Men will find it a little difficult to
understandhow this can be, but any woman can see it at once. Hehas been under fire,
so to speak, and now hell be as bold asbrass.
His lesser collaborators could neverget the same
niceness of touch.
Any moment I expected to see those
devilsshoot.
To this excellent analysis we will only
add.
So I picked up the census volumes again and took
another little runthrough them.
Things could now proceed accordingto plan. This
wonderful theory was discovered by Charles Darwin.
Dicksonchose to accompany and speed the parting
guests. Ours is probably the hairy ourang-outang. The average man comes out of
theinvestigation as a poor insignificant shrimp.
Jaikie had left Castle Gayin a sober and meditative
mood.
It seemed difficult to say good-byeto you, so I
shirked it. Then suddenly something seems to have happened. Either the theory is
beingtaught all wrong or else there is something the matter with it. Over the Den
had descended the thick, comfortable blanket ofconvention and law. Dear Jaikie, she
said, and the intervening space did not weakenthe tenderness of the
words.
They sat for a little, and then she
rose.
You say that he was seen here thisvery
morning.
Worse than that, youve been guiltyof the crime of
hamesucken. Put awaythat pistol, man, or itll maybe go off.
The differences betweenthem are purely superficial.
But I amreally not concerned to explain the cause of your blunders.
Ivealways thought that a very good
remark.
And he comes back to step from romance into themost
effective kind of realism. Five minutes later Jaikie sat in the best room, while his
hostesslit the peat fire. The poorfellow has been only sixty-two miles away from his
own home. There was even a smile at the cornerof his mouth.
But, as Mr McCunn has said,in common decency you
must be disarmed.
I only heard by accident that you had gone, and Ive
had sucha hustle to catch you up. If he takes my advice hell let you go, provided
you leaveyour pistols behind you. Perhaps on second thoughts I might dedicate this
book to theaverage woman. For the first time in his life he had a sense of
loneliness.
A voice answered the Evallonians bark, a rich,
bland, assuredvoice.
A small hopeless sound came fromJaikies lips which
may have been meant for a prayer. In short, now that I think of it I am not so keen
on appealing tothe average man.