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He hurried across the room and took her hand and kissedit. But I thought Sambo
got ten thousand for his share in the mine.
You havent got to show youre a man
by fighting andswearing and talking about sheep.
And vipers coming into the
houseand biting the hand that feeds them. A couple more years in Sydney and
yere well enough offto marry and yer own boss.
And thats just what I felt like
telling those two womenthis afternoon.
Thefat was like a vast bed of quicksands
into which he was rapidlysinking. James opened his mouth toprotest but she
slammed the door.
A couple more years in Sydney and yere well enough offto
marry and yer own boss. Id soon make money for you, James said quickly.
We wont
say nothing moreabout it for the time being, my boy. But, bubbling and
outraged, Mrs Bowen turned on him.
You look as if one wouldnt do you much
harm.
There isnt any room with these high-flyers, Doug grumbled.
We must see
that she is not disappointed. James elbowed into the crowd, their faces swollen
and greasy in thehot lamplight. He glanced at James to seehow he was taking
this, and was pleased to see him taking it verybadly. She stiffened her back
andwithdrew her hand. He talked too of Ludmilla andLarsen and of the way he
would drive them out of HIS mine.
But why did he waste so much time talking?
But whatever it was beside sheer kindliness Jamess inexperiencedeye could not
discover. And what did his brother-in-law Dirk Surface marry? He talked too of
Ludmilla andLarsen and of the way he would drive them out of HIS mine.
They
would help himbecause of that and because they were generous.
Well, if youre in
that much of a hurry, I wontkeep you, but here, before you go.
He was tall and
thin with a long, thin face set inrat-skin dundrearies.
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