Bathurst is not like most other men."
"Certainly not," the Doctor remarked. "He takes no interest in sport
of any kind; he does not care for society; he very rarely goes to
the club, and never touches a card when he does; and yet he is the
sort of man one would think would throw himself into what is going
on. He is a strong, active, healthy man, whom one would expect to
excel in all sorts of sports; he is certainly good looking; he talks
extremely well, and is, I should say, very well read and intelligent."
"He can be very amusing when he likes, Doctor. Once or twice when
he has been with us he has seemed to forget himself, as it were,
and was full of fun and life. You must allow that it is a little
singular that a man like this should altogether avoid society, and
night and day be absorbed in his work."
"I have thought sometimes," Mr. Hunter said, "that Bathurst must
have had some great trouble in his life. Of what nature I can, of
course, form no idea. He was little more than twenty when he came
out here, so I should say that it was hardly a love affair."
"That is always the way, Hunter. If a man goes his own way, and
that way does not happen to be the way of the mess, it is supposed
that he must have had trouble of some sort. As Bathurst is the son
of a distinguished soldier, and is now the owner of a fine property
at home, I don't see what trouble he can have had. He may possibly,
for anything I know, have had some boyish love affairs, but I don't
think he is the sort of man to allow his whole life to be affected
by any foolery of that sort.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139