ill his
palms blistered, it would not help. Those he prescribed for teased him
like a pack of spirit-presences, which clamour to be heard. And if a
serious case took a turn for the worse, he would find himself rising in
a sweat of uncertainty, and going lamp in hand into the surgery, to con
over a prescription he had written during the day. And one knew where
THAT kind of thing led!

Now, as if all this were not enough, there was added to it the old,
evergreen botheration about money.

Chapter X

Thus far, Ocock had nursed his mining investments for him with a
fatherly care. He himself had been free as a bird from responsibility.
Every now and again he would drop in at the office, just to make sure
the lawyer was on the alert; and each time he came home cheerful with
confidence. That was over now. As a first result of the breach, he
missed--or so he believed--clearing four hundred pounds. Among the
shares he held was one lot which till now had proved a sorry bargain.
Soon after purchase something had gone wrong with the management of the
claim; there had been a lawsuit, followed by calls unending and never a
dividend. Now, when these shares unexpectedly swung up to a high
level--only to drop the week after to their standing figure--Ocock
failed to sell out in the nick of time. Called to account, he replied
that it was customary in these matters for his clients to advise him;
thus deepening Mahony's sense of obligation. Stabbed in his touchiness,
he wrote for all his scrip to be handed over to him; and thereafter
loss and gain depended on himself alone. It certainly brought a new
element of variety into his life. The mischief was, he could get to his
study of the money-market only with a fagged brain. And the fear lest
he should do something rash or let a lucky chance slip kept him on
tenter-hooks.

It was about this time that Mary, seated one evening in face of her
husband, found herself reflecting: "When one comes to think of it, how
seldom Richard ever smiles nowadays."

For a wonder they were at a soiree together, at the house of one of
Mahony's colleagues. The company consisted of the inner circle of
friends and acquaintances: "Always the same people--the old job lot!
One knows before they open their mouths what they'll say and how
they'll say it," Richard had grumbled as he dressed. The Henry Ococks
were not there though, it being common knowledge that the two men
declined to meet; and a dash of fresh