They say it takes nine tailors to make a man,
but Ernest felt that it would take at least nine Ernests to make a Mr.
Holt. How if, as soon as Ernest came in, the tailor were to become
violent and abusive? What could he do? Mr. Holt was in his own
lodgings, and had a right to be undisturbed. A legal right, yes, but
had he a moral right? Ernest thought not, considering his mode of
life. But put this on one side; if the man were to be violent, what
should he do? Paul had fought with wild beasts at Ephesus- that must
indeed have been awful- but perhaps they were not very wild wild
beasts; a rabbit and a canary are wild beasts; but, formidable or
not as wild beasts go, they would, nevertheless, stand no chance
against St. Paul, for he was inspired; the miracle would have been
if the wild beasts escaped, not that St. Paul should have done so;
but, however all this might be, Ernest felt that he dared not begin to
convert Mr. Holt by fighting him. Why, when he had heard Mrs. Holt
screaming "murder," he had cowered under the bed clothes and waited,
expecting to hear the blood dripping through the ceiling onto his
own floor. His imagination translated every sound into a pat, pat,
pat, and once or twice he thought he had felt it dropping onto his
counterpane, but he had never gone upstairs to try and rescue poor
Mrs.
Pages:
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440