'Poor fellow,'
murmured
Howard, 'he is broken-hearted.
Yeats
She was always ready for a change, if the change came
to her in the form of a return to something old. Others place their
ideals in the future; she laid hers in the past.
The only one this momentous resolution seemed to surprise was the old
and deaf servant. She waited with ever-growing impatience. She would
sit by the hour wool-gathering on the corner of a chair with a look
of bewildered delight. As the hour of departure came near she sang
continually in a cracked voice.
Sherman, a few days before leaving, was returning for the last time
from his office when he saw, to his surprise, Howard and Miss Leland
carrying each a brown-paper bundle. He nodded good-humouredly, meaning
to pass on.
'John,' she said, 'look at this brooch William gave me--a ladder
leaning against the moon and a butterfly climbing up it. Is it not
sweet? We are going to visit the poor. '
'And I,' he said, 'am going to catch eels. I am leaving town. '
He made his excuses, saying he had no time to wait, and hurried off.
She looked after him with a mournful glance, strange in anybody who had
exchanged one lover for another more favoured.
'Poor fellow,' murmured Howard, 'he is broken-hearted. '
'Nonsense,' answered Miss Leland, somewhat snappishly.
FIFTH PART
JOHN SHERMAN RETURNS TO BALLAH
I
This being the homeward trip, SS. _Lavinia_ carried no cattle, but many
passengers. As the sea was smooth and the voyage near its end, they
lounged about the deck in groups. Two cattle-merchants were leaning
over the taffrail smoking. In appearance they were something between
betting-men and commercial travellers. For years they had done all
their sleeping in steamers and trains. A short distance from them a
clerk from Liverpool, with a consumptive cough, walked to and fro, a
little child holding his hand. Shortly he would be landed in a boat
putting off from the shore for the purpose. He had come hoping that
his native air of Teeling Head would restore him. The little child
was a strange contrast--her cheeks ruddy with perfect health. Further
forward, talking to one of the crew, was a man with a red face and
slightly unsteady step. In the companion-house was a governess, past
her first youth, very much afraid of sea-sickness. She had brought her
luggage up and heaped it round her to be ready for landing. Sherman
sat on a pile of cable looking out over the sea.
to her in the form of a return to something old. Others place their
ideals in the future; she laid hers in the past.
The only one this momentous resolution seemed to surprise was the old
and deaf servant. She waited with ever-growing impatience. She would
sit by the hour wool-gathering on the corner of a chair with a look
of bewildered delight. As the hour of departure came near she sang
continually in a cracked voice.
Sherman, a few days before leaving, was returning for the last time
from his office when he saw, to his surprise, Howard and Miss Leland
carrying each a brown-paper bundle. He nodded good-humouredly, meaning
to pass on.
'John,' she said, 'look at this brooch William gave me--a ladder
leaning against the moon and a butterfly climbing up it. Is it not
sweet? We are going to visit the poor. '
'And I,' he said, 'am going to catch eels. I am leaving town. '
He made his excuses, saying he had no time to wait, and hurried off.
She looked after him with a mournful glance, strange in anybody who had
exchanged one lover for another more favoured.
'Poor fellow,' murmured Howard, 'he is broken-hearted. '
'Nonsense,' answered Miss Leland, somewhat snappishly.
FIFTH PART
JOHN SHERMAN RETURNS TO BALLAH
I
This being the homeward trip, SS. _Lavinia_ carried no cattle, but many
passengers. As the sea was smooth and the voyage near its end, they
lounged about the deck in groups. Two cattle-merchants were leaning
over the taffrail smoking. In appearance they were something between
betting-men and commercial travellers. For years they had done all
their sleeping in steamers and trains. A short distance from them a
clerk from Liverpool, with a consumptive cough, walked to and fro, a
little child holding his hand. Shortly he would be landed in a boat
putting off from the shore for the purpose. He had come hoping that
his native air of Teeling Head would restore him. The little child
was a strange contrast--her cheeks ruddy with perfect health. Further
forward, talking to one of the crew, was a man with a red face and
slightly unsteady step. In the companion-house was a governess, past
her first youth, very much afraid of sea-sickness. She had brought her
luggage up and heaped it round her to be ready for landing. Sherman
sat on a pile of cable looking out over the sea.
