| BY A.S.M. HUTCHINSON THE HAPPY WARRIOR ONCE ABOARD THE LUGGER— THE CLEAN HEART IF WINTER COMES |
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1921
Published, August, 1921
Reprinted, August, 1921 (twice)
Reprinted, September, 1921 (four times)
Reprinted, October, 1921
PRINTED BY C.H. SIMONDS COMPANY
BOSTON, MASS., U.S.A.
"...O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"
—SHELLEY
| PAGE | |
| PART ONE Mabel | 1 |
| PART TWO Nona | 77 |
| PART THREE Effie | 187 |
| PART FOUR Mabel—Nona—Effie | 317 |
To take Mark Sabre at the age of thirty-four, and in the year 1912, andat the place Penny Green is to necessitate looking back a little towardsthe time of his marriage in 1904, but happens to find him in good lightfor observation. Encountering him hereabouts, one who had shared schooldays with him at his preparatory school so much as twenty-four yearsback would have found matter for recognition.
A usefully garrulous person, one Hapgood, a solicitor, found much.
"Whom do you think I met yesterday? Old Sabre! You remember old Sabre atold Wickamote's?... Yes, that's the chap. Used to call him Puzzlehead,remember? Because he used to screw up his forehead over things oldWickamote or any of the other masters said and sort of drawl out, 'Well,I don't see that, sir.'... Yes, rather!... And then that otherexpression of his. Just the opposite. When old Wickamote or some one hadlanded him, or all of us, with some dashed punishment, and we weregassing about it, used to screw up his nut in the same way and say,'Yes, but I see what he means.' And some one would say, 'Well, whatdoes he mean, you ass?' and he'd start gassing some rot till some onesaid, 'Good lord, fancy sticking up for a master!' And old Puzzleheadwould say, 'You sickening fool, I'm not sticking up for him. I'm onlysaying he's right from how he looks at it and it's no good saying he'swrong.'... Ha! Funny days.... Jolly nice chap, though, old Puzzleheadwas.... Yes, I met him.... Fact, I run into him occasionally. We do amild amount of business with his firm. I buzz down there about once ayear. Tidborough. He's changed, of course. So have you, you know. ThatVandyke beard, what? Ha! Old Sabre's not done anything outrageous likethat. Real thing I seemed to notice about him when I bumped into himyest