I bethought me
of the quiet Miss Williams, and hunted her up in her
shop. She was quite willing to come, and saw how she
could get out of the rent; but the difficulty lay with
her stock. This sounded formidable at first, but when I
came to learn that the whole thing had cost eleven
shillings, it did not appear insurmountable. In half an
hour my watch was pawned, and the affair concluded. I
returned with an excellent housekeeper, and with a larger
basketful of inferior Swedish matches, bootlaces,
cakes of black lead, and little figures made of sugar
than I should have thought it possible to get for the
money. So now we have settled down, and I hope that a
period of comparative peace lies before us.
Good-bye, old chap, and never think that I forget
you. Your letters are read and re-read with avidity. I
think I have every line you ever wrote me. You simply
knock Paley out every time. I am so glad that you got
out of that brewery business all right. For a time I was
really afraid that you must either lose your money or
else risk more upon the shares. I can only thank you for
your kind offer of blank cheques.
It is wonderful that you should have slipped back
into your American life so easily after your English
hiatus. As you say, however, it is not a change but only
a modification, since the root idea is the same in each.
Is it not strange how the two great brothers are led to
misunderstand each other? A man is punished for private
libel (over here at any rate), although the consequences
can only be slight.
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