at the service of the State was encumbered by a
mass of unnecessary detail, in the usefulness of which he did not
believe. The Secretary said that of course there was a good deal of
drudgery, but that the same applied to most lives of practical
usefulness; and he pointed out that by accepting the new appointment,
Hugh would be set free to attend to work of a more original and
important kind. But Hugh felt himself sustained by a curiously
inflexible determination, for which he could not wholly account; he
merely said that he had considered the question in all its bearings,
and that his mind was made up; upon which the Secretary shrugged his
shoulders, and said that he did not wish to over-persuade him; and that
indeed, if Hugh accepted the new post merely in deference to
persuasion, it would be good neither for himself nor for the service.
He added a few conventional words to the effect that the office would
be sorry to lose so courteous and competent an official; and Hugh
recognised that his chief, with the instinct of a thoroughly practical
man, had dismissed him from his thoughts, as an entirely fantastic and
wrong-headed person.

His retirement was not unattended by pain; he found that the
announcement of his departure aroused more surprise and sorrow among
his colleagues than he had expected; it was depressing, too, to say
good-bye to the well-known faces, the familiar rooms, the routine that
formed so substantial a part of his life. But he found in himself a
wholly unanticipated courage, and even a secret glee at the prospect of
his release, which revealed to him how congenial it was. He cleared up
the accumulations of years; he made his adieux with much real emotion;
yet it was a solemn rather than a sad moment when he put his papers
away for the last time, and handed over the keys of the familiar boxes
to his successor. He went slowly down the stairs alone, and stopped at
the door to say good-bye to the old attendant, whom he never remembered
to have seen absent from his place. The old man said, "Well, sir, I
did think as you would not have left us yet." Hugh replied, smiling,
"Well, we have all to move on when our time comes, and I hope I leave
only friends behind me." The old man seemed much affected by this, and
said, "Yes, sir, we shall be glad to see you whenever you can look in
upon us"--and then with much fumbling drew out and presented a small
pen-wiper to Hugh, which he had made with his own hand