AndatlastIcouldholdoutnolongeragainsttheseaccumulatingpressures。
Itookanarrogant，outrageouslinethatlefthernoloopholes；I
behavedasthoughwewerelivinginamelodrama。
“Youmustcomeandtalktome。”Iwrote，“orIwillcomeandtakeyou。Iwantyou——andthetimerunsaway。”
Wemetinarideintheupperplantations。ItmusthavebeenearlyinJanuary，fortherewassnowonthegroundandonthebranchesofthetrees。Wewalkedtoandfroforanhourormore，andfromthefirstIpitchedthekeyhighinromanceandmadeunderstandingsimpossible。Itwasourworsttimetogether。I
boastedlikeanactor，andshe，Iknownotwhy，wastiredandspiritless。
NowIthinkoverthattalkinthelightofallthathashappenedsince，IcanimaginehowshecametomefullofahumanappealI
wastoofoolishtolethermake。Idon’tknow。IconfessIhavenevercompletelyunderstoodBeatrice。IconfessIamstillperplexedatmanythingsshesaidanddid。Thatafternoon，anyhow，Iwasimpossible。Iposedandscolded。Iwas——Isaidit——for“takingtheUniversebythethroat！”
“Ifitwasonlythat。”shesaid，butthoughIheard，Ididnotheedher。
Atlastshegavewaytomeandtalkednomore。Insteadshelookedatme——asathingbeyondhercontrolling，butnonethelessinteresting——muchasshehadlookedatmefrombehindtheskirtsofLadyDrewintheWarrenwhenwewerechildrentogether。
OnceevenIthoughtshesmiledfaintly。
“Whatarethedifficulties“Icried。“there’snodifficultyI
willnotovercomeforyou！DoyourpeoplethinkI’mnoequalforyou？Whosaysit？Mydear，tellmetowinatitle！I’lldoitinfiveyears！。
“HereamIjustgrownamanatthesightofyou。Ihavewantedsomethingtofightfor。Letmefightforyou！。
“I’mrichwithoutintendingit。Letmemeanit，givemeanhonourableexcuseforit，andI’llputallthisrottenoldWarrenofEnglandatyourfeet！”
Isaidsuchthingsasthat。Iwritethemdownhereinalltheirresoundingbasepride。Isaidtheseemptyandfoolishthings，andtheyarepartofme。WhyshouldIstillclingtoprideandbeashamed？Ishoutedherdown。
Ipassedfromsuchmegalomaniatopettyaccusations。
“YouthinkCarnabyisabettermanthanI？”Isaid。
“No！”shecried，stungtospeech。“No！”
“Youthinkwe’reunsubstantial。You’velistenedtoalltheserumoursBoomhasstartedbecausewetalkedofanewspaperofourown。WhenyouarewithmeyouknowI’maman；whenyougetawayfrommeyouthinkI’macheatandacad。There’snotawordoftruthinthethingstheysayaboutus。I’vebeenslack。I’veleftthings。Butwehaveonlytoexertourselves。Youdonotknowhowwideandfarwehavespreadournets。Evennowwehaveacoup——anexpedition——inhand。Itwillputusonafooting。”。
HereyesaskedmutelyandaskedinvainthatIwouldceasetoboastoftheveryqualitiessheadmiredinme。
InthenightIcouldnotsleepforthinkingofthattalkandthevulgarthingsIhadsaidinit。Icouldnotunderstandthedriftmymindhadtaken。Iwasacutelydisgusted。Andmyunwonteddoubtsaboutmyselfspreadfromamerelypersonaldiscontenttoourfinancialposition。ItwasallverywelltotalkasIhaddoneofwealthandpowerandpeerages，butwhatdidIknownowadaysofmyuncle’sposition？SupposeinthemidstofsuchboastingandconfidencetherecamesometurnIdidnotsuspect，somerottennesshehadconcealedfromme？IresolvedIhadbeenplayingwithaeronauticslongenough；thatnextmorningIwouldgotohimandhavethingsclearbetweenus。
IcaughtanearlytrainandwentuptotheHardingham。
IwentuptotheHardinghamthroughadenseLondonfogtoseehowthingsreallystood。BeforeIhadtalkedtomyunclefortenminutesIfeltlikeamanwhohasjustawakenedinableak，inhospitableroomoutofagrandiosedream。
“Wegottomakeafightforit。”saidmyuncle。“Wegottofacethemusic！”
IrememberthatevenatthesightofhimIhadasenseofimpendingcalamity。Hesatundertheelectriclightwiththeshadowofhishairmakingbarsdownhisface。Helookedshrunken，andasthoughhisskinhadsuddenlygotlooseandyellow。Thedecorationsoftheroomseemedtohavelostfreshness，andoutsidetheblindswereup——therewasnotsomuchfogasadundarkness。Onesawthedingyoutlinesofthechimneysoppositequitedistinctly，andthenaskyofsuchbrownasonlyLondoncandisplay。
“Isawaplacard。”Isaid：“’MorePonderevity。’“
“That’sBoom。”hesaid。“Boomandhisdamnednewspapers。He’stryingtofightmedown。EversinceIofferedtobuytheDailyDecoratorhe’sbeenatme。AndhethinksconsolidatingDoUtcutdowntheads。Hewantseverything，damnhim！He’sgotnosenseofdealing。I’dliketobashhisface！”
“Well。”Isaid，“what’stobedone？”
“Keepgoing。”saidmyuncle。
“I’llsmashBoomyet。”hesaid，withsuddensavagery。
“Nothingelse？”Iasked。
“Wegottokeepgoing。There’sascareon。Didyounoticetherooms？Halfthepeopleouttherethismorningarereporters。
AndifItalktheytouchitup！。Theydidn’tusedtotouchthingsup！Nowtheyputincharactertouches——insultingyou。
Don’tknowwhatjournalism’scomingto。It’sallBoom’sdoing。”
HecursedLordBoomwithconsiderableimaginativevigour。
“Well。”saidI，“whatcanhedo？”
“Shoveusupagainsttime，George；makemoneytightforus。Webeenhandlingalotofmoney——andhetightensusup。”
“We’resound？”
“Oh，we’resound，George。Trustmeforthat！Butallthesame——
There’ssuchalotofimaginationinthesethings。We’resoundenough。That’snotit。”
Heblew。“DamnBoom！”hesaid，andhiseyesoverhisglassesmetminedefiantly。
“Wecan’t，Isuppose，runclosehauledforabitstopexpenditure？”
“Where？”
“Well，——CrestHill“
“What！”heshouted。“MestopCrestHillforBoom！”Hewavedafistasiftohithisinkpot，andcontrolledhimselfwithdifficulty。Hespokeatlastinareasonablevoice。“IfIdid。”
hesaid，“he’dkickupafuss。It’snogood，evenifIwantedto。Everybody’swatchingtheplace。IfIwastostopbuildingwe’dbedowninaweek。”
Hehadanidea。“IwishIcoulddosomethingtostartastrikeorsomething。Nosuchluck。Treatthoseworkmenasighttoowell。No，sinkorswim，CrestHillgoesonuntilwe’reunderwater。”
Ibegantoaskquestionsandirritatedhiminstantly。
“Oh，dashtheseexplanations，George！”hecried；“Youonlymakethingslookrottenerthantheyare。It’syourway。Itisn’tacaseoffigures。We’reallright——there’sonlyonethingwegottodo。”
“Yes？”
“Showvalue，George。That’swherethisquapcomesin；that’swhyIfellinsoreadilywithwhatyoubroughttomeweekbeforelast。Hereweare，wegotouroptionontheperfectfilament，andallwewant’scanadium。Nobodyknowsthere’smorecanadiumintheworldthanwillgoontheedgeofasixpenceexceptmeandyou。Nobodyhasanideetheperfectfilament’smorethanjustabitoftheorising。Fiftytonsofquapandwe’dturnthatbitoftheorisingintosomething。We’dmakethelamptradesitonitstailandhowl。We’dputEdiswanandallof’emintoaparcelwithourlastyear’strousersandahat，andswap’emoffforapotofgeraniums。See？We’ddoitthroughBusinessOrganisations，andthereyouare！See？Capern’sPatentFilament！
TheIdealandtheReal！George，we’lldoit！We’llbringitoff！Andthenwe’llgivesuchafacertoBoom，he’llthinkforfiftyyears。He’slayingupforourLondonandAfricanmeeting。
Lethim。Hecanturnthewholepaperontous。HesaystheBusinessOrganisationssharesaren’tworthfifty-twoandwequote’emateighty-four。Well，herewearegettin’readyforhim——loadingourgun。”
Hisposewastriumphant。
“Yes。”Isaid，“that’sallright。ButIcan’thelpthinkingwhereshouldwebeifwehadn’tjustbyaccidentgotCapern’sPerfectFilament。Because，youknowitwasanaccident——mybuyingupthat。”
Hecrumpleduphisnoseintoanexpressionofimpatientdistasteatmyunreasonableness。
“Andafterall，themeeting’sinJune，andyouhaven’tbeguntogetthequap！Afterall，we’vestillgottoloadourgun。”
“TheystartonToosday。”
“Havetheygotthebrig？”
“They’vegotabrig。”
“Gordon-Nasmyth！”Idoubted。
“Safeasabank。”hesaid。“MoreIseeofthatmanthemoreI
likehim。AllIwishiswe’dgotasteamerinsteadofasailingship“
“And。”Iwenton，“youseemtooverlookwhatusedtoweighwithusabit。ThiscanadiumsideofthebusinessandtheCapernchancehasrushedyouoffyourlegs。Afterall——it’sstealing，andinitswayaninternationaloutrage。They’vegottwogunboatsonthecoast。”
Ijumpedupandwentandstaredoutatthefog。
“And，byJove，it’saboutouronlychance！Ididn’tdream。”
Iturnedonhim。“I’vebeenupintheair。”Isaid。