child.

Toby raised a hand that sought to take the glass but closed instead
nervously upon Saltash's wrist. He drank in response to Saltash's
unspoken insistence, looking straight at him the while.

Then oddly he smiled. "No, not afraid, sir," he said. "Only--lest I might
not bring you luck."

"Oh, don't fret yourself on that account!" said Saltash. "I'm not used to
any luck."

Toby's eyes widened. "I thought you had--everything, sir," he said.

Saltash laughed and set down the empty glass. "_Au contraire, mon cher_,"
he said. "I am no richer than you are. Like Tantalus, I can never quench
my thirst. Like many a better man than I, I see the stars, but I never
reach them."

"Does anybody?" said Toby in the tone of one not expecting an answer.

Saltash laughed briefly, enigmatically. "I believe some people soar. But
they generally come down hard in the end. Whereas those who always crawl
on the earth haven't far to fall. Now look here, Toby, you and I have got
to have a talk."

"Yes, sir," said Toby, blinking rather rapidly.

Saltash was watching him with a faint smile in his eyes, half-derisive
and half-tender. "What are you going to be, Toby?" he said. "It all turns