hat I have done his bidding then he will obey you. As for
turning him out, Tom, of course you do not really mean that!"

In answer to this Sir Thomas said nothing. He knew well enough that
Tom couldn't be turned out. That turning out of a son is a difficult
task to accomplish, and one altogether beyond the power of Sir
Thomas. The chief cause of his sorrow lay in the fact that he, as the
head of Travers and Treason, was debarred from the assistance and
companionship of his son. All Travers and Treason was nothing to him,
because his son would run so far away from the right path. There was
nothing he would not do to bring him back. If Ayala could have been
bought by any reasonable, or even unreasonable, amount of thousands,
he would have bought her willingly for his boy's delight. It was a
thing wonderful to him that Tom should have been upset so absolutely
by his love. He did appreciate the feeling so far that he was willing
to condone all those follies already committed if Tom would only put
himself in the way of recovery. That massacreing of the policeman,
those ill-spent nights at the Mountaineers and at Bolivia's, that
foolish challenge, and the almost more foolish blow under the portico
at the Haymarket, should all be forgiven if Tom would only consent
to go through some slight purgation which would again fit him for
Travers and Treason. And the purgation should be made as pleasant as
possible. He should travel about the world with his pocket full of
money and with every arrangement for luxurious comfort. Only he must
go. There was no other way in which he could be so purged as to be
again fit for Travers and Treason. He did not at all believe that
Ayala could now be purchased. Whether pig-headed or not, Ayala was
certainly self-willed. No good such as Tom expected would come from
this projected visit to Stalham. But if he would allow it to be made
in obedience to Tom's request,--then perhaps some tidings might be
brought back which, whether strictly true or not, might induce Tom to
allow himself to be put on board the ship. Arguing thus with himself,
Sir Thomas at last gave his consent.

It was a most disagreeable task which the mother thus undertook.
She could not go from Merle Park to Stalham and back in one day. It
was necessary that she should sleep two nights in London. It was
arranged, therefore, that she should go up to London on the Thursday;
then make her journey down to Stalham and back on the Friday, a