Dickfelthiswaybacktothebigchair，andwonderedwhatthesethingsmightmeanHedidnotwishtobetendedbythehousekeeper，andyetTorpenhow’sconstanttendernessjarredonhimHedidnotexactlyknowwhathewantedThedarknesswouldnotlift，andMaisie’sunopenedlettersfeltwornandoldfrommuchhandlingHecouldneverreadthemforhimselfaslongaslifeendured；butMaisiemighthavesenthimsomefreshonestoplaywithTheNilghaienteredwithagift，——apieceofredmodelling-waxHefanciedthatDickmightfindinterestinusinghishandsDickpokedandpattedthestuffforafewminutes，and，’Isitlikeanythingintheworld？’hesaiddrearily’TakeitawayImaygetthetouchoftheblindinfiftyyearsDoyouknowwhereTorpenhowhasgone？’
　　TheNilghaiknewnothing’We’restayinginhisroomstillhecomesbackCanwedoanythingforyou？’
　　’I’dliketobeleftalone，pleaseDon’tthinkI’mungrateful；butI’mbestalone。’
　　TheNilghaichuckled，andDickresumedhisdrowsybroodingandsullenrebellionagainstfateHehadlongsinceceasedtothinkabouttheworkhehaddoneintheolddays，andthedesiretodomoreworkhaddepartedfromhimHewasexceedinglysorryforhimself，andthecompletenessofhistendergriefsoothedhimButhissoulandhisbodycriedforMaisie——MaisiewhowouldunderstandHismindpointedoutthatMaisie，havingherownworktodo，wouldnotcareHisexperiencehadtaughthimthatwhenmoneywasexhaustedwomenwentaway，andthatwhenamanwasknockedoutoftheracetheotherstrampledonhim。
　　’Thenattheleast，’saidDick，inreply，’shecouldusemeasIusedBinat，——forsomesortofastudyIwouldn’taskmorethantobenearheragain，eventhoughIknewthatanothermanwasmakinglovetoherUgh！
　　whatadogIam！’
　　Avoiceonthestaircasebegantosingjoyfully——
　　’Whenwego——go——goawayfromhere，Ourcreditorswillweepandtheywillwail，Ourabsencemuchregrettingwhentheyfindthatthey’vebeengettingOutofEnglandbynextTuesday’sIndianmail。’
　　Followingthetramplingoffeet，slammingofTorpenhow’sdoor，andthesoundofvoicesinstrenuousdebate，someonesqueaked，’Andsee，yougoodfellows，Ihavefoundanewwater-bottle——firs’-classpatent——eh，howyousay？Openhimselfinsideout。’
　　DicksprangtohisfeetHeknewthevoicewell’That’sCassavetti，comebackfromtheContinentNowIknowwhyTorpwentaway。
　　There’sarowsomewhere，and——I’moutofit！’
　　TheNilghaicommandedsilenceinvain’That’sformysake，’Dicksaidbitterly’Thebirdsaregettingreadytofly，andtheywouldn’ttellmeI
　　canhearMorten-SutherlandandMackayeHalftheWarCorrespondentsinLondonarethere；——andI’moutofit。’
　　HestumbledacrossthelandingandplungedintoTorpenhow’sroomHecouldfeelthatitwasfullofmen’Where’sthetrouble？’saidhe’IntheBalkansatlast？Whydidn’tsomeonetellme？’
　　’Wethoughtyouwouldn’tbeinterested，’saidtheNilghai，shamefacedly。
　　’It’sintheSoudan，asusual。’
　　’Youluckydogs！LetmesitherewhileyoutalkIshan’tbeaskeletonatthefeast——Cassavetti，whereareyou？YourEnglishisasbadasever。’
　　DickwasledintoachairHeheardtherustleofthemaps，andthetalksweptforward，carryinghimwithitEverybodyspokeatonce，discussingpresscensorships，railway-routes，transport，water-supply，thecapacitiesofgenerals，——theseinlanguagethatwouldhavehorrifiedatrustingpublic，——rangint，asserting，denouncing，andlaughingatthetopoftheirvoicesTherewasthegloriouscertaintyofwarintheSoudanatanymomentTheNilghaisaidso，anditwaswelltobeinreadiness。
　　TheKeneuhadtelegraphedtoCairoforhorses；Cassavettihadstolenaperfectlyinaccuratelistoftroopsthatwouldbeorderedforward，andwasreadingitoutamidprofaneinterruptions，andtheKeneuintroducedtoDicksomemanunknownwhowouldbeemployedaswarartistbytheCentralSouthernSyndicate’It’shisfirstouting，’saidtheKeneu。
　　’Givehimsometips——aboutridingcamels。’
　　’Oh，thosecamels！’groanedCassavetti’Ishalllearntoridehimagain，andnowIamsomuchallsoft！Listen，yougoodfellowsIknowyourmilitaryarrangementverywellTherewillgotheRoyalArgalshireSutherlandersSoitwasreadtomeuponbestauthority。’
　　Aroaroflaughterinterruptedhim。
　　’Sitdown，’saidtheNilghai’Thelistsaren’tevenmadeoutintheWarOffice。’
　　’WilltherebeanyforceatSuakin？’aidavoice。
　　Thentheoutcriesredoubled，andgrewmixed，thus：’HowmanyEgyptiantroopswilltheyuse？——GodhelptheFellaheen！——There’sarailwayinPlumsteadmarshesdoingdutyasafives-court——WeshallhavetheSuakin-Berberlinebuiltatlast——CanadianvoyageursaretoocarefulGivemeahalf-drunkKroomaninawhale-boat——WhocommandstheDesertcolumn？——No，theyneverblewupthebigrockintheGhinehbendWeshallhavetobehauledup，asusual——Somebodytellmeifthere’sanIndiancontingent，orI’llbreakeverybody’shead——Don’ttearthemapintwo——It’sawarofoccupation，Itellyou，toconnectwiththeAfricancompaniesintheSouth——There’sGuinea-worminmostofthewellsonthatroute。’ThentheNilghai，despairingofpeace，bellowedlikeafog-hornandbeatuponthetablewithbothhands。
　　’ButwhatbecomesofTorpenhow？’saidDick，inthesilencethatfollowed。
　　’Torp’sinabeyancejustnowHe’sofflove-makingsomewhere，I
　　suppose，’saidtheNilghai。
　　’Hesaidhewasgoingtostayathome，’saidtheKeneu。
　　’Ishe？’saidDick，withanoath’Hewon’tI’mnotmuchgoodnow，butifyouandtheNilghaiholdhimdownI’llengagetotrampleonhimtillheseesreasonHe’llstaybehind，indeed！He’sthebestofyouall。
　　There’llbesometoughworkbyOmdurmanWeshallcometheretostay，thistime。
　　ButIforgotIwishIweregoingwithyou。’
　　’Sodoweall，Dickie，’saidtheKeneu。
　　’AndImostofall，’saidthenewartistoftheCentralSouthernSyndicate。
　　’Couldyoutellme——’
　　’I’llgiveyouonepieceofadvice，’Dickanswered，movingtowardsthedoor’Ifyouhappentobecutovertheheadinascrimmage，don’tguard。
　　TellthemantogooncuttingYou’llfinditcheapestintheend。
　　Thanksforlettingmelookin。’
　　’There’sgritinDick，’saidtheNilghai，anhourlater，whentheroomwasemptiedofallsavetheKeneu。
　　’Itwasthesacredcallofthewar-trumpetDidyounoticehowheansweredtoit？Poorfellow！Let’slookathim，’saidtheKeneu。
　　TheexcitementofthetalkhaddiedawayDickwassittingbythestudiotable，withhisheadonhisarms，whenthemencameinHedidnotchangehisposition。
　　’Ithurts，’hemoaned’Godforgiveme，butithurtscruelly；andyet，y’know，theworldhasaknackofspinningroundallbyitselfShallIseeTorpbeforehegoes？’
　　’Oh，yesYou’llseehim，’saidtheNilghai。
　　Thesunwentdownanhourago，IwonderifIfacetowardshome；
　　IfIlostmywayinthelightofdayHowshallIfinditnownightiscome？——
　　OldSong-
　　’MAISIE，cometobed。’
　　’It’ssohotIcan’tsleepDon’tworry。’
　　Maisieputherelbowsonthewindow-sillandlookedatthemoonlightonthestraight，poplar-flankedroadSummerhadcomeuponVitry-sur-MarneandparchedittotheboneThegrasswasdry-burntinthemeadows，theclaybythebankoftheriverwascakedtobrick，theroadsideflowerswerelongsincedead，andtherosesinthegardenhungwitheredontheirstalksTheheatinthelittlelowbedroomundertheeaveswasalmostintolerableTheverymoonlightonthewallofKami’sstudioacrosstheroadseemedtomakethenighthotter，andtheshadowofthebigbell-handlebytheclosedgatecastabarofinkyblackthatcaughtMaisie’seyeandannoyedher。
　　’Horridthing！Itshouldbeallwhite，’shemurmured’Andthegateisn’tinthemiddleofthewall，eitherInevernoticedthatbefore。’
　　MaisiewashardtopleaseatthathourFirst，theheatofthepastfewweekshadwornherdown；secondly，herwork，andparticularlythestudyofafemaleheadintendedtorepresenttheMelancoliaandnotfinishedintimefortheSalon，wasunsatisfactory；thirdly，Kamihadsaidasmuchtwodaysbefore；fourthly，——butsocompletelyfourthlythatitwashardlyworththinkingabout，——Dick，herproperty，hadnotwrittentoherformorethansixweeksShewasangrywiththeheat，withKami，andwithherwork，butshewasexceedinglyangrywithDick。
　　Shehadwrittentohimthreetimes，——eachtimeproposingafreshtreatmentofherMelancoliaDickhadtakennonoticeofthesecommunicationsShehadresolvedtowritenomoreWhenshereturnedtoEnglandintheautumn——forherpride’ssakeshecouldnotreturnearlier——shewouldspeaktohimShemissedtheSundayafternoonconferencesmorethanshecaredtoadmitAllthatKamisaidwas，’Continuez，mademoiselle，continueztoujours，’andhehadbeenrepeatingthewearisomecounselthroughthehotsummer，exactlylikeacicada，——anoldgraycicadainablackalpacacoat，whitetrousers，andahugefelthat。
　　ButDickhadtrampedmasterfullyupanddownherlittlestudionorthofthecoolgreenLondonpark，andhadsaidthingstentimesworsethancontinuez，beforehesnatchedthebrushoutofherhandandshowedherwheretheerrorlayHislastletter，Maisieremembered，containedsometrivialadviceaboutnotsketchinginthesunordrinkingwateratwaysidefarmhouses；andhehadsaidthatnotonce，butthreetimes，——asifhedidnotknowthatMaisiecouldtakecareofherself。
　　Butwhatwashedoing，thathecouldnottroubletowrite？A
　　murmurofvoicesintheroadmadeherleanfromthewindowAcavalrymanofthelittlegarrisoninthetownwastalkingtoKami’scookThemoonlightglitteredonthescabbardofhissabre，whichhewasholdinginhishandlestitshouldclankinopportunelyThecook’scapcastdeepshadowsonherface，whichwasclosetotheconscript’sHeslidhisarmroundherwaist，andtherefollowedthesoundofakiss。
　　’Faugh！’saidMaisie，steppingback。
　　’What’sthat？’saidthered-hairedgirl，whowastossinguneasilyoutsideherbed。
　　’Onlyaconscriptkissingthecook，’saidMaisie。
　　’They’vegoneawaynow。’Sheleanedoutofthewindowagain，andputashawloverhernightgowntoguardagainstchillsTherewasaverysmallnight-breezeabroad，andasun-bakedrosebelownoddeditsheadasonewhoknewunutterablesecretsWasitpossiblethatDickshouldturnhisthoughtsfromherworkandhisownanddescendtothedegradationofSuzanneandtheconscript？Hecouldnot！TherosenoddeditsheadandoneleaftherewithItlookedlikeanaughtylittledevilscratchingitsear。
　　Dickcouldnot，’because，’thoughtMaisie，’heismind，——mine，——mineHesaidhewasI’msureIdon’tcarewhathedoesItwillonlyspoilhisworkifhedoes；anditwillspoilminetoo。’
　　Therosecontinuedtonoditthefutilewaypeculiartoflowers。
　　TherewasnoearthlyreasonwhyDickshouldnotdisporthimselfashechose，exceptthathewascalledbyProvidence，whichwasMaisie，toassistMaisieinherworkAndherworkwasthepreparationofpicturesthatwentsometimestoEnglishprovincialexhibitions，asthenoticesinthescrap-bookproved，andthatwereinvariablyrejectedbytheSalonwhenKamiwasplaguedintoallowinghertosendthemupHerworkinthefuture，itseemed，wouldbethepreparationofpicturesonexactlysimilarlineswhichwouldberejectedinexactlythesameway——
　　Thered-hairedgirlthresheddistressfullyacrossthesheets’It’stoohottosleep，’shemoaned；andtheinterruptionjarred。
　　ExactlythesamewayThenshewoulddivideheryearsbetweenthelittlestudioinEnglandandKami’sbigstudioatVitry-sur-MarneNo，shewouldgotoanothermaster，whoshouldforceherintothesuccessthatwasherright，ifpatienttoilanddesperateendeavourgaveonearighttoanythingDickhadtoldherthathehadworkedtenyearstounderstandhiscraftShehadworkedtenyears，andtenyearswerenothing。
　　Dickhadsaidthattenyearswerenothing，——butthatwasinregardtoherselfonlyHehadsaid——thisverymanwhocouldnotfindtimetowrite——thathewouldwaittenyearsforher，andthatshewasboundtocomebacktohimsoonerorlaterHehadsaidthisintheabsurdletteraboutsunstrokeanddiphtheria；andthenhehadstoppedwritingHewaswanderingupanddownmoonlitstreets，kissingcooksShewouldliketolecturehimnow，——notinhernightgown，ofcourse，butproperlydressed，severelyandfromaheightYetifhewaskissingothergirlshecertainlywouldnotcarewhethershelecturehimornotHewouldlaughatherVerygood。