Page:The unhallowed harvest (1917).djvu/135

130 face had grown redder, the rector's lips were tightly set, as if in an effort to prevent the escape from them of inadvertent words, and Ruth, fearful of the upsetting of her plans for a harmonious dinner, was nervously tapping the damask cloth with a shapely finger. Miss Chichester, seeing that Barry had unwittingly gotten himself into trouble, felt that it was her instant duty to help him out of it.

"Oh, but Barry's going to give Mrs. Bradley some money anyway, now that her husband's dead. Aren't you, Barry? I call that very generous."

"Yes," replied Barry, "if she'll take it. Something as a gift, you know. Purely as a gift. No obligation connected with it at all."

"A small sum as an honorarium, I suppose, Barry," said Mr. Tracy, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Exactly!" replied Barry, "an honorarium." The word sounded good to him. He meant to stow it away in his memory, for use on some other occasion.

"But what if she won't accept it?" asked Mrs. Tracy. "That kind of people are so very independent."

"Barry intends to keep calling on her and urging her, periodically, until she does accept it. Don't you, Barry?" inquired Westgate. Mr. Tracy and Westgate never seemed able to let escape them a good opportunity of having a little quiet amusement at Barry's expense.

"Why," replied Barry, "it might take one or two more visits to induce her to be reasonable about it, I don't know."

"Well," said Miss Chichester, "if she doesn't take it the second time it's offered to her, she should never have another chance. Barry can't afford to be perpetually chasing after ungrateful people to force money on them. Can you, Barry?"

"But what if Barry enjoys the chase?" asked Westgate.

Then the vice-president of the Malleson Manufactur-