mean to go asleep over it. I daresay my best plan will be to sit
tight, and let her work herself up a bit. There's nothing like a
little wholesome neglect for bringing a girl to her bearings!' . . .

For a while he walked on in satisfied self-complacency.

'Confound her! why couldn't she have let me know that she was fond of
me in some decent way, without all that formal theatrical proposing?
It's a deuced annoying thing in the long run the way the women get
fond of me. Though it's nice enough in some ways while it lasts!' he
added, as if in unwilling recognition of fact. As the path debouched
on the highroad he said to himself half aloud:

'Well, she's a mighty fine girl, anyhow! And if she is red I've had
about enough of the black! . . . That Spanish girl is beginning to
kick too! I wish I had never come across . . . '

'Shut up, you fool!' he said to himself as he walked on.

When he got home he found a letter from his father. He took it to
his room before breaking the seal. It was at least concise and to
the point:


'The enclosed has been sent to me. You will have to deal with it
yourself. You know my opinion and also my intention. The items
which I have marked have been incurred since I spoke to you last
about your debts. I shall not pay another farthing for you. So take
your own course!