been industrious; and then began a second
distribution.

A calm and disinterested observer would probably have been touched by
this spectacle of impulsive womanly charity. He might even have decided
that it was one of the most beautifully human things that he had ever
seen. And the fact that the hardy heroes and Norsemen appeared scarcely
to know what to do with the silver-wrapped bonbons would not have
impaired his admiration for these two girlish figures of benevolence.
Denry, too, was touched by the spectacle, but in another way. It was the
rents of his clients that were being thus dissipated in a very luxury of
needless benevolence. He muttered:

"Well, that's a bit thick, that is!" But of course he could do nothing.

As the process continued, the clicking of the machine exacerbated his
ears.

"Idiotic!" he muttered.

The final annoyance to him was that everybody except himself seemed to
consider that Ruth was displaying singular ingenuity, originality,
enterprise, and goodness of heart.

In that moment he saw clearly for the first time that the marriage
between himself and Ruth had not been arranged in Heaven. He admitted
privately then that the saving of a young woman from violent death in a
pantechnicon need not inevitably involve espousing her. She was without
doubt a marvellous creature, but it was as wise to dream of keeping a
carriage and pair as to dream of keeping Ruth. He grew suddenly cynical.
His age leaped to fifty or so, and the curve of his lips changed.

Ruth, spying around, saw him and ran to him with a glad cry.

"Here!" she said, "take these. They're no good." She held out her hands.

"What are they?" he asked.

"They're the halfpennies."

"So sorry!" he said, with an accent whose significance escaped her, and
took the useless coins.

"We've exhausted all the chocolate," said she. "But there's butterscotch
left--it's nearly as good--and gold-tipped cigarettes. I daresay some of
them would enjoy a smoke. Have you got any more pennies?"

"No!" he replied. "But I've got ten or a dozen half-crowns. They'll work
the machine just as well, won't they?"

This time she did notice a certain unusualness in the flavour of his
accent. And she hesitated.

"Don't be silly!" she said.

"I'll try not to be," said Denry. So far as he could remember, he had
never used such a tone before. Ruth swerved away to rejoin Nellie.

Denry surreptitiously counted the halfpennies. There were eighteen. She