in spite of his anxiety and the morning's collapse, he was still in a

curious emotional state that was certainly not misery. He was forgetting

his imaginings and posings, forgetting himself altogether in his growing

appreciation of his companion. The most tangible trouble in his mind was

the necessity of breaking the matter to her.

A long stretch up hill tired them long before Stoney Cross was reached,

and they dismounted and sat under the shade of a little oak tree. Near

the crest the road looped on itself, so that, looking back, it sloped

below them up to the right and then came towards them. About them grew

a rich heather with stunted oaks on the edge of a deep ditch along the

roadside, and this road was sandy; below the steepness of the hill,

however, it was grey and barred with shadows, for there the trees

clustered thick and tall. Mr. Hoopdriver fumbled clumsily with his

cigarettes.

There's a thing I got to tell you," he said, trying to be perfectly

calm.

Yes?" she said.

I'd like to jest discuss your plans a bit, y'know."

I'm very unsettled," said Jessie. "You are thinking of writing Books?"

Or doing journalism, or teaching, or something like that."

230

The Wheels of Chance