I manifested a polite ignorance of
these high matters. He assured me that if I studied the one and
played at the other, I should be physically and mentally more
robust; whereupon he thumped his narrow chest, and put on a scowl
of intellectuality. I fear that Ponting, like most of the men
here, studies golf and plays at political economy. In serener
moments I suffer Ponting gladly. But to-day his boast that he
had done the course at Westward Ho! in seven, or seventeen, or
seventy--how on earth should I remember?--left me cold, and his
crude economics interfered with my digestion.
Strolling forlornly down Piccadilly I, came face to face with my
sad-coloured Cousin Rosalie in a sad-coloured gown. She gave me
a hasty nod and would have passed on, but I arrested her. Her
white face was turned piteously upward and from her
expressionless eyes flashed a glance of fear. I felt myself in a
brutal mood.
"Why," I asked, "are you avoiding me as if I were a pestilence?"
She murmured that she was not avoiding me, but was in a hurry.
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