"
Kirk was far too grateful to resent the slightly unflattering note a
more spirited man might have detected in the remark.
* * * * *
Only once during those days did Kirk allow himself to weaken and admit
to himself how wretched he was. He was drawing a picture of Steve at
the time, and Steve had the sympathy which encourages weakness in
others.
It was a significant sign of his changed attitude towards his
profession that he was not drawing Steve as a figure in an allegorical
picture or as "Apollo" or "The Toiler," but simply as a well-developed
young man who had had the good sense to support his nether garments
with Middleton's Undeniable Suspenders. The picture, when completed,
would show Steve smirking down at the region of his waist-line and
announcing with pride and satisfaction: "They're Middleton's!" Kirk was
putting all he knew into the work, and his face, as he drew, was dark
and gloomy.
Steve noted this with concern. He had perceived for some time that Kirk
had changed. He had lost all his old boyish enjoyment of their
sparring-bouts, and he threw the medicine-ball with an absent gloom
almost equal to Bailey's.
It had not occurred to Steve to question Kirk about this. If Kirk had
anything on his mind which he wished to impart he would say it.
Meanwhile, the friendly thing for him to do was to be quiet and pretend
to notice nothing.
Pages:
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236