Otis was
unfeignedly thankful to lay down his work for a little while and escape from
the seething, whining, weakly hive, impotent to help itself, but strong in its
power to cripple, thwart, and annoy the weary-eyed man who, by official irony,
was said to be "in charge" of it.
* * * * * *
"I knew there were women-dowdies in Bengal. They come up here sometimes. But I
didn't know that there were men-dowdies, too."
Then, for the first time, it occurred to Otis Yeere that his clothes were
rather ancestral in appearance. It will be seen from the above that his
friendship with Mrs Hauksbee had made great strides.
As that lady truthfully says, a man is never so happy as when he is talking
about himself. From Otis Yeere's lips Mrs Hauksbee, before long, learned
everything that she wished to know about the subject of her experiment;
learned what manner of life he had led in what she vaguely called "those awful
cholera districts"; learned too, but this knowledge came later, what manner of
life he had purposed to lead and what dreams he had dreamed in the year of
grace '77, before the reality had knocked the heart out of him. Very pleasant
are the shady bridle-paths round Prospect Hill for the telling of such
confidences.
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