第27章

IsawamancomechargingoutofPalaceYard——thepolicemantouchedhishelmettohim——withahatandabearingastonishinglylikemyuncle’s。Afterall，——didn’tCracknellhimselfsitintheHouse？

Tono-BungayshoutedatmefromahoardingnearAdelphiTerrace；I

sawitafaroffnearCarfaxStreet；itcriedoutagainuponmeinKensingtonHighStreet，andburstintoaperfectclamour；sixorseventimesIsawitasIdrewnearmydiggings。Itcertainlyhadanairofbeingsomethingmorethanadream。

Yes，Ithoughtitover——thoroughlyenough。Traderulestheworld。Wealthratherthantrade！Thethingwastrue，andtruetoowasmyuncle’spropositionthatthequickestwaytogetwealthistosellthecheapestthingpossibleinthedearestbottle。Hewasfrightfullyrightafterall。Pecunnianonolet，——aRomanemperorsaidthat。PerhapsmygreatheroesinPlutarchwerenomorethansuchmen，finenowonlybecausetheyaredistant；perhapsafterallthisSocialismtowhichIhadbeendrawnwasonlyafoolishdream，onlythemorefoolishbecauseallitspromiseswereconditionallytrue。Morrisandtheseothersplayedwithitwittingly；itgaveazest，atouchofsubstance，totheiraestheticpleasures。Neverwouldtherebegoodfaithenoughtobringsuchthingsabout。Theyknewit；everyone，exceptafewyoungfools，knewit。AsIcrossedthecornerofSt。James’sParkwrappedinthought，Idodgedbackjustintimetoescapeaprancingpairofgreys。Astout，common-lookingwoman，verymagnificentlydressed，regardedmefromthecarriagewithascornfuleye。“Nodoubt。”thoughtI，“apill-vendor’swife。”

Runningthroughallmythoughts，surgingoutlikearefrain，wasmyuncle’smaster-stroke，hisadmirabletouchofpraise：“Makeitallslick——andthenmakeitgoWoosh。Iknowyoucan！Oh！I

KNOWyoucan！”

Ewartasamoralinfluencewasunsatisfactory。Ihadmadeupmymindtoputthewholethingbeforehim，partlytoseehowhetookit，andpartlytohearhowitsoundedwhenitwassaid。IaskedhimtocomeandeatwithmeinanItalianplacenearPantonStreetwhereonecouldgetacurious，interesting，gluttingsortofdinnerforeighteen-pence。Hecamewithadisconcertingblack-eyethathewouldn’texplain。“Notsomuchablack-eye。”

hesaid，“astheaftermathofapurplepatch。What’syourdifficulty？”

“I’lltellyouwiththesalad。”Isaid。

ButasamatteroffactIdidn’ttellhim。IthrewoutthatI

wasdoubtfulwhetherIoughttogointotrade，orsticktoteachinginviewofmydeepeningsocialistproclivities；andhe，warmingwiththeunaccustomedgenerosityofasixteen-pennyChianti，ranonfromthatwi