Nobody's Man by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
page 164 of 324 (50%)
page 164 of 324 (50%)
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trouble to understand even the rudiments of socialism, you will learn
that the drones have as small a part in that scheme of life as in any other. You have a right to what you produce. It is one of the pleasures of my life to help the deserving to enjoy what they produce. It is also one of the duties, when I find a non-productive person filling a position to which his daily life and character do not entitle him, to pull him up like a weed. That is my idea of socialism, Mr. Crockford. You will leave on March 25th." They rode homeward into a gathering storm. A mass of black clouds was rolling up from the north, and an unexpected wind came bellowing down the coombs, bending the stunted oaks and dark pines and filling the air with sonorous but ominous music. The hills around soon became invisible, blotted out by fragments of the gathering mists. The cold sleet stung their faces. Out on the moors was no sound but time tinkling of distant sheep bells. "There's snow coming," Segerson muttered, as he turned up his coat collar. "It won't do any harm," she answered. "The earth lies warm under it." The lights of Parracombe, precipitous and unexpected, were like flecks in the sky, wiped out by a sudden driving storm of sleet. A little while later they cantered up the avenue to Woolhanger and Jane slipped from her horse with a little sigh of relief. "You'd better stay and have some tea, Mr. Segerson," she invited. "John will take your horse and give him a rubdown." |
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