“Youlefthim？“
“Myhorsebolted。“
“Iknow。Sodidmine。“
Helaughedathismastermirthlessly。
“Isaymyhorsebolted，“saidthemanwhooncehadasilver-studdedbridle。
“Cowardsboth，“saidthelittleman。
Theothergnawedhisknucklethroughsomemeditativemoments，withhiseyeonhisinferior。
“Don’tcallmeacoward，“hesaidatlength。
“Youareacowardlikemyself。“
“Acowardpossibly。Thereisalimitbeyondwhicheverymanmustfear。
ThatIhavelearntatlast。Butnotlikeyourself。Thatiswherethedifferencecomesin。“
“Inevercouldhavedreamtyouwouldhavelefthim。Hesavedyourlifetwominutesbefore……Whyareyouourlord？“
Themastergnawedhisknucklesagain，andhiscountenancewasdark。
“Nomancallsmeacoward，“hesaid。“No。Abrokenswordisbetterthannone……Onespavinedwhitehorsecannotbeexpectedtocarrytwomenafourdays’journey。Ihatewhitehorses，butthistimeitcannotbehelped。Youbegintounderstandme？……Iperceivethatyouareminded，onthestrengthofwhatyouhaveseenandfancy，totaintmyreputation。Itismenofyoursortwhounmakekings。
Besideswhich——Ineverlikedyou。“
“Mylord！“saidthelittleman。
“No，“saidthemaster。“NO！“
Hestoodupsharplyasthelittlemanmoved。Foraminuteperhapstheyfacedoneanother。Overheadthespiders’ballswentdriving。
Therewasaquickmovementamongthepebbles；arunningoffeet，acryofdespair，agaspandablow……
Towardsnightfallthewindfell。Thesunsetinacalmserenity，andthemanwhohadoncepossessedthesilverbridlecameatlastverycautiouslyandbyaneasyslopeoutoftheravineagain；butnowheledthewhitehorsethatoncebelongedtothelittleman。
Hewouldhavegonebacktohishorsetogethissilver-mountedbridleagain，buthefearednightandaquickeningbreezemightstillfindhiminthevalley，andbesideshedislikedgreatlytothinkhemightdiscoverhishorseallswathedincobwebsandperhapsunpleasantlyeaten。
Andashethoughtofthosecobwebsandofallthedangershehadbeenthrough，andthemannerinwhichhehadbeenpreservedthatday，hishandsoughtalittlereliquarythathungabouthisneck，andheclaspeditforamomentwithheartfeltgratitude。Ashedidsohiseyeswentacrossthevalley。
“Iwashotwithpassion，“hesaid，“andnowshehasmetherreward。
Theyalso，nodoubt——“
Andbehold！Farawayoutofthewoodedslopesacrossthevalley，butintheclearnessofthesunsetdistinctandunmistakable，hesawalittlespireofsmoke。
Atthathisexpressionofsereneresignationchangedtoanamazedanger。Smoke？Heturnedtheheadofthewhitehorseabout，andhesitated。Andashedidsoalittlerustleofairwentthroughthegrassabouthim。Farawayuponsomereedsswayedatatteredsheetofgrey。Helookedatthecobwebs；helookedatthesmoke。
“Perhaps，afterall，itisnotthem，“hesaidatlast。
Butheknewbetter。
Afterhehadstaredatthesmokeforsometime，hemountedthewhitehorse。
Asherode，hepickedhiswayamidststrandedmassesofweb。Forsomereasonthereweremanydeadspidersontheground，andthosethatlivedfeastedguiltilyontheirfellows。Atthesoundofhishorse’shoofstheyfled。
Theirtimehadpassed。Fromthegroundwithouteitherawindtocarrythemorawindingsheetready，thesethings，foralltheirpoison，coulddohimlittleevil。Heflickedwithhisbeltatthosehefanciedcametoonear。Once，whereanumberrantogetheroverabareplace，hewasmindedtodismountandtramplethemwithhisboots，butthisimpulseheovercame。Everandagainheturnedinhissaddle，andlookedbackatthesmoke。
“Spiders，“hemutteredoverandoveragain。“Spiders！Well，well……
ThenexttimeImustspinaweb。“
Hesitsnotadozenyardsaway。IfIglanceovermyshoulderIcanseehim。AndifIcatchhiseye——andusuallyIcatchhiseye——
itmeetsmewithanexpression。
Itismainlyanimploringlook——andyetwithsuspicioninit。
Confoundhissuspicion！IfIwantedtotellonhimIshouldhavetoldlongago。Idon’ttellandIdon’ttell，andheoughttofeelathisease。Asifanythingsogrossandfatashecouldfeelatease！WhowouldbelievemeifIdidtell？
PooroldPyecraft！Great，uneasyjellyofsubstance！ThefattestclubmaninLondon。
Hesitsatoneofthelittleclubtablesinthehugebaybythefire，stuffing。Whatishestuffing？Iglancejudiciouslyandcatchhimbitingataroundofhotbutteredtea-cake，withhiseyesonme。
Confoundhim！——withhiseyesonme！
Thatsettlesit，Pyecraft！SinceyouWILLbeabject，sinceyouWILL
behaveasthoughIwasnotamanofhonour，here，rightunderyourembeddedeyes，Iwritethethingdown——theplaintruthaboutPyecraft。
ThemanIhelped，themanIshielded，andwhohasrequitedmebymakingmyclubunendurable，absolutelyunendurable，withhisliquidappeal，withtheperpetual“don’ttell“ofhislooks。
And，besides，whydoeshekeeponeternallyeating？
Well，heregoesforthetruth，thewholetruth，andnothingbutthetruth！
Pyecraft。ImadetheacquaintanceofPyecraftinthisverysmoking-
room。Iwasayoung，nervousnewmember，andhesawit。Iwassittingallalone，wishingIknewmoreofthemembers，andsuddenlyhecame，agreatrollingfrontofchinsandabdomina，towardsme，andgruntedandsatdowninachairclosebymeandwheezedforaspace，andscrapedforaspacewithamatchandlitacigar，andthenaddressedme。Iforgetwhathesaid——somethingaboutthematchesnotlightingproperly，andafterwardsashetalkedhekeptstoppingthewaitersonebyoneastheywentby，andtellingthemaboutthematchesinthatthin，flutyvoicehehas。But，anyhow，itwasinsomesuchwaywebeganourtalking。
Hetalkedaboutvariousthingsandcameroundtogames。Andthencetomyfigureandcomplexion。“YOUoughttobeagoodcricketer，“
hesaid。IsupposeIamslender，slendertowhatsomepeoplewouldcalllean，andIsupposeIamratherdark，still——IamnotashamedofhavingaHindugreat-grandmother，but，forallthat，Idon’twantcasualstrangerstoseethroughmeataglancetoHER。SothatIwassetagainstPyecraftfromthebeginning。
Butheonlytalkedaboutmeinordertogettohimself。
“Iexpect，“hesaid，“youtakenomoreexercisethanIdo，andprobablyyoueatnoless。“(Likeallexcessivelyobesepeoplehefanciedheatenothing。)“Yet，“——andhesmiledanobliquesmile——
“wediffer。“
Andthenhebegantotalkabouthisfatnessandhisfatness；
allhedidforhisfatnessandallhewasgoingtodoforhisfatness；
whatpeoplehadadvisedhimtodoforhisfatnessandwhathehadheardofpeopledoingforfatnesssimilartohis。“Apriori，“hesaid，“onewouldthinkaquestionofnutritioncouldbeansweredbydietaryandaquestionofassimilationbydrugs。“Itwasstifling。Itwasdumplingtalk。Itmademefeelswelledtohearhim。
Onestandsthatsortofthingonceinawayataclub，butatimecamewhenIfanciedIwasstandingtoomuch。Hetooktomealtogethertooconspicuously。Icouldnevergointothesmoking-roombuthewouldcomewallowingtowardsme，andsometimeshecameandgormandisedroundandaboutmewhileIhadmylunch。Heseemedattimesalmosttobeclingingtome。Hewasabore，butnotsofearfulaboreastobelimitedtome；andfromthefirsttherewassomethinginhismanner——almostasthoughheknew，almostasthoughhepenetratedtothefactthatIMIGHT——thattherewasaremote，exceptionalchanceinmethatnooneelsepresented。
“I’dgiveanythingtogetitdown，“hewouldsay——“anything，“
andpeeratmeoverhisvastcheeksandpant。
PooroldPyecraft！Hehasjustgonged，nodoubttoorderanotherbutteredtea-cake！
Hecametotheactualthingoneday。“OurPharmacopoeia，“hesaid，“ourWesternPharmacopoeia，isanythingbutthelastwordofmedicalscience。IntheEast，I’vebeentold——“
Hestoppedandstaredatme。Itwaslikebeingatanaquarium。
