第70章

Iwasrousedfromsuchthoughtsbythesoundoffootstepsbehindme。

Iturnedhalfhopeful——sofoolishisalover’simagination，andstoppedamazed。Itwasmyuncle。Hisfacewaswhite——whiteasI

hadseenitinmydream。

“Hullo！”Isaid，andstared。“Whyaren’tyouinLondon？”

“It’sallup。”hesaid。

“Adjudicated？”

“No！”

Istaredathimforamoment，andthengotoffthestile。

Westoodswayingandthencameforwardwithaweakmotionofhisarmslikeamanwhocannotseedistinctly，andcaughtatandleantuponthestile。Foramomentwewereabsolutelystill。Hemadeaclumsygesturetowardsthegreatfutilitybelowandchoked。Idiscoveredthathisfacewaswetwithtears，thathiswetglassesblindedhim。Heputuphislittlefathandandclawedthemoffclumsily，feltinefficientlyforhispocket-handkerchief，andthen，tomyhorror，asheclungtome，hebegantoweepaloud，thislittle，oldworldwornswindler。Itwasn’tjustsobbingorsheddingtears，itwascryingasachildcries。Itwasoh！terrible！

“It’scruel。”heblubberedatlast。“Theyaskedmequestions。

TheyKEP’askingmequestions，George。”

Hesoughtforutterance，andspluttered。

“TheBloodybullies！”heshouted。“TheBloodyBullies。”

Heceasedtoweep。Hebecamesuddenlyrapidandexplanatory。

“It’snotafairgame，George。Theytireyouout。AndI’mnotwell。Mystomach’sallwrong。AndIbeenandgotacold。I

alwaysbeenli’bletocold，andthisone’sonmychest。Andthentheytellyoutospeakup。Theybaityou——andbaityou，andbaityou。It’storture。Thestrainofit。Youcan’trememberwhatyousaid。You’reboundtocontradictyourself。It’slikeRussia，George。Itisn’tfairplay。Prominentman。I’vebeennextatdinnerswiththatchap，Neal；I’vetoldhimstories——andhe’sbitter！Setsouttoruinme。Don’taskacivilquestion——bellows。”Hebrokedownagain。“I’vebeenbellowedat，Ibeenbullied，Ibeentreatedlikeadog。Dirtycadstheyare！Dirtycads！I’dratherbeaThree-CardSharperthanabarrister；I’drathersellcat’s-meatinthestreets。

“Theysprungthingsonmethismorning，thingsIdidn’texpect。

Theyrushedme！I’dgotitallinmyhandsandthenIwasjumped。ByNeal！NealI’vegivencitytipsto！Neal！I’vehelpedNeal。

“Icouldn’tswallowamouthful——notinthelunchhour。I

couldn’tfaceit。It’strue，George——Icouldn’tfaceit。IsaidI’dgetabitofairandslippedoutanddowntotheEmbankment，andthereItookaboattoRichmond。Someidee。ItookarowingboatwhenIgotthereandIrowedaboutontheriverforabit。

Alotofchapsandgirlstherewasonthebanklaughedatmyshirt-sleevesandtop