第9章

“Youlefthim？“

“Myhorsebolted。“

“Iknow。Sodidmine。“

Helaughedathismastermirthlessly。

“Isaymyhorsebolted，“saidthemanwhooncehadasilver-studdedbridle。

“Cowardsboth，“saidthelittleman。

Theothergnawedhisknucklethroughsomemeditativemoments，withhiseyeonhisinferior。

“Don’tcallmeacoward，“hesaidatlength。

“Youareacowardlikemyself。“

“Acowardpossibly。Thereisalimitbeyondwhicheverymanmustfear。

ThatIhavelearntatlast。Butnotlikeyourself。Thatiswherethedifferencecomesin。“

“Inevercouldhavedreamtyouwouldhavelefthim。Hesavedyourlifetwominutesbefore……Whyareyouourlord？“

Themastergnawedhisknucklesagain，andhiscountenancewasdark。

“Nomancallsmeacoward，“hesaid。“No。Abrokenswordisbetterthannone……Onespavinedwhitehorsecannotbeexpectedtocarrytwomenafourdays’journey。Ihatewhitehorses，butthistimeitcannotbehelped。Youbegintounderstandme？……Iperceivethatyouareminded，onthestrengthofwhatyouhaveseenandfancy，totaintmyreputation。Itismenofyoursortwhounmakekings。

Besideswhich——Ineverlikedyou。“

“Mylord！“saidthelittleman。

“No，“saidthemaster。“NO！“

Hestoodupsharplyasthelittlemanmoved。Foraminuteperhapstheyfacedoneanother。Overheadthespiders’ballswentdriving。

Therewasaquickmovementamongthepebbles；arunningoffeet，acryofdespair，agaspandablow……

Towardsnightfallthewindfell。Thesunsetinacalmserenity，andthemanwhohadoncepossessedthesilverbridlecameatlastverycautiouslyandbyaneasyslopeoutoftheravineagain；butnowheledthewhitehorsethatoncebelongedtothelittleman。

Hewouldhavegonebacktohishorsetogethissilver-mountedbridleagain，buthefearednightandaquickeningbreezemightstillfindhiminthevalley，andbesideshedislikedgreatlytothinkhemightdiscoverhishorseallswathedincobwebsandperhapsunpleasantlyeaten。

Andashethoughtofthosecobwebsandofallthedangershehadbeenthrough，andthemannerinwhichhehadbeenpreservedthatday，hishandsoughtalittlereliquarythathungabouthisneck，andheclaspeditforamomentwithheartfeltgratitude。Ashedidsohiseyeswentacrossthevalley。

“Iwashotwithpassion，“hesaid，“andnowshehasmetherreward。

Theyalso，nodoubt——“

Andbehold！Farawayoutofthewoodedslopesacrossthevalley，butintheclearnessofthesunsetdistinctandunmistakable，hesawalittlespireofsmoke。

Atthathisexpressionofsereneresignationchangedtoanamazedanger。Smoke？Heturnedtheheadofthewhitehorseabout，andhesitated。Andashedidsoalittlerustleofairwentthroughthegrassabouthim。Farawayuponsomereedsswayedatatteredsheetofgrey。Helookedatthecobwebs；helookedatthesmoke。

“Perhaps，afterall，itisnotthem，“hesaidatlast。

Butheknewbetter。

Afterhehadstaredatthesmokeforsometime，hemountedthewhitehorse。

Asherode，hepickedhiswayamidststrandedmassesofweb。Forsomereasonthereweremanydeadspidersontheground，andthosethatlivedfeastedguiltilyontheirfellows。Atthesoundofhishorse’shoofstheyfled。

Theirtimehadpassed。Fromthegroundwithouteitherawindtocarrythemorawindingsheetready，thesethings，foralltheirpoison，coulddohimlittleevil。Heflickedwithhisbeltatthosehefanciedcametoonear。Once，whereanumberrantogetheroverabareplace，hewasmindedtodismountandtramplethemwithhisboots，butthisimpulseheovercame。Everandagainheturnedinhissaddle，andlookedbackatthesmoke。

“Spiders，“hemutteredoverandoveragain。“Spiders！Well，well……

ThenexttimeImustspinaweb。“

Hesitsnotadozenyardsaway。IfIglanceovermyshoulderIcanseehim。AndifIcatchhiseye——andusuallyIcatchhiseye——

itmeetsmewithanexpression。

Itismainlyanimploringlook——andyetwithsuspicioninit。

Confoundhissuspicion！IfIwantedtotellonhimIshouldhavetoldlongago。Idon’ttellandIdon’ttell，andheoughttofeelathisease。Asifanythingsogrossandfatashecouldfeelatease！WhowouldbelievemeifIdidtell？

PooroldPyecraft！Great，uneasyjellyofsubstance！ThefattestclubmaninLondon。

Hesitsatoneofthelittleclubtablesinthehugebaybythefire，stuffing。Whatishestuffing？Iglancejudiciouslyandcatchhimbitingataroundofhotbutteredtea-cake，withhiseyesonme。

Confoundhim！——withhiseyesonme！

Thatsettlesit，Pyecraft！SinceyouWILLbeabject，sinceyouWILL

behaveasthoughIwasnotamanofhonour，here，rightunderyourembeddedeyes，Iwritethethingdown——theplaintruthaboutPyecraft。

ThemanIhelped，themanIshielded，andwhohasrequitedmebymakingmyclubunendurable，absolutelyunendurable，withhisliquidappeal，withtheperpetual“don’ttell“ofhislooks。

And，besides，whydoeshekeeponeternallyeating？

Well，heregoesforthetruth，thewholetruth，andnothingbutthetruth！

Pyecraft。ImadetheacquaintanceofPyecraftinthisverysmoking-

room。Iwasayoung，nervousnewmember，andhesawit。Iwassittingallalone，wishingIknewmoreofthemembers，andsuddenlyhecame，agreatrollingfrontofchinsandabdomina，towardsme，andgruntedandsatdowninachairclosebymeandwheezedforaspace，andscrapedforaspacewithamatchandlitacigar，andthenaddressedme。Iforgetwhathesaid——somethingaboutthematchesnotlightingproperly，andafterwardsashetalkedhekeptstoppingthewaitersonebyoneastheywentby，andtellingthemaboutthematchesinthatthin，flutyvoicehehas。But，anyhow，itwasinsomesuchwaywebeganourtalking。

Hetalkedaboutvariousthingsandcameroundtogames。Andthencetomyfigureandcomplexion。“YOUoughttobeagoodcricketer，“

hesaid。IsupposeIamslender，slendertowhatsomepeoplewouldcalllean，andIsupposeIamratherdark，still——IamnotashamedofhavingaHindugreat-grandmother，but，forallthat，Idon’twantcasualstrangerstoseethroughmeataglancetoHER。SothatIwassetagainstPyecraftfromthebeginning。

Butheonlytalkedaboutmeinordertogettohimself。

“Iexpect，“hesaid，“youtakenomoreexercisethanIdo，andprobablyyoueatnoless。“(Likeallexcessivelyobesepeoplehefanciedheatenothing。)“Yet，“——andhesmiledanobliquesmile——

“wediffer。“

Andthenhebegantotalkabouthisfatnessandhisfatness；

allhedidforhisfatnessandallhewasgoingtodoforhisfatness；

whatpeoplehadadvisedhimtodoforhisfatnessandwhathehadheardofpeopledoingforfatnesssimilartohis。“Apriori，“hesaid，“onewouldthinkaquestionofnutritioncouldbeansweredbydietaryandaquestionofassimilationbydrugs。“Itwasstifling。Itwasdumplingtalk。Itmademefeelswelledtohearhim。

Onestandsthatsortofthingonceinawayataclub，butatimecamewhenIfanciedIwasstandingtoomuch。Hetooktomealtogethertooconspicuously。Icouldnevergointothesmoking-roombuthewouldcomewallowingtowardsme，andsometimeshecameandgormandisedroundandaboutmewhileIhadmylunch。Heseemedattimesalmosttobeclingingtome。Hewasabore，butnotsofearfulaboreastobelimitedtome；andfromthefirsttherewassomethinginhismanner——almostasthoughheknew，almostasthoughhepenetratedtothefactthatIMIGHT——thattherewasaremote，exceptionalchanceinmethatnooneelsepresented。

“I’dgiveanythingtogetitdown，“hewouldsay——“anything，“

andpeeratmeoverhisvastcheeksandpant。

PooroldPyecraft！Hehasjustgonged，nodoubttoorderanotherbutteredtea-cake！

Hecametotheactualthingoneday。“OurPharmacopoeia，“hesaid，“ourWesternPharmacopoeia，isanythingbutthelastwordofmedicalscience。IntheEast，I’vebeentold——“

Hestoppedandstaredatme。Itwaslikebeingatanaquarium。