essing, Frank. Willie makes such a merit of giving
me shelter; he means well, I suppose; but it is all dreadful."

My notes of this talk finish in this way, but the conversation left on
me a deep impression of Oscar's extraordinary weakness or rather
extraordinary softness of nature backed up and redeemed by a certain
magnanimity: he would not leave the friends in the lurch who had gone
bail for him; he would not give his friend away even to save himself;
but neither would he exert himself greatly to win free. He was like a
woman, I said to myself in wonder, and my pity for him grew keener.
He seemed mentally stunned by the sudden fall, by the discovery of how
violently men can hate. He had never seen the wolf in man before; the
vile brute instinct that preys upon the fallen. He had not believed
that such exultant savagery existed; it had never come within his ken;
now it appalled him. And so he stood there waiting for what might
happen without courage to do anything but suffer. My heart ached with
pity for him, and yet I felt a little impatient with him as well. Why
give up like that? The eternal quarrel of the combative nature with
those who can't or won't fight.

Before getting into the carriage to drive back to his brother's, I
ascertained that he did not need any money. He told me that he had
sufficient even for the expenses of a second trial: this surprised me
greatly, for he was very careless about money; but I found out from
him later that a very noble and cultured woman, a friend of both of
us, Miss S----, a Jewess by race tho' not by religion, had written to
him asking if she could help him financially, as she had been
distressed by hearing of his bankruptcy, and feared that he might be
in need. If that were the case she begged him to let her be his
banker, in order that he might be properly defended. He wrote in
reply, saying that he was indeed in uttermost distress, that he
wanted money, too, to help his mother as he had always helped her, and
that he supposed the expenses of the second trial would be from L500
to L1,000. Thereupon Miss S---- sent him a cheque for L1,000, assuring
him that it cost her little even in self-sacrifice, and declaring that
it was only inadequate recognition of the pleasure she had had through
his delightful talks. Such actions are beyond praise; it is the
perfume of such sweet and noble human sympathy that makes this wild
beasts' cage of a world habitable for men.

Before parti