erstanding. The more he endeavored to force
his mind back to its original groove of abstract theories, the more
the demons ranged themselves against him. One evening, in a fit of
absence of mind, he overheated one of the retorts, so that it burst in
his face, and the small glass particles cut his nose and cheek, and he
was forced to bind up his wounds with bits of sticking-plaster. It did
not occur to him that these strips of black diachylon placed obliquely
across his nose did not improve his appearance. He was, however, very
angry at his own folly--a folly which went still further, for he began
to argue with himself in this way:

"It would be better to marry this girl than to become mad for her
sake. Marry her? Who ever heard the like? A pit-girl! What a
_mesalliance_! And who cares? Am I not alone in the world? Do I not
form the whole family? And does not this constant thought of her come
between me and my business? If this goes on I shall be ruined; and as
for the _mesalliance_, is there a soul for six miles round who
understands the meaning of the word? Not one; and if there should be
one, he would have to seek me in the coal-pit, and he would find my
face blackened with coal-dust, so that no one could see me blush for
shame."

All the same, he never sought the girl. He waited for the Saturday,
when he knew she would come for her weekly wages, and on that day she
appeared, as usual, the last, because she was the youngest, and stood
before him as he sat at his desk. But this time, when Ivan had put the
money into Evila's hand, he kept the little fingers in his firm clasp.
The girl laughed--perhaps at the plasters, which still ornamented her
lover's face.

"Listen to me, Evila. I have something to say to you."

Evila looked uneasy; she ceased to laugh.

"Will you have me for your lover? Nay, my child, I mean you no harm;
only one must play the lover before one talks of marriage."

The girl nodded, and then shook her head. "It is not possible," she
said.

"Not possible! Why not?"

"Because I am already engaged."

Ivan let go his clasp of her hand. "To whom?"

"That I am not going to tell you," said Evila, "for if I did, I know
very well what you would do. You would discharge him, or you would
keep him back, and we cannot be married until he is taken on as a
regular pitman."

"You mean as a day laborer?"

"Yes."

"And you think more of this low fellow than you do of me, your
employer?"

The girl sh