'I thank your worship', said Elzevir, 'for all your goodness; but when I
quit this place, I shall not set up my staff again at any inn door.'
Mr. Bailiff seemed nettled to see his offer made so little of, and left
the room with a sniff, 'Then I wish you good day.'
Maskew had slipped out before him, and the children's noses left the
window-pane as the great man walked down the steps. There was a little
group to see the start, but it quickly melted; and before the clatter of
hoofs died away, the report spread through the village that Maskew had
turned Elzevir out of the Why Not?
For a long time after all had gone, Elzevir sat at the table with his
head between his hands, and I kept quiet also, both because I was myself
sorry that we were to be sent adrift, and because I wished to show
Elzevir that I felt for him in his troubles. But the young cannot enter
fully into their elders' sorrows, however much they may wish to, and
after a time the silence palled upon me. It was getting dusk, and the
candle which bore itself so bravely through auction and lease-sealing
burnt low in the socket. A minute later the light gave some flickering
flashes, failings, and sputters, and then the wick tottered, and out
popped the flame, leaving us with the chilly grey of a March evening
creeping up in the corners of the room.
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