XII

SHOWS HOW A MAN MAY CLIMB A HUNDRED STEPS INTO A PASSIONLESS PEACE, AND
RETURN AGAIN TO A WORLD OF SMALL TORMENTS


By the end of a week Coryndon had slipped into the ways of Mangadone,
slipped in quietly and without causing much comment. He went to the Club
with Hartley and made the acquaintance of nearly all his host's friends,
and they, in return, gave him the casual notice accorded to a passing
stranger who had no part or lot in their lives or interests. Coryndon
was very quiet and listened to everything; he listened to a great deal
in the first three days, and Fitzgibbon, a barrister, offered to take
him round and show him the town.

Coryndon was "shown the town," but apparently he found a lasting joy in
sight-seeing, and could witness the same sights repeatedly without
failing interest. He climbed the steps to the Pagoda, under the guidance
of Fitzgibbon, the first afternoon they met.

"Won't you come, too, Hartley?" asked the Barrister.

"Not if I know it. I've been there about sixty times. If Coryndon wants
to see it, I'm thankful to let him go there with you."

Fitzgibbon, who had a craze for borrowing anything that he was likely
to want, had persuaded Prescott, the junior partner in a rice firm, to
lend him his car, and as he sat in the tonneau beside Coryndon, he
pointed out the places of interest. Their way lay first through the
residential quarter, and Hartley's guest saw the entrance gate and