"I felt very well
content."
"My word, he can shoot!" said Jack to Mrs. Graves; "I'm a perfect
duffer beside him; he shot four-fifths of the bag, and there's a
perfect mountain of rabbits to come in."
"Horrible, horrible!" said Mrs. Graves, "but are there enough to go
round the village?"
"Two apiece," said Jack, "to every man a damsel or two! Now, Maud,
come on--ten o'clock, to-morrow, Sir--and perhaps a little fishing
later?"
"You had better stay to lunch, whenever you come and work in the
morning, Jack," said Mrs. Graves; "and I'll turn you inside out
before very long."
Howard went off to his work with a pleasant sense of the open air.
They dined together quietly; after dinner he went and sate down by
Mrs. Graves.
"Jack's a nice boy," she said, "very nice--don't make him pert!"
"I am afraid I shan't MAKE him anything," said Howard. "He will go
his own way, sure enough; but he isn't pert--he comes to heel, and
he remembers. He is like the true gentleman--he is never
unintentionally offensive."
Mrs. Graves laughed, and said, "Yes, that is so."
Howard went on, "I have been thinking a great deal about our talk
yesterday, and it's a new light to me. I do not think I fully
understand, but I feel that there is something very big behind it
all, which I want to understand. This great force you speak of--is
it an AIM?"
"That's a good question," said Mrs. Graves. "No, it's not an aim at
all. It's too big for that; an aim is quite on a lower level.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94