l talk, but they won't
think. Thinking is very rare. I've got to do some myself, that's one
reason why I'm going. You know, Mrs. Spaniel, God is a horizon, not
someone sitting on a throne." Mrs. Spaniel didn't understand this--in
fact, she didn't seem to hear it. Her mind was full of the idea that
she would simply have to have a new dress, preferably black silk, for
Sundays. Gissing, very sagacious, had already foreseen this point.
"Let's not have any argument," he continued. "I have planned everything.
Here is some money for immediate needs. I'll speak to them at the
bank, and they will give you a weekly allowance. I leave you here as
caretaker. Later on I'll send you an address and you can write me how
things are going."

Poor Mrs. Spaniel was bewildered. She came of very decent people, but
since Spaniel took to drink, and then left her with a family to support,
she had sunk in the world. She was wondering now how she could face it
out with Mrs. Chow and Mrs. Fox-Terrier and the other neighbours.

"Oh, dear," she cried, "I don't know what to say, sir. Why, my boys are
so disreputable-looking, they haven't even a collar between them."

"Get them collars and anything else they need," said Gissing kindly.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Spaniel, it will be a fine thing for you. There will
be a little gossip, I dare say, but we'll have to chance that. Now
you had better go down to the village and make your arrangements. I'm
leaving tonight."

Late that evening, after seeing Mrs. Spaniel and her brood safely
installed, Gissing walked to the station with his suitcase. He felt a
pang as he lifted the mosquito nettings and kissed the cool moist noses
of the sleeping trio. But he comforted himself by thinking that this was
no merely vulgar desertion. If he was to raise the family, he must earn
some money. His modest income would not suffice for this sudden increase
in expenses. Besides, he had never known what freedom meant until it
was curtailed. For the past three months he had lived in ceaseless
attendance; had even slept with one ear open for the children's cries.
Now he owed it to himself to make one great strike for peace. Wealth, he
could see, was the answer. With money, everything was attainable: books,
leisure for study, travel, prestige--in short, command over the physical
details of life. He would go in for Big Business. Already he thrilled
with a sense of power and prosperity.

The little house stood silent in the darkness