When I was
at Templemorton I see something of 'em. Queer fellows, some of 'em. Very
respectful of course, free with their money in a spasammy sort of way,
but--Some of 'em, I must confess, make me nervous. They have an eye
on you. They watch you--as you wait. They let themselves appear to be
lookin' at you..."
My mother said nothing in that discussion. The word colonies always
upset her. She was afraid, I think, that if she turned her mind in that
direction my errant father might suddenly and shockingly be
discovered, no doubt conspicuously bigamic and altogether offensive and
revolutionary. She did not want to rediscover my father at all.
It is curious that when I was a little listening boy I had such an idea
of our colonies that I jeered in my heart at Mrs. Mackridge's colonial
ascendancy. These brave emancipated sunburnt English of the open, I
thought, suffer these aristocratic invaders as a quaint anachronism, but
as for being gratified--!
I don't jeer now. I'm not so sure.
V
It is a little difficult to explain why I did not come to do what was
the natural thing for any one in my circumstances to do, and take my
world for granted.
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