AndatlastIcouldholdoutnolongeragainsttheseaccumulatingpressures。
　　Itookanarrogant，outrageouslinethatlefthernoloopholes；I
　　behavedasthoughwewerelivinginamelodrama。
　　“Youmustcomeandtalktome。”Iwrote，“orIwillcomeandtakeyou。Iwantyou——andthetimerunsaway。”
　　Wemetinarideintheupperplantations。ItmusthavebeenearlyinJanuary，fortherewassnowonthegroundandonthebranchesofthetrees。Wewalkedtoandfroforanhourormore，andfromthefirstIpitchedthekeyhighinromanceandmadeunderstandingsimpossible。Itwasourworsttimetogether。I
　　boastedlikeanactor，andshe，Iknownotwhy，wastiredandspiritless。
　　NowIthinkoverthattalkinthelightofallthathashappenedsince，IcanimaginehowshecametomefullofahumanappealI
　　wastoofoolishtolethermake。Idon’tknow。IconfessIhavenevercompletelyunderstoodBeatrice。IconfessIamstillperplexedatmanythingsshesaidanddid。Thatafternoon，anyhow，Iwasimpossible。Iposedandscolded。Iwas——Isaidit——for“takingtheUniversebythethroat！”
　　“Ifitwasonlythat。”shesaid，butthoughIheard，Ididnotheedher。
　　Atlastshegavewaytomeandtalkednomore。Insteadshelookedatme——asathingbeyondhercontrolling，butnonethelessinteresting——muchasshehadlookedatmefrombehindtheskirtsofLadyDrewintheWarrenwhenwewerechildrentogether。
　　OnceevenIthoughtshesmiledfaintly。
　　“Whatarethedifficulties“Icried。“there’snodifficultyI
　　willnotovercomeforyou！DoyourpeoplethinkI’mnoequalforyou？Whosaysit？Mydear，tellmetowinatitle！I’lldoitinfiveyears！。
　　“HereamIjustgrownamanatthesightofyou。Ihavewantedsomethingtofightfor。Letmefightforyou！。
　　“I’mrichwithoutintendingit。Letmemeanit，givemeanhonourableexcuseforit，andI’llputallthisrottenoldWarrenofEnglandatyourfeet！”
　　Isaidsuchthingsasthat。Iwritethemdownhereinalltheirresoundingbasepride。Isaidtheseemptyandfoolishthings，andtheyarepartofme。WhyshouldIstillclingtoprideandbeashamed？Ishoutedherdown。
　　Ipassedfromsuchmegalomaniatopettyaccusations。
　　“YouthinkCarnabyisabettermanthanI？”Isaid。
　　“No！”shecried，stungtospeech。“No！”
　　“Youthinkwe’reunsubstantial。You’velistenedtoalltheserumoursBoomhasstartedbecausewetalkedofanewspaperofourown。WhenyouarewithmeyouknowI’maman；whenyougetawayfrommeyouthinkI’macheatandacad。There’snotawordoftruthinthethingstheysayaboutus。I’vebeenslack。I’veleftthings。Butwehaveonlytoexertourselves。Youdonotknowhowwideandfarwehavespreadournets。Evennowwehaveacoup——anexpedition——inhand。Itwillputusonafooting。”。
　　HereyesaskedmutelyandaskedinvainthatIwouldceasetoboastoftheveryqualitiessheadmiredinme。
　　InthenightIcouldnotsleepforthinkingofthattalkandthevulgarthingsIhadsaidinit。Icouldnotunderstandthedriftmymindhadtaken。Iwasacutelydisgusted。Andmyunwonteddoubtsaboutmyselfspreadfromamerelypersonaldiscontenttoourfinancialposition。ItwasallverywelltotalkasIhaddoneofwealthandpowerandpeerages，butwhatdidIknownowadaysofmyuncle’sposition？SupposeinthemidstofsuchboastingandconfidencetherecamesometurnIdidnotsuspect，somerottennesshehadconcealedfromme？IresolvedIhadbeenplayingwithaeronauticslongenough；thatnextmorningIwouldgotohimandhavethingsclearbetweenus。
　　IcaughtanearlytrainandwentuptotheHardingham。
　　IwentuptotheHardinghamthroughadenseLondonfogtoseehowthingsreallystood。BeforeIhadtalkedtomyunclefortenminutesIfeltlikeamanwhohasjustawakenedinableak，inhospitableroomoutofagrandiosedream。
　　“Wegottomakeafightforit。”saidmyuncle。“Wegottofacethemusic！”
　　IrememberthatevenatthesightofhimIhadasenseofimpendingcalamity。Hesatundertheelectriclightwiththeshadowofhishairmakingbarsdownhisface。Helookedshrunken，andasthoughhisskinhadsuddenlygotlooseandyellow。Thedecorationsoftheroomseemedtohavelostfreshness，andoutsidetheblindswereup——therewasnotsomuchfogasadundarkness。Onesawthedingyoutlinesofthechimneysoppositequitedistinctly，andthenaskyofsuchbrownasonlyLondoncandisplay。
　　“Isawaplacard。”Isaid：“’MorePonderevity。’“
　　“That’sBoom。”hesaid。“Boomandhisdamnednewspapers。He’stryingtofightmedown。EversinceIofferedtobuytheDailyDecoratorhe’sbeenatme。AndhethinksconsolidatingDoUtcutdowntheads。Hewantseverything，damnhim！He’sgotnosenseofdealing。I’dliketobashhisface！”
　　“Well。”Isaid，“what’stobedone？”
　　“Keepgoing。”saidmyuncle。
　　“I’llsmashBoomyet。”hesaid，withsuddensavagery。
　　“Nothingelse？”Iasked。
　　“Wegottokeepgoing。There’sascareon。Didyounoticetherooms？Halfthepeopleouttherethismorningarereporters。
　　AndifItalktheytouchitup！。Theydidn’tusedtotouchthingsup！Nowtheyputincharactertouches——insultingyou。
　　Don’tknowwhatjournalism’scomingto。It’sallBoom’sdoing。”
　　HecursedLordBoomwithconsiderableimaginativevigour。
　　“Well。”saidI，“whatcanhedo？”
　　“Shoveusupagainsttime，George；makemoneytightforus。Webeenhandlingalotofmoney——andhetightensusup。”
　　“We’resound？”
　　“Oh，we’resound，George。Trustmeforthat！Butallthesame——
　　There’ssuchalotofimaginationinthesethings。We’resoundenough。That’snotit。”
　　Heblew。“DamnBoom！”hesaid，andhiseyesoverhisglassesmetminedefiantly。
　　“Wecan’t，Isuppose，runclosehauledforabitstopexpenditure？”
　　“Where？”
　　“Well，——CrestHill“
　　“What！”heshouted。“MestopCrestHillforBoom！”Hewavedafistasiftohithisinkpot，andcontrolledhimselfwithdifficulty。Hespokeatlastinareasonablevoice。“IfIdid。”
　　hesaid，“he’dkickupafuss。It’snogood，evenifIwantedto。Everybody’swatchingtheplace。IfIwastostopbuildingwe’dbedowninaweek。”
　　Hehadanidea。“IwishIcoulddosomethingtostartastrikeorsomething。Nosuchluck。Treatthoseworkmenasighttoowell。No，sinkorswim，CrestHillgoesonuntilwe’reunderwater。”
　　Ibegantoaskquestionsandirritatedhiminstantly。
　　“Oh，dashtheseexplanations，George！”hecried；“Youonlymakethingslookrottenerthantheyare。It’syourway。Itisn’tacaseoffigures。We’reallright——there’sonlyonethingwegottodo。”
　　“Yes？”
　　“Showvalue，George。That’swherethisquapcomesin；that’swhyIfellinsoreadilywithwhatyoubroughttomeweekbeforelast。Hereweare，wegotouroptionontheperfectfilament，andallwewant’scanadium。Nobodyknowsthere’smorecanadiumintheworldthanwillgoontheedgeofasixpenceexceptmeandyou。Nobodyhasanideetheperfectfilament’smorethanjustabitoftheorising。Fiftytonsofquapandwe’dturnthatbitoftheorisingintosomething。We’dmakethelamptradesitonitstailandhowl。We’dputEdiswanandallof’emintoaparcelwithourlastyear’strousersandahat，andswap’emoffforapotofgeraniums。See？We’ddoitthroughBusinessOrganisations，andthereyouare！See？Capern’sPatentFilament！
　　TheIdealandtheReal！George，we’lldoit！We’llbringitoff！Andthenwe’llgivesuchafacertoBoom，he’llthinkforfiftyyears。He’slayingupforourLondonandAfricanmeeting。
　　Lethim。Hecanturnthewholepaperontous。HesaystheBusinessOrganisationssharesaren’tworthfifty-twoandwequote’emateighty-four。Well，herewearegettin’readyforhim——loadingourgun。”
　　Hisposewastriumphant。
　　“Yes。”Isaid，“that’sallright。ButIcan’thelpthinkingwhereshouldwebeifwehadn’tjustbyaccidentgotCapern’sPerfectFilament。Because，youknowitwasanaccident——mybuyingupthat。”
　　Hecrumpleduphisnoseintoanexpressionofimpatientdistasteatmyunreasonableness。
　　“Andafterall，themeeting’sinJune，andyouhaven’tbeguntogetthequap！Afterall，we’vestillgottoloadourgun。”
　　“TheystartonToosday。”
　　“Havetheygotthebrig？”
　　“They’vegotabrig。”
　　“Gordon-Nasmyth！”Idoubted。
　　“Safeasabank。”hesaid。“MoreIseeofthatmanthemoreI
　　likehim。AllIwishiswe’dgotasteamerinsteadofasailingship“
　　“And。”Iwenton，“youseemtooverlookwhatusedtoweighwithusabit。ThiscanadiumsideofthebusinessandtheCapernchancehasrushedyouoffyourlegs。Afterall——it’sstealing，andinitswayaninternationaloutrage。They’vegottwogunboatsonthecoast。”
　　Ijumpedupandwentandstaredoutatthefog。
　　“And，byJove，it’saboutouronlychance！Ididn’tdream。”
　　Iturnedonhim。“I’vebeenupintheair。”Isaid。