‘I thought my father was an honest man. I thought I had a right to go into the world amongst gentlemen and hold up my head amongst them, and make a career amongst them. That was a mistake, you see. I’ve been mistaken all along, and now I’ve found it out. Good-bye, father. Goodbye, James.’ ‘No, no, Polly. You mustn’t go. I can’t let you go.’ ‘Father,’ the young man answered, sternly and sorrowfully, ‘I am going. If I tried to swallow another mouthful in this house it would choke me. If I tried to sleep here another night I might as well lie down on fire. If I can’t eat meat I have a right to, I’ll go without. If I can’t lie down under an honest roof, I can find the lee-side of a hedge.’ ‘I’ve been a kind father to you, Polly, my lad; I’ve let you want for nothing.’ ‘You’ve let me want for an honest name. That’s all. Good-bye.’ ‘But, Polly--Polly--my own lad, my only lad--you’re all I’ve got to live for. What are you going to do?’ ‘I shall take the Queen’s shilling, and try my luck in the Crimea.’ And before his father could answer him he was gone. CHAPTER V Polson was gone, so far, only to his own room, but so swiftly that it was impossible to intercept him, and the snick of the bolt in the lock arrested his father before he had set a single foot upon the stair. Grim and pale, Polson lit his candles and began to range about the apartment, drawing out from one recess a pair of heavy walking boots, and from another a well-worn suit of velveteens which had seen him through a year or two of sport in the spinny and at the river side. He cast off the clothes he wore, hastily assumed these stouter garments, and having encased his legs in a pair of strong leather leggings, he opened his bedroom door, blew out his candle, and went swiftly down the stairs into the hall. There the wreckage-of an hour or two ago was all piled together in one corner, but groping amongst it in the darkness with both hands, he found a long waterproof overcoat, and after more search a sealskin shooting cap; appropriating both of these he strode to the rear of the house, opened the door by which his father had entered on that night of evil omen, and walked out into the roaring darkness. He was on the sheltered side of the building and did not as yet feel the force of the wind. For half a minute he stood with his heart in his throat, and his hand upon the hasp of the door, straining his ears to listen. He heard nothing but the insane noises of the night. Suddenly, he drew the door towards him violently, and it closed with a slam and a snap. He was outside, and the thing he had purposed was accomplished. He had said good-bye to the house in which he had learned to walk and talk--the house which had been his home for the whole of his life, except for a year or two of earliest infancy, and the sound of the closing door seemed as if it cut his life in two.