Part 1 (2/2)
At this resolve Mrs Barker broke into cries of protest With a feminine distrust of her own sex she declared that no such creature should pass her threshold For fifty years she had lived respectable, and it was her firm intention to die in the sa hand
”You entle reproof ”It was but ainspired by the recollection of Cinderella Being, however, the masculine equivalent of that lady of romance (or shall we say, 'Lob Lie-by-the-Fire'?) and out of deference to your sense of propriety, I will strive to acquire a fairy Godfather Till to-morrow, then, Mrs
Barker”
He rose and politely held the door open The landlady, carrying the tray and table-cloth, left the rooone Lionel's face lost soan to whistle a tune in a inally scored in quick tiay lilt of the streets Modulated by Lionel, under the depressing influence of Mrs Barker, it becae, incredibly painful to the ear This even the whistler recognized after a few h at himself and his misfortunes he seized his hat and went out
He was by no ent need was money he had no definite idea or plan How to coe his debt andthat the situations for men like him are not picked up in a moment He had been expensively educated at a public school and Oxford, and had a bowing acquaintance with the classics and a tolerable knowledge of law For three years after taking his degree he had led a pleasant life, eating dinners, reading law and writing By his pen he hadHis father had given hihteen months previously his business had failed and the consequent worry had driven hi Lionel birth After his father's death Lionel perforce had put forth more strenuous efforts He had even written a novel and sold it for thirty pounds One or two plays lay in his desk or ers'the favorable consideration of callous editors It had been a precarious though interesting existence, but he had kept his head above water until the last feeeks Noas standing on the curb in the Strand, wondering aht, watching the stream of traffic that never failed to fascinate, ”would be to write a loathsoht, and try to sell it for spot cash I do not think it would befor a post as clerk or secretary I hate the notion of being a clerk There is envelope-addressing, I believe, but I write a villainous handnor do I care to call upon my friends and expose my unhappy condition”
(Since his father's death Lionel had naturally given up his old way of life and dropped out of his usual _milieu_)”No; I think the loathsome article is clearly indicated What shall I write about? 'How It Feels to be Out in the Streets?' 'The Psychology of Landladies' 'At a Loose End--A Curbstone Study' How odd that I a down to earn it! How much pleasanter would it be to stand here and wait for an adventure--for the fairy Godmother who troubled the conventional Mrs
Barker! After all, it is not iht and boltthe driver lose his heada beauteous dae I seize the opportunity, spring forward and check thelady home in a cab, and then--ah! Boundless Possibilities”
He sarette and pursued his idle fancy
”She must be, of course, the sole heiress of a ratitude he would wish to reward ar fee-snatcher he would askis it since I drank good port?) he would learn my story, and with unusual delicacy say, 'Well, some day I hope I shall be able to help you to a job' I leave his house, war he sends his car round, and I areatto a staff of typewriters and gra, Mr Mortimer I find I need a secretary--salary a thousand a year Oh! a bagatelle, I know, but you would have opportunities Politics, perhaps Anyhow, a beginning Care to connect?'
I accept with diffidence 'Good Take your coat off Next roohter--I had forgotten her, dear thing!--already touched by ht look favorably upon s were broken by confused shoutings and whistles Looking up, Lionel saith a into his hands; his dreaha speed The coach vainly at the reins, white, and shouting In the broughairl of about twenty-three Her lips were slightly parted, but no sound cae held her erect,brougham like waves before a cutwater When it was fifty yards distant the coachman lost all control of himself and with a screaered against a portly merchant--ent over like a ninepin--and lurched heavily on to a police to make a dash for the horse's head The constable fell with the man, and the pair, hero and craven, rolled comfortably in the kennel, clasped in each other's arms
Lionel, thus favored by destiny, fitted his hat more firmly to his head and prepared to make his fortune In his early youth he had read that the besta runaway is to run in the sa this, he set off at full speed; and by the ti al at the reins, clutched the of arht The horse, already half-repentant of his lapse, was not inclined to support so heavy a burden at his mouth A few yards more and the heroic part of the episode was over Several officious touts were holding the horse's head, and another police from the unusual exertion, turned to look after the lady She, who had behaved with such ader was imminent, now that it was over, lay in a faint As he raised her in his arms he noticed with satisfaction that she was certainly beautiful and her clothes expensive and tasteful ”Ha! ha!” he thought whimsically, ”a secretaryshi+p! Governor of a Crown Colony at least! I must take a flat to-morrow!” He bore her into a chemist's shop that stood conveniently near, and placed her in a chair While the cheenteelestwhoe's
It was not long before the lady recovered her senses, and she opened her eyes with a ravishi+ng sigh She was naturally bewildered, and Lionel--partly because he wished to reassure her, partly because she was very pretty--knelt and took her hand
”There is no need for alar note that some woave the ghost of a shudder: ”I fainted?”
”Yes The horse, ran away, but there was no accident”
”The coachht for another in the ht of wine Hitherto she had been irl Now she was ed to kiss, caress and call ”You darling!”
”No,” he said ”He fell softly Upon a constable, I believe”
She was nearly herself again, and gave a little laugh ”Let us hope he was a fat one,” she said And then, after a pause: ”Who stopped the horse?”
”Oh, I was lucky enough to do that,” he replied with an assu he could feel it was an every-day business ”It was not hard”
”Others appeared to think differently,” she replied with a grave admiration that pleased him
”Then, madam, they can not have seen you,” he s conducted on correct lines
She mused for a moment, chin in hand