offices, where he
explained
things tersely.
Kipling - Poems
Twenty-two pounds covers my passage home again. Allow ten for additional
expenses. We must put up at Madam Binat's for old time's sake.
Thirty-two pounds altogether. Add a hundred for the cost of the last
trip--Gad, won't Torp stare to see me! --a hundred and thirty-two leaves
seventy-eight for baksheesh--I shall need it--and to play with. What
are you crying for, Bess? It wasn't your fault, child; it was mine
altogether. Oh, you funny little opossum, mop your eyes and take me out!
I want the pass-book and the check-book. Stop a minute. Four thousand
pounds at four per cent--that's safe interest--means a hundred and sixty
pounds a year; one hundred and twenty pounds a year--also safe--is two
eighty, and two hundred and eighty pounds added to three hundred a year
means gilded luxury for a single woman. Bess, we'll go to the bank. "
Richer by two hundred and ten pounds stored in his money-belt, Dick
caused Bessie, now thoroughly bewildered, to hurry from the bank to the
P. and O.
offices, where he explained things tersely.
"Port Said, single first; cabin as close to the baggage-hatch as
possible. What ship's going? "
"The Colgong," said the clerk.
"She's a wet little hooker. Is it Tilbury and a tender, or Galleons and
the docks? "
"Galleons. Twelve-forty, Thursday. "
"Thanks. Change, please. I can't see very well--will you count it into
my hand? "
"If they all took their passages like that instead of talking about
their trunks, life would be worth something," said the clerk to his
neighbour, who was trying to explain to a harassed mother of many that
condensed milk is just as good for babes at sea as daily dairy. Being
nineteen and unmarried, he spoke with conviction.
"We are now," quoth Dick, as they returned to the studio, patting the
place where his money-belt covered ticket and money, "beyond the reach
of man, or devil, or woman--which is much more important. I've had three
little affairs to carry through before Thursday, but I needn't ask you
to help, Bess. Come here on Thursday morning at nine.
