But this time he had a grievance as well. It was
here that he took his decisions, laid his plans.
Now, Mary, IS it fair to bother me with thatkind of
thing, when Ive so much else to think of? Richard, of course, would have snorted
with disapproval. Ruefullyhe turned his back on the sea at St. Thesmallest jerk of
the reins and its all up. In the adjoining dressing-room, the door of which stood
ajar, Cuffy satup in his crib and listened. The whole day long he lay andwailed,
till it nearly broke your heart to hear it.
Nowthat he was in the thick of things, it went
beyond him to get this debtout of his mind.
When the plain truth was, he would not turn a hair
if henever saw one of them again.
He sped from firm to firm; none would touch thejob
under a couple of thousand. For peace sake,in the first place; to avoid the bother
of explanation andrecrimination.
Thepapering of them had had to be indefinitely
postponed. But trulyhe was in no trim for company, either at home or abroad. Why,
half thehouses in Melbourne were just as bare, and nobody thought the worse ofthem.
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Then,pleasure at getting so fine a house might help to reconcile her to
hisscheme.
The latch did not hold; Marystepped out to secure
it.
In the beginning, a thousand was the utmost hefelt
justified in laying down.
It might not be the wisest or thebest way; but it
was the only one he felt equal to.
And picking up thebasket he tossed it and its
contents into the sea.
And now her words came flying, heraitches
scattering to the winds. Andthen look how he beats the air with his little fists.
Now, Mary, IS it fair to bother me with thatkind of thing, when Ive so much else to
think of?
Here, there was no earthly chance of meeting any
one he knew.
It was at this crisis that he felt most thankful
Mary was not with him.
Why should my wishes alone be disregarded? Didnt he
know that everybody always said small for his age?
More than oncehe had been obliged to tramp the
whole way home again, for a forgottenarticle. Be sure to check thecopyright laws for
your country before downloading or redistributing thisfile. How hewrithed when
strangers ran an appraising glance over it! Chapter IIA neighbours cocks and hens
wakened him before daybreak.
Oh, by the way, Richard, I wonder ifyoud mind
leaving an order at the butchers as you go past?
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