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Updated: May 17, 2025
He did not mean to be forced back, particularly as there were men at work not far off who had, no doubt, noted Charnock's aggressive attitude. The latter, however, was quicker than he thought, and reached the dangerous spot before Wilkinson got across. Splashing, and slipping in the mud, he advanced recklessly, and Wilkinson could not turn back.
While the foreman replied with coarse but rather meaningless abuse, Charnock's retorts had a definite aim and hit their mark. He indicated with humorous skill the defects in his antagonist's looks and character, and Festing's gang laughed uproariously, while the borrowed workmen applauded as loudly as they durst.
After all, there's something to be said for Charnock's point of view. Your delicate English grace and bloom ought to be protected and not rubbed off by the rough cares of life." "I don't know if you're nice or not," Muriel rejoined with a laugh. "Anyway, you don't know many English girls, and your ideas about us are old-fashioned. We are not kept in lavender now.
"Drink it quick!" Charnock's teeth rattled against the glass, but he swallowed the liquor, and sat motionless for a moment or two. "Seemed to lose my balance. Bit of a shock you know, and I expect that stone hit me pretty hard." "So I imagine; there's an ugly bruise on your face," said Norton, giving him back the glass. "The first dose braced you. Take some more."
They were pledges of trust and affection, and he had found them, trampled by Charnock's heavy boots, among the dust and rubbish. "You'd get on faster if you used a brush," he suggested. "Can't find the brush. Confounded thing's hidden itself somewhere. Can't remember where I put anything to-night. Suppose you don't see a small lace handkerchief about?"
Festing studied the paper, which contained a rough statement of Charnock's affairs. The balance was against him, but Festing thought it might be wiped off, or at least pulled down, by economy and well-directed effort. The trouble was that Charnock disliked economy, and of late had declined to make a fight. Festing doubted if he could be roused, but meant to try.
In the meantime, but unconsciously, he threw some light on Charnock's vacillating character. When he stopped Helen mused for a few minutes. Although she had got a shock when Charnock gave her up, she knew her lover better than when she had promised to marry him. He came home once in the winter and she had remarked a change.
"It looks like that," Charnock agreed. "I don't mean to stop." Wilkinson clutched at the slippery bank but the wet gravel tore out. It was impossible to get up, and if he tried to scramble down, he might not stop until he fell into the river. He glanced at Charnock's set face and got something of a shock.
We need a boss to superintend, which you can't do, and when I want advice I can go to Norton. As a matter of fact, when I come here in the evenings you find fault with what I've done. When I undertake a job I like to feel I'm carrying it out." Festing stopped him and looked at Helen, for he was not deceived by Charnock's injured tone. "I imagine this is something like a plot to get me away."
Next morning there was a marked haziness in the west, but the frost was keener. It looked as if they must be beaten, although they meant to fight until defeat was sure, and Festing was surprised when he glanced at his comrade. This was not the careless lounger he had known. Charnock's face was grim and somewhat pinched; his hands were torn and bruised.
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