’It’sthesignaloftheCrossKeysLinerunningtoAustraliaI
wonderwhichsteameritis。’Thenoteofhisvoicehadchanged；heseemedtobetalkingtohimself，andMaisiedidnotapproveofitThemoonlightbrokethehazeforamoment，touchingtheblacksidesofalongsteamerworkingdownChannel’Fourmastsandthreefunnels——she’sindeepdraught，tooThatmustbetheBarralong，ortheBhutiaNo，theBhutiahasaclopperbowIt’stheBarralong，toAustraliaShe’lllifttheSouthernCrossinaweek，——luckyoldtub！——oh，luckyoldtub！’
Hestaredintently，andmoveduptheslopeoftheforttogetabetterview，butthemistontheseathickenedagain，andthebeatingofthescrewsgrewfainterMaisiecalledtohimalittleangrily，andhereturned，stillkeepinghiseyestoseaward’HaveyoueverseentheSouthernCrossblazingrightoveryourhead？’heasked’It’ssuperb！’
’No，’shesaidshortly，’andIdon’twanttoIfyouthinkit’ssolovely，whydon’tyougoandseeityourself？’
Sheraisedherfacefromthesoftblacknessofthemartenskinsaboutherthroat，andhereyesshonelikediamondsThemoonlightonthegraykangaroofurturnedittofrostedsilverofthecoldest。
’ByJove，Maisie，youlooklikealittleheathenidoltuckedupthere。’Theeyesshowedthattheydidnotappreciatethecompliment’I’msorry，’hecontinued’TheSouthernCrossisn’tworthlookingatunlesssomeonehelpsyoutoseeThatsteamer’soutofhearing。’
’Dick，’shesaidquietly，’supposeIweretocometoyounow，——bequietaminute，——justasIam，andcaringforyoujustasmuchasIdo。’
’Notasabrother，thoughYousaidyoudidn’t——inthePark。’
’IneverhadabrotherSupposeIsaid，“Takemetothoseplaces，andintime，perhaps，Imightreallycareforyou。”whatwouldyoudo？’
’Sendyoustraightbacktowhereyoucamefrom，inacabNo，I
wouldn’t；I’dletyouwalkButyoucouldn’tdoit，dearAndI
wouldn’truntheriskYou’reworthwaitingfortillyoucancomewithoutreservation。’
’Doyouhonestlybelievethat？’
’IhaveahazysortofideathatIdoHasitneverstruckyouinthatlight？’
’Ye——esIfeelsowickedaboutit。’
’Wickederthanusual？’
’Youdon’tknowallIthinkIt’salmosttooawfultotell。’
’NevermindYoupromisedtotellmethetruth——atleast。’
’It’ssoungratefulofme，but——but，thoughIknowyoucareforme，andI
liketohaveyouwithme，I’d——I’devensacrificeyou，ifthatwouldbringmewhatIwant。’
’Mypoorlittledarling！IknowthatstateofmindItdoesn’tleadtogoodwork。’
’Youaren’tangry？Remember，Idodespisemyself。’
’I’mnotexactlyflattered，——Ihadguessedasmuchbefore，——butI’mnotangryI’msorryforyouSurelyyououghttohaveleftalittlenesslikethatbehindyou，yearsago。’
’You’venorighttopatroniseme！IonlywantwhatIhaveworkedforsolongItcametoyouwithoutanytrouble，and——andIdon’tthinkit’sfair。’
’WhatcanIdo？I’dgivetenyearsofmylifetogetyouwhatyouwant。
ButIcan’thelpyou；evenIcan’thelp。’
AmurmurofdissentfromMaisieHewenton——
’AndIknowbywhatyouhavejustsaidthatyou’reonthewrongroadtosuccessItisn’tgotatbysacrificingotherpeople，——I’vehadthatmuchknockedintome；youmustsacrificeyourself，andliveunderorders，andneverthinkforyourself，andneverhaverealsatisfactioninyourworkexceptjustatthebeginning，whenyou’rereachingoutafteranotion。’
’Howcanyoubelieveallthat？’
’There’snoquestionofbeliefordisbeliefThat’sthelaw，andyoutakeitorrefuseitasyoupleaseItrytoobey，butIcan’t，andthenmyworkturnsbadonmyhandsUnderanycircumstances，remember，four-fifthsofeverybody’sworkmustbebadButtheremnantisworththetroubleforit’sownsake。’
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