Theotherdayhetookitintohisheadtocrosstheroomwithnootherpurposebuttoopenadoorforme；andIfeltmoreintouchwithmankindthanIhadbeenforyears。Ridiculous，isn’tit？OfcourseIguessthereissomething——someawfullittlescrape——whichyouknowallabout——butifIamsurethatitisterriblyheinous，Ifancyonecouldmanagetoforgiveit。Formypart，IdeclareIamunabletoimaginehimguiltyofanythingmuchworsethanrobbinganorchard。Isitmuchworse？Perhapsyououghttohavetoldme；butitissuchalongtimesincewebothturnedsaintsthatyoumayhaveforgottenwe，too，hadsinnedinourtime？ItmaybethatsomedayIshallhavetoaskyou，andthenIshallexpecttobetold。Idon’tcaretoquestionhimmyselftillIhavesomeideawhatitis。Moreover，it’stoosoonasyet。Lethimopenthedoorafewtimesmoreforme……“Thusmyfriend。Iwastreblypleased——atJim’sshapingsowell，atthetoneoftheletter，atmyowncleverness。EvidentlyIhadknownwhatIwasdoing。Ihadreadcharactersaright，andsoon。Andwhatifsomethingunexpectedandwonderfulweretocomeofit？Thatevening，reposinginadeck-chairundertheshadeofmyownpoopawningitwasinHongKongharbour，IlaidonJim’sbehalfthefirststoneofacastleinSpain。
`Imadeatriptothenorthward，andwhenIreturnedIfoundanotherletterfrommyfriendwaitingforme。ItwasthefirstenvelopeItoreopen。“TherearenospoonsmissingasfarasIknow，“ranthefirstline；
“Ihaven’tbeeninterestedenoughtoinquire。Heisgone，leavingonthebreakfast-tableaformallittlenoteofapology，whichiseithersillyorheartless。Probablyboth——andit’sallonetome。Allowmetosay，lestyoushouldhavesomemoremysteriousyoungmeninreserve，thatIhaveshutupshop，definitelyandforever。ThisisthelasteccentricityI
shallbeguiltyof。DonotimagineforamomentthatIcareahang；butheisverymuchregrettedattennis-parties，andformyownsakeI’vetoldaplausiblelieattheclub……“Iflungtheletterasideandstartedlookingthroughthebatchonmytable，tillIcameuponJim’shandwriting。
Wouldyoubelieveit？Onechanceinahundred!Butitisalwaysthathundredthchance!ThatlittlesecondengineerofthePatnahadturnedupinamoreorlessdestitutestate，andgotatemporaryjoboflookingafterthemachineryofthemill。“Icouldn’tstandthefamiliarityofthelittlebeast，“Jimwrotefromasea-portsevenhundredmilessouthoftheplacewhereheshouldhavebeeninclover。“IamnowforthetimewithEgstrom&；Blake，ship-chandlers，astheir——well——runner，tocallthethingbyitsrightname。ForreferenceIgavethemyourname，whichtheyknowofcourse，andifyoucouldwriteawordinmyfavouritwouldbeapermanentemployment。“Iwasutterlycrushedundertheruinsofmycastle，butofcourseIwroteasdesired。Beforetheendoftheyearmynewchartertookmethatway，andIhadanopportunityofseeinghim。