When the corner was turned Ern did not apologise to Ruth, though he longed to do so; nor did she ask it of him. To save himself without undergoing the humiliation of penance, and to satisfy that most easily appeased of human faculties, his conscience, he resorted to a trick ancient as Man: he went to chapel. Mr. Pigott who had stood in that door at that hour in that frock-coat for forty years past, to greet alike the sinner and the saved, welcomed the lost sheep, who had not entered the fold for months. "I know what this means," he said, shaking hands. "You needn't tell me. I congratulate you. Go in and give thanks." Ern bustled in. "I shall come regular now, sir," he said. "I've had my lesson. You can count on me." "Ah," said Mr. Pigott, and said no more. Next Sunday indeed he waited grimly and in vain for the prodigal. "Soon eased off," he muttered, as he closed the door at last. "One with a very sandy soil." The Manager of the Southdown Transport Company went home that evening to the little house on the Lewes Road in unaccomodating mood. "_His_ trousers are coming down all right," he told his wife. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Once you let go o God----" "God lets go o you," interposed Mrs. Pigott. "Tit for tat." CHAPTER XIII NIGHTMARE A few days later on his way back to the Manor-house from visiting his little patient in the Moot, the old surgeon met Mr. Pigott, who stopped to make enquiries. "She'll do now," said Mr. Trupp. "And that fellow?" "Who?" "Her father." Mr. Trupp looked at the windy sky, torn to shreds and tatters by the Sou-west wind above the tower of the parish-church. "He wanted the Big Stick and he got it," he said. "If it came down on his shoulders once a week regularly for a year he'd be a man. Steady pressure is what a fellow like that needs. And steady pressure is just what you don't get in a disorganised society such as ours." The old Nonconformist held up a protesting hand. "You'd better go to Germany straight off!" he cried. "That's the only place _you'd_ be happy in." Mr. Trupp grinned. "No need," he said, "Germany's coming here. Ask the Colonel!" "Ah!" scolded the other. "You and your Colonels! You go and hear Norman Angell on the _Great Illusion_ at the Town Hall on Friday. You go and hear a sensible man talk sense. That'll do you a bit of good. Mr. Geddes is going to take the chair." The old surgeon turned on his way, grinning still. "The Colonel's squared Mr. Geddes," he said. "He's all right now."