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Kangaroo held out his hand: and Richard took it.
Was ever woman so coy and hard
to please!
But they allinstinctively felt it best to keep quiet and
unnoticed.
Not that even now he dared quite denylove. They flashedin-sea,
flashed from the foamy horror of the land. Like the blooming little angels,
allfluttery tops and no bottoms.
Water finds its own level, and so
shallmoney.
Come again, he whispered, closing his eyes once more.
But it was
usually in theafternoons he went down to it.
But since he didnt REALLYknow whom
he wanted to let go at, he was not quite carried away. It was like a storm, in
whichhe could do nothing but lie still and endure and wait.
The jetty straddled
its huge grey timbers, like a great bridge, acrossthe sands and the flat
rocks.
Richard was more and more tormented in himself.
Everybody had started up
savethe Diggers.
He stood there, a shabby figure ofa man, with undignified
legs, facing the tolling enemy.
It was determined that everybody should go home
as quietly andquickly as possible.
Poor Richard, he went away almost blinded
with stress and grief andbewilderment. Then therewere shots in the night, and a
great howl from the crowd.
Harriet sent you such a silly present, he said.
And
it seemed like some far off voice of annunciation. See the brains sputter out
of that chap that shot Roo? I believe it is, said Richard, though with
unchanging face. Very-clever Marconi, it may be Marquis Tribes vonIsrael; and
it certainly IS Willie Struthers.
Your Andrew Carnegiesand your Rothschilds may
be very smart at their jobs.
A Union Jack torn tofragments, stamped upon.
Blowed if I know, answered Jack, like a drunken man.
Look at your doctor
scrambling for hisguinea a visit. He was distressed, but it made him feel more
remote. The town felt very dark, and as if somethingvery terrible had
happened.
Im damned if I see much upper about it, mates.
We must go back, he
said, We must go back to them! Kangaroo wassaid to be progressing, as far as
could be ascertained, favourably.
And his eyes glowed with exultant
satisfaction. Young fellow like mes got to keep an eyeon him, see hes all
right.
Its his business to grovel beforethese upper gents, is it?
Weve got to
save the People, weve got to do it.
Beautiful, he was beautiful again, like a
transfiguration.
But such a pain inhis stomach, as if something were torn
there.
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