Happy mortal! Free from
all superfluities and encumbrances of the flesh! Enviable mortal! He
reduced earthly existence to its simplest and most effective terms; he
owed no man anything; he kept alive, on a miserable income, the sacred
flame of enthusiasm. To aspire, that was the secret of life. Thinking
thus, Mr. Heard began to understand the bibliographer's feeling for
Mrs. Meadows. She lived for her child--he for his work. They were alike;
calm and self-contained, both of them; incapable of illusions, of
excesses in thought or conduct.
Without the doorway, in a small triangle of shade, sat is fox-terrier,
alert, head poised on one side in knowing fashion, ready to bark if the
visitors only touched the handle of the gate. Denis remarked:
"He told me that dog was sick the other morning, just like Keith."
"It had probably been eating something. I suppose they couldn't be
unwell, could they? What a heat, Denis! It's addling my old brains.
More slowly, please."
An hour went by. Fatigue was beginning to tell upon Mr.
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