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one of the treads was a bit rotten, and down I went. Thing was aflare
in a moment!..."
He yawned at the end of the discussion, and moved doorward.
"So long," said Mr. Polly.
"Good night," said Mr. Rumbold. "You played a brave man's part! If you
don't get a medal--"
He left an eloquent pause.
"
'Ear, 'ear!" said Mr. Wintershed and Mr. Clamp. "Goo'night, O' Man,"
said Mr. Hinks.
"Goo'night All," said Mr. Polly ...
He went slowly upstairs. The vague perplexity common to popular heroes
pervaded his mind. He entered the bedroom and turned up the electric
light. It was quite a pleasant room, one of the best in the Temperance
Hotel, with a nice clean flowered wallpaper, and a very large
looking-glass. Miriam appeared to be asleep, and her shoulders were
humped up under the clothes in a shapeless, forbidding lump that Mr.
Polly had found utterly loathsome for fifteen years. He went softly
over to the dressing-table and surveyed himself thoughtfully.
Presently he hitched up the trousers. "Miles too big for me," he
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