Dutch, it ought to have been possible; he had
only seen her once before, and her knowledge of the language was much
better than his. And even if he had not been deceived, he would have
been bound to acquiesce to her pretence, had she persisted in it. But
she did not think of it before their mutual recognition had made it
too late.

"I hope you are not hurt," he said, as he crossed the road with the
basket.

"No," she answered, "thanks to you--"

But he, evidently sharing her dislike for a fuss, was even more
anxious than she not to dwell on that, and dismissed the subject
quickly. He began to wipe the bottom of the basket, from which soup
was dripping, talking the while of the carelessness of continental
drivers and the silliness of children of all nations, perhaps to give
her time to recover.

She agreed with him, and then repeated her thanks.

He again set them aside. "It's nothing," he said; "I am glad to have
had the opportunity, especially since it also gives me the opportunity
of offering you some apology for an unfortunate misunderstanding which
arose when last I saw you. You must feel that it needs an apology."

For a moment Julia's eyes showed her surprise; an apology was not what
she expected, and, to tell the truth, it did not altogether please
her. She knew that she and her father had no right to it while the
money was unpaid.

"Please do not apologise," she said; "there is no need, I quite
understand."

"I was labouring under a false impression," Rawson-Clew explained.

She nodded. "I know," she said, "but it is cleared up now; no one who
spoke with my father could possibly imagine he lived by his wits."

Which ambiguous remark may have been meant to apply to the Captain's
mental outfit more than his moral one. When Rawson-Clew knew Julia
better he came to the conclusion it probably did, at the time he
thought it wise not to answer it.

"Here is your basket," he said; "I think it is clean now."

She made a movement to take it, but her arm was numb and powerless
from the blow she had received; it was the right shoulder which had
been struck, and that hand was clearly useless for the time being;
with a wince of pain, she stretched out the left.

But he drew the basket back. "You are hurt," he said.

"No, I'm not, nothing to speak of; it only hurts me when I move that
arm; I will carry the basket with the other hand."

"How far have you to go?"

She told him to the village and back.

"Yo