Page:C Q, or, In the Wireless House (Train, 1912).djvu/103

 in his heart something that drew him to this sad, motionless figure upon the deck, something—of chivalry perhaps (though he was only a son of a second son!)—of the comradeship of those who are fighting against odds on a losing side, of motherhood for a life that had been saved, of proprietorship for the same reason, of pity! For this bally ass had won the Hon. Evelyn in the correct, aristocratic, legal and recognized way (and not behind the second gamekeeper’s), and then had proceeded to get gay and do fool things!

“My God, man!” thought Micky, “when you had her—whether you got her by fair means or foul—whether she did it herself or whether it was a stinking game of that bloody old sneak the Earl, why—why—why in God’s name—did n’t you sit tight and behave yourself and hang on to her? For now you ’ve lost a thousand times more than I have! You poor, foolish, blundering devil!”

And a great surge of sympathy welled into Micky’s breast and (he was shaking and dizzy) the tears came into his eyes, and, being only twenty-three and not a hero at all, he suddenly felt for this other fool of an Englishman the