eavy
rectitude, work for which he knew himself to be unfit; and that such
mechanical work as he felt bound to undertake should be regarded by him
in the light of a tonic, which should enable him to return to his
chosen work with a sense of gladness and relief.

This would demand a certain sustained effort, he foresaw. But whatever
qualities he possessed, he knew that he could reckon upon a vital
impatience of things that were dull and common; moreover it was
possible to determine that, whatever happened, he would not do things
in a dull way; so much depended upon how they were handled and
executed. One of the dullest things in the world was the
multiplication of unnecessary business. So many people made the
mistake of thinking that by minute organisation the success of a system
could be guaranteed. Hugh knew that the real secret was to select the
right personalities, and to leave systems elastic and simple, and that
thus the best results were achieved; the most depressing thing in the
world was a dull person administering faithfully an elaborate system;
one of the most inspiring sights was an original man making the best of
a bad system.

And so Hugh resolved that he would bring to his task, his leisure, his
relations with others, his exits and entrances, his silence and his
speech, a freshness and a zest, not directed to surprising or
interesting others--that was the most vulgar expedient of all--but with
a deliberate design to transmute, as by the touch of the magical stone,
the common materials of life into pure gold. He would endeavour to
discern the poetical quality in everything and in everyone. In
inanimate things this was easy enough, for they were already full of
pungent distinctness, of subtle difference; it was all there, waiting
merely to be discerned. With people it was different, because there
were so many who stared solemnly and impenetrably, who repelled one
with remarks about the weather and the events of the day, as a man
repels a barge with a pole. With such people it would be necessary to
try a number of conversational flies over the surface of the sleeping
pool, in the hope that some impulse, some pleasant trait would dart
irresistibly to the surface, and be hauled struggling ashore. Hugh had
seen, more than once, strange, repressed, mournful things looking out
of the guarded eyes of dreary persons; and it would be his business to
entice these to the light. He determined, too, to cultiva