, one streak
not all yellow. And the very worst are capable of one friendship. You
may not believe this some day. But it is true.... Good-bye."

"Is there anything, Malcourt--"

"Nothing you can do for me. Perhaps something I can do for you--" And,
laughing, "I'll consult my father; he's not very definite on that point
yet."

So Malcourt swung aboard the wagon, nodded again to Hamil, waved a
pleasant adieu to Portlaw at the window, and was gone in a shower of wet
gravel and mud.

And all that day Portlaw fussed and fumed and pouted about the house,
tormenting Hamil with questions and speculations concerning the going of
Malcourt, which for a while struck Hamil merely as selfish ebullitions;
but later it came to him by degrees that this rich, selfish, over-fed,
over-pampered, and revoltingly idle landowner, whose sole mental and
physical resources were confined to the dinner and card tables, had been
capable of a genuine friendship for Malcourt. Self-centred, cautious to
the verge of meanness in everything which did not directly concern his
own comfort and well-being, he, nevertheless, was totally dependent upon
his friends for a full enjoyment of his two amusements; for he hated to
dine alone and he loathed solitaire.

Therefore, in spending money to make his house and grounds attractive
to his friends, he was ministering, as always, to himself; and when he
first took Malcourt for his superintendent he did so from purely selfish
motives and at a beggarly stipend.

And now, in the two years of his official tenure, Malcourt already
completely dominated him, often bullied him, criticised him to his face,
betrayed no illusions concerning the absolute self-interest which
dictated Portlaw's policy in all things, coolly fixed and regulated all
salaries, including his own, and, in short, matched Portlaw's
undisguised selfishness with a cynicism so sparkling and so frankly
ruthless that Portlaw gradually formed for him a real attachment.

There was no indiscriminate generosity in that attachment; he never
voluntarily increased Malcourt's salary or decreased his
responsibilities; he got out of his superintendent every bit of labour
and every bit of amusement he could at the lowest price Malcourt would
take; yet, in spite of that he really cared for Malcourt; he secretly
admired his intellectual equipment; feared it, too; and the younger
man's capacity for dissipation made him an invaluable companion when
Portlaw emerged