one God—yes, but such different Persons; and thinking of + the triple mystery, he imagined that two of its component parts had probably seen + through him from the very beginning of his religious fervor. Only the other part, the + part that he wished was the whole, had believed in him and gone on believing in him + until it was forbidden to do so any more.</p> + <p>The awe and reverence that he felt while he thought in this manner made him bow + his head and keep his eyes humbly downcast, as one not daring to look upward to the + heavenly throne; yet, profound and sincere as was his reverential awe, he + unhesitatingly translated all the sublime mystery of the skies into <a id="Page_432" + name="Page_432"></a>the simple terms that alone possess plain meaning to man's + limited intelligence. Nothing in the naturally courageous bent of his mind prevented + him; everything in his experiences of the Baptists, with their constant habit of + homely illustration, encouraged him to do so.</p> + <p>He imagined the First and the Third Persons of the Trinity seated royally but + vaguely amid the clouds, all about them a splendor of light like that of sunset or + dawn, melodious music faintly perceptible, exquisitely beautiful forms of angels + rising on white wings, hovering obediently, fading obediently—but they + themselves, the Lords of Life and of Death, the Masters of Time and Space, were two + tangible concrete old men—two venerable wise old men—the ultimate + strained extended conception of two powerful, honored, high-placed old men. And they + talked as men would talk—not in the human vocabulary, but conveying to each + other, <i>somehow</i>, human ideas—about the man William Dale.</p> + <p>It was at the period of his conversion or repentance or baptism, and they were + speaking to each other of Their Beloved Son and His newest recruit. And God the + Father seemed to say that He would hope for the best—although, as they Both + knew, Christ was too easily imposed on. And God the Holy Ghost pursed His lips, and + shook His head, and said, "Take it from Me, this fellow Dale will turn out + badly"—seeming to add or explain that it was a mere pretense and no true + repentance. "He has <i>never</i> repented of his crime. But of course he is anxious + about his future, and would try any trick to escape the punishment he has richly + deserved."<a id="Page_433" name="Page_433"></a></p> + <p>All this was terribly real to him, and he imagined the dread scene more strongly + every moment. Those Two went on debating his case—becoming now so solidly + presented to his imagination that he could see Them, the purple color of Their robes, + the halo of light as in a painted window, Their forms, Their faces. God the Father + was not unlike old Mr. Bates, except that He had a long beard and that there mingled + with the candid dignity of His expression a consciousness of sovereign power. The + Holy Ghost was clean-shaven, very thin, with sharp clearly-cut features as of + somebody who does not enjoy robust health, and with a slight but painful suggestion + of a Roman Catholic priest who habitually goes deep into private secrets and is never + really satisfied until he has extracted the fullest possible confessions. He was the + One that Dale had never so much cared about—the <i>difficult</i> member of the + firm, the sleeping partner who never really slept, who professed to keep himself in + the background, but who quietly asserted himself in important moments and proved + infinitely the hardest of the Three.</p> + <p>And so it had been in this case. Since time is nothing, and then and now are all + one, Dale imagined that while his Judges talked of him in Heaven his whole earthly + career had flashed onward to its end; so that he and all that concerned him was + disposed of at one continuous sitting. Thus, without a pause, the Holy Ghost was + already saying, "You see I was right in my first view of the affair. Dale is + disgracing himself again. Now You and I must not allow any further communication + between Our dear Son and such an impostor."<a id="Page_434" name="Page_434"></a></p> + <p>Then Christ pleaded for him, prayed for mercy. Christ, although invisible, was + certainly there, imploring mercy for the man he had trusted and loved; and, in spite + of the fact that He remained unseen, His mere presence glorified and magnified the + heavenly scene. The light grew softer and yet more supremely radiant; hosts of angels + soared and hovered in vast spaces between the rolling clouds; a vibrating echo of the + divine pity swept like music far and near.</p> + <p>But the Holy Ghost brought forward a large strongly-bound volume, opened it, and + said very quietly, "Let Me show You what We have against him in the book." And at + sight of the book Dale shivered and grew cold to the core of his spine. He knew + perfectly well what was entered in the book, and he thought, "It stands to reason + They could never get over <i>that</i>. I might have known all along <i>that</i> would + do for me, an' there was no getting round it."</p> + <p>"This is his record," the voice of the implacable Judge continued; "not what I + have attributed to him as secret thought, but words taken down as spoken by his own + mouth. Having committed his crime, he had the calm audacity—<i>to lay the blame + on US</i>.... Yes, here is the entry. This is the statement verbatim: 'It is the + finger of God'."</p> + <p>And Christ seemed to plead in an agony of grief still strove to lighten the + punishment of the pitiful worm that he had deigned to call His brother man. "Oh, he + didn't mean it."</p> + <p>"He <i>said</i> it," replied the Holy Ghost, dryly.</p> + <p>"But he didn't think what he was saying—he has been sorry for it ever + since."</p> + <p>"Yet, frankly," said the Holy Ghost, "I can not see <a id="Page_435" + name="Page_435"></a>that he has made a single effort to put things straight, by + removing the blame to the proper quarter—that is, to himself."</p> + <p>Nevertheless, Christ still pleaded, could not be silenced, must go on struggling + to save this one man—because He was the Savior of all men, because He was + Christ. He was there, certainly, infallibly, although quite invisible—He was + there, kneeling at the feet of the other Two, praying, weeping:—He was there, + filling Heaven with inconsolable woe because, although His myriad suns shone bright + as when He lighted them and His universe swung steady and true in His measureless + void, one microscopic speck of dirt only just big enough to hold immortal life was in + danger of eternal death.</p> + <p>All these imaginations were absolutely real to Dale, an approximate conception of + the truth which he could not doubt; and he thought: "Need I wonder if I have not had + the slightest glimpse of His face? It is my doom. Christ is cut off from me. So far + as human time counts, the communication was broken that afternoon when I was seeming + to see him as he rode into Jerusalem and my hankerings after Norah seemed to snap the + thread.</p> + <p>"I was judged at that moment. It was my doom—never more, here or there, to + look upon His face."<a id="Page_436" name="Page_436"></a></p> + <h2><a id="XXXV" name="XXXV"></a>XXXV</h2> + <p>It was the evening of another day; and Dale stood motionless in the ride, close to + Kibworth Rocks.</p> + <p>The twilight was fading rapidly; clouds that had crept up from the east filled the + sky, and presaged a dark and probably a stormy night. Every now and then a gust of + angry wind shook the tops of the fir trees; then the air was still and heavy again, + and then the wind came back a little fiercer than before. Dale felt sure that there + would be rain presently, and he thought: "If his ghost is really lying in there, + it'll get as wet as that first night when the showers washed away all the blood."</p> + <p>He stared and listened, but to-night he could not fancy that he heard the dead man + calling to him. He could not invent any appropriate conversation. It seemed to him + that the ugly phantom was refusing to talk, that it had become sulky, or that it was + pretending not to be there at all in order to effect a most insidious purpose. Yes, + that must be the explanation. It wanted to entice and lure him off the ride—to + make him venture right in there among the rocks, so that he might be shown the thing + that had haunted him in dreams.</p> + <p>"Very well," said Dale, "so be it. That's the idea. All right. I agree."</p> + <p>He did not, however, move for another minute or so. He was thinking hard, and + listening eagerly.<a id="Page_437" name="Page_437"></a> But he could hear no sound, + could imagine no sound, other than that made by the wind.</p> + <p>Then he moved, and, examining the ground, made his way slowly from the ride to the + rocks, thinking the while, "It's impossible to follow my exact footsteps, because + things have changed—but this was about the line I took with him."</p> + <p>Forcing himself through a tangle of holly and hawthorn, he came out into the open + space and his feet struck against stone. In front of him the rocks rose darkly + against the waning light, and he began to clamber about among them, over smooth round + surfaces, along narrow gullies, and by cruel jagged ridges, seeking to find the exact + spot where he had left the dead body. "It was about here," he said, after a time. "It + was close by here. Prob'bly down there, where the foxgloves and the blackberries have + taken root. Anyhow, that's near enough. I've come as near as I can;" and he sat down + upon the ledge just above this hollow, and looked about him, attentively, in all + directions.</p> + <p>The wind had ceased to blow; not a leaf stirred; silence reigned over the strewn + boulders. Downward, where the ground fell away to a deep chasm, everything was + indistinct; to the west, beneath banked masses of cloud, the last glow of the sunset + showed in blood-red bands, and on this side all the intervening trees were black as + ink; all about him the shadows filled every hollow, and the rocks were like shoals or + reefs above the surface of a stagnant sea.</p> + <p>The place was a wilderness, a solitude, the dead and barren landscape of + dreams—quite empty, unoccupied, a place that even ghosts would shun. He sat + thinking, <a id="Page_438" name="Page_438"></a>and listening; and soon it occurred to + him that, though all seemed so dead and so silent, this place was really full of + life. He heard the faint buzz of belated bees questing in tufts of heather or + foxglove bells, a bat flitted over his head, some small furred thing scuttled past + his feet; and in the air there were thousands of winged insects, whose tiny voices + one could hear by straining one's ears. Listening intently for such murmurs, he + thought: "Perhaps really and truly one has not any right to kill the smallest of + these gnats. All that stuff about self-protection, an' struggle for existence, is + just fiddle-de-dee in so far's God's concerned. He never meant it, an' never will + approve of it. It's just nature's hatefulness and cruelty—not permitted or + intended, an' to be put right some day."</p> + <p>It grew darker and darker, and the shadows rose all round him till he was like a + man who had climbed out of the gray sea upon the only rock that was not yet + submerged. When he got up presently and looked down at the hollow where he believed + the corpse had lain, he could no longer see it. It was gone, lost in shadow.</p> + <p>Then he knelt upon his rock, and prayed—offered up the last agonized prayer + of a despairing human soul. "O God—have mercy on me just so far's this. Don't + let me die hopeless. I've submitted myself into Your hands. I don't complain. I don't + question. I'm going to do it. But don't send me out in total darkness. Give me a + blink of light—just one blink o' light before I go."</p> + <p>Was it this that had been wanted, this that had been waited for—the true + acknowledgment, the true <a id="Page_439" name="Page_439"></a>submission, the cry for + mercy of the repentant creature who has already tasted more than the bitterness of + death?</p> + <p>He rose from his knees, and without once looking back left the rocks and came + through the thicket to the ride. It grew darker, the clouds dropped still lower, and + the wind again blew fierce and strong. He left the broad ride and sauntered along one + of the narrow tracks. He could hear the wind as it tore through slender branches high + above his head, but down here it did not touch him; and he strolled on slowly, + feeling extraordinarily calm, full of a great reverence and wonder, not noticing + external things because he wished to maintain this strange inward peace.</p> + <p>Then soon the voluminous but indefinite sensations of mental tranquillity + concentrated their soothing messages to make the comfort of one definite thought, and + Dale said to himself: "Christ has returned to me."</p> + <p>And then he saw Him—not for an instant believing that he really saw Him, + that he had passed from the order of common facts into the realm of miracles, that + the usual laws of heaven had been broken by a special material manifestation, or + anything of that sort; but that he saw Him with the beautifully clear visualization + for which he had longed and prayed. And it seemed to him that the power of his + thoughts took a splendid leap, and that he could now understand everything that + hitherto had been unintelligible and inexplicable. Very God, and very man. Yes, this + was the man—a man after his own heart—the comrade with whom one could + work shoulder to shoulder and never know fatigue—the unfailing friend <a + id="Page_440" name="Page_440"></a>whom one dared not flatter or slobber over, but the + grip of whose hand gave self-respect and the glance of whose eyes swept the evil out + of one's breast. And this was God too—the only God that men can worship without + fear; Whose power is so great that it makes one's head split to think of, and Whose + love is greater than His power.</p> + <p>And the voice of Christ seemed to speak to him, not by the channel of crudely + imagined words, but in a transcendent joy that was sent thrilling through and through + him.</p> + <p>"Then I need not despair," he said to himself. "That was the voice of Christ + telling me to hope."</p> + <p>He strolled on with bowed head, and remembered the night when he sat in Mr. + Osborn's little room, staring at the carpenter's bench, and struggling between belief + and doubt. He had said: "I want to be saved. I want the day when you can tell me I + have gained everlasting salvation." And Mr. Osborn had answered him: "The day will + come; but it will not be my voice that tells you."</p> + <p>It was dark, but he did not mind the darkness. He walked on, not knowing where he + was going, and time passed without his thinking Of the lateness of the hour. He had + forgotten his wife and his home; he had forgotten Norah; he had forgotten all his + pain.</p> + <p>Then the odd and unexpected character of an external object made an impression + sufficiently strong to rouse him from his reverie, and he thought dreamily: "What is + that? Why, yes, it is what I was asking for—a blink of light."</p> + <p>Suddenly, straight in front of him, he saw the gleam again. What could it be? Then + something <a id="Page_441" name="Page_441"></a>right ahead, in the darkness of the + trees, a bright flicker—as might be made by a man waving a lantern. There it + was again, but brighter than before, quite a long way off. And he walked on + faster.</p> + <p>Then, looking up, he saw a red glow in the sky, and he thought: "The heath is on + fire." He walked faster, saw a column of crimson smoke and a great tongue of flame + above the pine trees, and thought: "It is much nearer than the heath. It must be + right on the edge of the wood."</p> + <p>He ran now, and soon the track was brightly lighted and confused sounds grew + plain—shouting of voices, the galloping of a horse, the clamorous ringing of a + bell. The trees opened out and he was running along the high ground above those + broken fences, looking down at the Orphanage gardens, at men clustered like black + ants, at solid buildings that seemed to send forth sheets, lakes, and seas of + flame.</p> + <p>He rushed down the slope, burst through wooden barriers and leafy screens, + shouting as he came. In the glare on the upper terraces there were many + people—men, women, children; some of the men vainly endeavoring to fix and work + unused hose-pipes; others dragging away furniture, curtains, carpets that lay in + heaps near the central hall; the greatest number of them struggling with ladders, + advancing and recoiling in front of the low block at the further end of the + building.</p> + <p>"Are they all out?" shouted Dale. "Have they all been got out?"</p> + <p>Terror-stricken voices answered as he passed. "There's seven they can't get at.... + Seven have been left.... They're the little ones."<a id="Page_442" + name="Page_442"></a></p> + <p>And running in the fiery glare, he thought: "Yes, mercy has been vouchsafed me. + This is my chance."</p> + <p>All things were plain to him; there was nothing that he could not understand. This + fire must have broken out in the low block he had passed, and at first it seemed + insignificant; as a precautionary measure the girls were fetched out of that block; + the bell had been rung, and a messenger was sent galloping to summon the engine and + brigade which would not arrive for an hour; and the stupid guardians of the place had + wasted precious minutes in what they considered another precaution only, carrying + furniture from the big hall. Nothing was done at the further block, because that + appeared to be in no danger. They hadn't reckoned with the wind. The wind had sent + the fire licking up the woodwork, dancing over slates and tiles, springing at the + roof of the hall; and all at once the far block was involved. A furnace blast of + flame leaped at it, billowing waves of smoke rolled through it; and it crackled and + screamed and blazed. The bigger girls had just time to escape; but the children, + seven of the smallest, were left on the upper floor.</p> + <p>"It's Mr. Dale. Oh, Mr. Dale, 'tis pitiful. You can hear 'em squealin' up theer. + Oh, Mr. Dale, sir, what can us do?"</p> + <p>The heat was tremendous, and as the men came staggering back they pushed him away. + Then they clustered round him, each face like a fiery mask, and yelled to make + themselves heard above the noise of the wind and the flames, the clatter of failing + stone, and the cries of hysterical women.</p> + <p>He broke free from them, stood alone near the burning shell of the veranda, and + hoarsely shouted <a id="Page_443" name="Page_443"></a>from there. "Come on, ma lads. + Give me the ladder. Don't shrink or skulk. Come on. If I can stan' it—so can + you. Fetch those floor-rugs."</p> + <p>He was almost breathless, but joy seemed to give force to his laboring lungs. He + was thinking: "Mercy has been shown. I have been reserved for this. Instead of + destroying that one child, I am to save these other children."</p> + <p>He had no doubt; he knew that he would do it. Nothing could stop the man who was + doing his appointed work.</p> + <p>To all others the thing seemed impossible. He had taken off his jacket and put it + over his head, and the women became silent when they saw him climb high on the ladder + and spring blindfold through the flames. The ladder fell with half its length on fire + and then smoldered like a shattered torch. Then they saw clouds of smoke pouring + outward from a window; and the flames on the balcony lessened and grew dim, as if + choked by the smoke. Then there came a shout, and the men with the stretched rug + moved stanchly to his call.</p> + <p>He was out again on the balcony, with a child in his arms.</p> + <p>"That's one," he shouted, as he dropped her to the men below. "I b'lieve they're + all alive."</p> + <p>So he came and went, rapid and sure, carrying his burdens. "That's two.... That's + three.... That's four. They're well-nigh suffocated—but they're alive." He + crawled on the floor to find them, snatched the blankets and sheets off the beds, + wrapped them from head to foot. "That's five.... That's six. She has + fainted—but she's alive."<a id="Page_444" name="Page_444"></a></p> + <p>On the balcony the red-hot metal had burned his feet nearly to the bone, his + blistered hands were big and soft as boxing gloves, even the air in his lungs was on + fire. While he crawled and groped between the beds for the last of the children, the + floor began to bulge and sag, and fragments of the plaster ceiling rained upon his + head and back.</p> + <p>"That's seven. Fainted. Wants air.... Still alive."</p> + <p>They all shouted to him. "Don't go back, sir. There's no more. You've got 'em all + out now. Oh, sir, don't go back."</p> + <p>But he went, gasping for breath, and muttering, "May be another. P'raps there's + another. Better see."</p> + <p>He had got to the middle of the room when the floor gave way under him; and almost + at the same moment there was a crash and the whole roof fell in. He went down amid + the sudden wreck, down to a narrow couch of wood and stone, where he lay and still + could think. He was pinned with an iron beam across his chest, in darkness, with the + roar of the flames just above his head; smashed, mangled, roasting; but still full of + a joy and hope that obliterated pain. He whispered faintly: "O God the Father and God + the Holy Ghost, accept this my expiation."</p> + <p>And he whispered again.</p> + <p>"This fire has cleansed me. O Christ, take me to Thy bosom, white and spotless as + the driven snow."</p> + <p>That was his last thought. There came another crash, a rending pang, and + peace.</p> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14605 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/14605-h/images/title.jpg b/14605-h/images/title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..912a320 --- /dev/null +++ b/14605-h/images/title.jpg |
