that was poisoning him, and given a crash such as I heard, and given
a poker a-lying in the middle of the room where it stands to reason
no poker could get unless it was thrown--why, sir, no sensible woman
who can put two and two together can doubt that it was all the
Major's doing."

"Yes," I said, "that is clear enough; but for Mr. Vaughan's sake we
must hush it up; and, as for safety, why, the Major is hardly strong
enough to do him any worse damage than that."

The good old thing wiped away a tear from her eyes. She was very
fond of Derrick, and it went to her heart that he should lead such a
dog's life.

I said what I could to comfort her, and she went down again, fearful
lest he should discover her upstairs and guess that she had opened
her heart to me.

Poor Derrick! That he of all people on earth should be mixed up
with such a police court story--with drunkard, and violence, and
pokers figuring in it! I lay back in the camp chair and looked at
Hoffman's 'Christ,' and thought of all the extraordinary problems
that one is for ever coming across in life. And I wondered whether
the people of Bath who saw the tall, impassive-looking, hazel-eyed
son and the invalid father in their daily pilgrimages to the Pump
Room, or in church on Sunday, or in the Park on sunny afternoons had
the least notion of the tragedy that was going on. My reflections
were interrupted by his entrance. He had forced up a cheerfulness
that I am sure he didn't really feel, and seemed afraid of letting
our talk flag for a moment. I remember, too, that for the first