’It’sthesignaloftheCrossKeysLinerunningtoAustraliaI
wonderwhichsteameritis。’Thenoteofhisvoicehadchanged；heseemedtobetalkingtohimself，andMaisiedidnotapproveofitThemoonlightbrokethehazeforamoment，touchingtheblacksidesofalongsteamerworkingdownChannel’Fourmastsandthreefunnels——she’sindeepdraught，tooThatmustbetheBarralong，ortheBhutiaNo，theBhutiahasaclopperbowIt’stheBarralong，toAustraliaShe’lllifttheSouthernCrossinaweek，——luckyoldtub！——oh，luckyoldtub！’
Hestaredintently，andmoveduptheslopeoftheforttogetabetterview，butthemistontheseathickenedagain，andthebeatingofthescrewsgrewfainterMaisiecalledtohimalittleangrily，andhereturned，stillkeepinghiseyestoseaward’HaveyoueverseentheSouthernCrossblazingrightoveryourhead？’heasked’It’ssuperb！’
’No，’shesaidshortly，’andIdon’twanttoIfyouthinkit’ssolovely，whydon’tyougoandseeityourself？’
Sheraisedherfacefromthesoftblacknessofthemartenskinsaboutherthroat，andhereyesshonelikediamondsThemoonlightonthegraykangaroofurturnedittofrostedsilverofthecoldest。
’ByJove，Maisie，youlooklikealittleheathenidoltuckedupthere。’Theeyesshowedthattheydidnotappreciatethecompliment’I’msorry，’hecontinued’TheSouthernCrossisn’tworthlookingatunlesssomeonehelpsyoutoseeThatsteamer’soutofhearing。’
’Dick，’shesaidquietly，’supposeIweretocometoyounow，——bequietaminute，——justasIam，andcaringforyoujustasmuchasIdo。’
’Notasabrother，thoughYousaidyoudidn’t——inthePark。’
’IneverhadabrotherSupposeIsaid，“Takemetothoseplaces，andintime，perhaps，Imightreallycareforyou。”whatwouldyoudo？’
’Sendyoustraightbacktowhereyoucamefrom，inacabNo，I
wouldn’t；I’dletyouwalkButyoucouldn’tdoit，dearAndI
wouldn’truntheriskYou’reworthwaitingfortillyoucancomewithoutreservation。’
’Doyouhonestlybelievethat？’
’IhaveahazysortofideathatIdoHasitneverstruckyouinthatlight？’
’Ye——esIfeelsowickedaboutit。’
’Wickederthanusual？’
’Youdon’tknowallIthinkIt’salmosttooawfultotell。’
’NevermindYoupromisedtotellmethetruth——atleast。’
’It’ssoungratefulofme，but——but，thoughIknowyoucareforme，andI
liketohaveyouwithme，I’d——I’devensacrificeyou，ifthatwouldbringmewhatIwant。’
’Mypoorlittledarling！IknowthatstateofmindItdoesn’tleadtogoodwork。’
’Youaren’tangry？Remember，Idodespisemyself。’
’I’mnotexactlyflattered，——Ihadguessedasmuchbefore，——butI’mnotangryI’msorryforyouSurelyyououghttohaveleftalittlenesslikethatbehindyou，yearsago。’
’You’venorighttopatroniseme！IonlywantwhatIhaveworkedforsolongItcametoyouwithoutanytrouble，and——andIdon’tthinkit’sfair。’
’WhatcanIdo？I’dgivetenyearsofmylifetogetyouwhatyouwant。
ButIcan’thelpyou；evenIcan’thelp。’
AmurmurofdissentfromMaisieHewenton——
’AndIknowbywhatyouhavejustsaidthatyou’reonthewrongroadtosuccessItisn’tgotatbysacrificingotherpeople，——I’vehadthatmuchknockedintome；youmustsacrificeyourself，andliveunderorders，andneverthinkforyourself，andneverhaverealsatisfactioninyourworkexceptjustatthebeginning，whenyou’rereachingoutafteranotion。’
’Howcanyoubelieveallthat？’
’There’snoquestionofbeliefordisbeliefThat’sthelaw，andyoutakeitorrefuseitasyoupleaseItrytoobey，butIcan’t，andthenmyworkturnsbadonmyhandsUnderanycircumstances，remember，four-fifthsofeverybody’sworkmustbebadButtheremnantisworththetroubleforit’sownsake。’
’Isn’titnicetogetcreditevenforbadwork？’
’It’smuchtooniceBut——MayItellyousomething？Itisn’taprettytale，butyou’resolikeamanthatIforgetwhenI’mtalkingtoyou。’
’Tellme。’
’OncewhenIwasoutintheSoudanIwentoversomegroundthatwehadbeenfightingonforthreedaysThereweretwelvehundreddead；
andwehadn’ttimetoburythem。’
’Howghastly！’
’Ihadbeenatworkonabigdouble-sheetsketch，andIwaswonderingwhatpeoplewouldthinkofitathomeThesightofthatfieldtaughtmeagooddealItlookedjustlikeabedofhorribletoadstoolsinallcolours，and——I’dneverseenmeninbulkgobacktotheirbeginningsbefore。
SoI
begantounderstandthatmenandwomenwereonlymaterialtoworkwith，andthatwhattheysaidordidwasofnoconsequenceSee？
Strictlyspeaking，youmightjustaswellputyoureardowntothepalettetocatchwhatyourcoloursaresaying。’
’Dick，that’sdisgraceful！’
’WaitaminuteIsaid，strictlyspeakingUnfortunately，everybodymustbeeitheramanorawoman。’
’I’mgladyouallowthatmuch。’
’InyourcaseIdon’tYouaren’tawomanButordinarypeople，Maisie，mustbehaveandworkassuchThat’swhatmakesmesosavage。’
Hehurledapebbletowardstheseaashespoke’Iknowthatitisoutsidemybusinesstocarewhatpeoplesay；IcanseethatitspoilsmyoutputifI
listento’em；andyet，confounditall，’——anotherpebbleflewseaward，——’I
can’thelppurringwhenI’mrubbedtherightwayEvenwhenIcanseeonaman’sforeheadthatheislyinghiswaythroughaclumpofprettyspeeches，thoseliesmakemehappyandplaythemischiefwithmyhand。’
’Andwhenhedoesn’tsayprettythings？’
’Then，belovedest，’——Dickgrinned，——’IforgetthatIamthestewardofthesegifts，andIwanttomakethatmanloveandappreciatemyworkwithathickstickIt’stoohumiliatingaltogether；butIsupposeevenifonewereanangelandpaintedhumansaltogetherfromoutside，onewouldloseintouchwhatonegainedingrip。’
MaisielaughedattheideaofDickasanangel。
’Butyouseemtothink，’shesaid，’thateverythingnicespoilsyourhand。’
’Idon’tthinkIt’sthelaw，——justthesameasitwasatMrsJennett’s。
EverythingthatisnicedoesspoilyourhandI’mgladyouseesoclearly。’
’Idon’tliketheview。’
’NorIBut——havegotorders：whatcando？Areyoustrongenoughtofaceitalone？’
’IsupposeImust。’
’Letmehelp，darlingWecanholdeachotherverytightandtrytowalkstraightWeshallblunderhorribly，butitwillbebetterthanstumblingapartMaisie，can’tyouseereason？’
’Idon’tthinkweshouldgetontogetherWeshouldbetwoofatrade，soweshouldneveragree。’
’HowIshouldliketomeetthemanwhomadethatproverb！Helivedinacaveandaterawbear，IfancyI’dmakehimchewhisownarrow-heads。
Well？’
’IshouldbeonlyhalfmarriedtoyouIshouldworryandfussaboutmywork，asIdonowFourdaysoutofthesevenI’mnotfittospeakto。’
’Youtalkasifnooneelseintheworldhadeverusedabrush。
D’yousupposethatIdon’tknowthefeelingofworryandbotherandcan’t-get-at-ness？You’reluckyifyouonlyhaveitfourdaysoutofthesevenWhatdifferencewouldthatmake？’
’Agreatdeal——ifyouhadittoo。’
’Yes，butIcouldrespectitAnothermanmightnotHemightlaughatyouButthere’snousetalkingaboutitIfyoucanthinkinthatwayyoucan’tcareforme——yet。’
Thetidehadnearlycoveredthemud-banksandtwentylittleripplesbrokeonthebeachbeforeMaisiechosetospeak。
’Dick，’shesaidslowly，’IbelieveverymuchthatyouarebetterthanI
am。’
’Thisdoesn’tseemtobearontheargument——butinwhatway？’
’Idon’tquiteknow，butinwhatyousaidaboutworkandthings；
andthenyou’resopatientYes，you’rebetterthanIam。’
Dickconsideredrapidlythemurkinessofanaverageman’slife。
TherewasnothinginthereviewtofillhimwithasenseofvirtueHeliftedthehemofthecloaktohislips。
’Why，’saidMaisie，makingasthoughshehadnotnoticed，’canyouseethingsthatIcan’t？Idon’tbelievewhatyoubelieve；butyou’reright，I
believe。’
’IfI’veseenanything，GodknowsIcouldn’thaveseenitbutforyou，andIknowthatIcouldn’thavesaiditexcepttoyouYouseemedtomakeeverythingclearforaminute；butIdon’tpracticewhatIpreach。
YouwouldhelpmeThereareonlyustwointheworldforallpurposes，and——andyouliketohavemewithyou？’
’OfcourseIdoIwonderifyoucanrealisehowutterlylonelyI
am！’
’Darling，IthinkIcan。’
’Twoyearsago，whenIfirsttookthelittlehouse，Iusedtowalkupanddowntheback-gardentryingtocryInevercancryCanyou？’
’It’ssometimesinceItriedWhatwasthetrouble？Overwork？’
’Idon’tknow；butIusedtodreamthatIhadbrokendown，andhadnomoney，andwasstarvinginLondonIthoughtaboutitallday，anditfrightenedme——oh，howitfrightenedme！’
’IknowthatfearIt’sthemostterribleofallItwakesmeupinthenightsometimesYououghtn’ttoknowanythingaboutit。’
’Howdoyouknow？’
’NevermindIsyourthreehundredayearsafe？’
’It’sinConsols。’
’VerywellIfanyonecomestoyouandrecommendsabetterinvestment，——evenifIshouldcometoyou，——don’tyoulistenNevershiftthemoneyforaminute，andneverlendapennyofit，——eventothered-hairedgirl。’
’Don’tscoldmeso！I’mnotlikelytobefoolish。’
’Theearthisfullofmenwho’dselltheirsoulsforthreehundredayear；
andwomencomeandtalk，andborrowafive-poundnotehereandaten-poundnotethere；andawomanhasnoconscienceinamoneydebt。
Sticktoyourmoney，Maisie，forthere’snothingmoreghastlyintheworldthanpovertyinLondonIt’sscaredmeByJove，itputthefearintome！Andoneoughtn’ttobeafraidofanything。’
Toeachmanisappointedhisparticulardread，——theterrorthat，ifhedoesnotfightagainstit，mustcowhimeventothelossofhismanhood。
Dick’sexperienceofthesordidmiseryofwanthadenteredintothedeepsofhim，and，lesthemightfindvirtuetooeasy，thatmemorystoodbehindhim，temptingtoshame，whendealerscametobuyhiswaresAstheNilghaiquakedagainsthiswillatthestillgreenwaterofalakeoramill-dam，asTorpenhowflinchedbeforeanywhitearmthatcouldcutorstabandloathedhimselfforflinching，DickfearedthepovertyhehadoncetastedhalfinjestHisburdenwasheavierthantheburdensofhiscompanions。
Maisiewatchedthefaceworkinginthemoonlight。
’You’veplentyofpenniesnow，’shesaidsoothingly。
’Ishallneverhaveenough，’hebegan，withviciousemphasisThen，laughing，’Ishallalwaysbethree-penceshortinmyaccounts。’
’Whythreepence？’
’Icarriedaman’sbagoncefromLiverpoolStreetStationtoBlackfriar’sBridgeItwasasixpennyjob，——youneedn’tlaugh；indeeditwas，——andI
wantedthemoneydesperatelyHeonlygavemethreepence；andhehadn’teventhedecencytopayinsilverWhatevermoneyImake，I
shallnevergetthatoddthreepenceoutoftheworld。’
ThiswasnotlanguagebefittingthemanwhohadpreachedofthesanctityofworkItjarredonMaisie，whopreferredherpaymentinapplause，which，sinceallmendesireit，mustbeofherightShehuntedforherlittlepurseandgravelytookoutathreepennybit。
’Thereitis，’shesaid’I’llpayyou，Dickie；anddon’tworryanymore；itisn’tworthwhileAreyoupaid？’
’Iam，’saidtheveryhumanapostleoffaircraft，takingthecoin’I’mpaidathousandtimes，andwe’llclosethataccountItshallliveonmywatch-chain；andyou’reanangel，Maisie。’