Warleggan by Winston Graham Page A

thought of these cut-throats let loose. Folk forget that when a country throws away its discipline it throws away its strength. I trust this will be a lesson to the noisy windbags in Paris.' He paused and. stretched a booted leg and twisted his moustache. 'Though for myself ..'
    Demelza waited. ''What for yourself, Captain McNeil?' 'Well, I confess I should not have been discontented to have a tilt at them some way, or another. I should not be wishing Britain into war, ye understand, but for a soldier a small bout of fighting now and then restores his self-respect'
    'I shouldn't have thought 'twould be likely you would lose that.'
    'No, ma'am. But in times of peace one is sent on-one- is liable to' be called, upon for distasteful and rather shabby missions which .' McNeil stopped and withdrew his leg and looked at Demelza. Demelza looked at him, without a flicker of a cha nge of expression. He swallowed and said 'I'm s orry. I thought I heard a baby crying.'
    She got up and went quickly to the window, 'peered out. 'No. I can see him. He's still asleep.'
    'Perhaps it's your little girl. Though by now I suppose she will be-'
    'She died, Captain McNeil, More than two years ago:'
    'Oh . . `' He got up. `Forgive me, ma'am. , I'm sorry.'
    Demelza came back. 'It's nothing to forgive. You were not to know.' She stood by the table for a moment, fairly close to him. 'Pray sit down.'
    'It must have been a gri evous blow. You will feel a gap in your life..’
    'It is hard to explain, for 'tis more than a gap. Or it has been with us, There is a change. Nothing hasn't been the same since. Those who are left are different people trying to live the same lives.'
    McNeil stood looking at her. He cursed himself for having got the conversation on the wrong leg. Yet in what she said he detected an alloy of something besides sadness. She did not look in the least a discontented woman, but all clearly was not well between her and l ife. It might be a circumstance worth exploring.
    Ross was not, as Demelza not unreasonably supposed, fathoms deep; he was in, conference with Francis and Captain Henshawe in the changing shed near the mine. The two young engineers, Bull and Trevithick, who had built the engine, had been over to correct a minor fault, and Ross had taken the opportunity of sounding them on the potentialities of thei r child, It seemed plain to him , and they confirmed it, that the engine was capable of a good deal more than was at present demanded; and he proposed that the main shaft should be sunk another twenty fathoms so that two new levels could be begun. This meant engaging more men; but as he, pointed out to Henshawe and Francis, the prospect of profit was increased out of proportion to the expense. The great expense was the engine. While it worked, let it do the maximum.
    Francis the gambler was all for it, Henshawe more cautious; but inevitably, as the chief partners, the cousins had their way. Henshawe's interest was nominal, and in any case he was not an obstructive man. He knew Ross's overriding need of quick results. Nor did he comment, as he might have done, that in his wide experience of mines in this district he had seldom known the copper lodes to improve with depth, as was often the case further west. Nothing was so unpredictable as a mine - one reason why they were always feminine - and he was not prepared to take the responsibility of standing in the way of Ross's instinct.
    After the meeting Ross walked home alone, content that the effort was to be made but content with nothing else.
    Elizabeth's confession at the party had had an unexpected effect on him.' Behind the strong and sometimes lawless impulses that moved him from time to time was a bitterly clear-minded critic, who saw his own acts, usually after he had performed them, with great detachment Sometimes, though not very often, this critic turned on others. It did so now on Elizabeth. She wasn't at all less attractive to him - much the reverse. But he found