took care that we had
our fill of it; and then all was gained, and we were happy. So may it be
for ages and ages!"

The old man fell into a reverie, not altogether without melancholy I
thought; but I would not break it. Suddenly he started, and said: "Well,
dear guest, here are come Dick and Clara to fetch you away, and there is
an end of my talk; which I daresay you will not be sorry for; the long
day is coming to an end, and you will have a pleasant ride back to
Hammersmith."

CHAPTER XIX: THE DRIVE BACK TO HAMMERSMITH

I said nothing, for I was not inclined for mere politeness to him after
such very serious talk; but in fact I should liked to have gone on
talking with the older man, who could understand something at least of my
wonted ways of looking at life, whereas, with the younger people, in
spite of all their kindness, I really was a being from another planet.
However, I made the best of it, and smiled as amiably as I could on the
young couple; and Dick returned the smile by saying, "Well, guest, I am
glad to have you again, and to find that you and my kinsman have not
quite talked yourselves into another world; I was half suspecting as I
was listening to the Welshmen yonder that you would presently be
vanishing away from us, and began to picture my kinsman sitting in the
hall staring at nothing and finding that he had been talking a while past
to nobody."

I felt rather uncomfortable at this speech, for suddenly the picture of
the sordid squabble, the dirty and miserable tragedy of the life I had
left for a while, came before my eyes; and I had, as it were, a vision of
all my longings for rest and peace in the past, and I loathed the idea of
going back to it again. But the old man chuckled and said:

"Don't be afraid, Dick. In any case, I have not been talking to thin
air; nor, indeed to this new friend of ours only. Who knows but I may
not have been talking to many people? For perhaps our guest may some day
go back to the people he has come from, and may take a message from us
which may bear fruit for them, and consequently for us."

Dick looked puzzled, and said: "Well, gaffer, I do not quite understand
what you mean. All I can say is, that I hope he will not leave us: for
don't you see, he is another kind of man to what we are used to, and
somehow he makes us think of all kind of things; and already I feel as if
I could understand Dickens the better for having talked with him."

"Yes,