"I can imagine it," said Chaytor, complacently; "but you mustn't mind biding a bit. No man could do more than I am doing."
"Indeed he could not."
"The tree is six or seven hundred yards off, and I daresay I shall be an hour over the job. I can't help that, you know."
"Of course you can't. I can't find words to express my gratitude for all the trouble you are taking. And for a stranger, too!"
"I don't look upon you as a stranger; I feel as if I had known you all my life. I suppose, though, it is really but the commencement of a friendship which will last I hope till we are both old men."
"I hope so too."
"A little while ago I was saying to myself, I will never trust another man as long as I live; I will never believe in another; I will never again confide in man or woman. I have been deceived, Basil."
"I am truly sorry to hear it."
"Yes, I have been deceived. Friend after friend have I trusted, have I helped, have I ruined myself for, to find them in the end false, selfish and unreliable. I was filled with disgust and with shame for my species. 'I renounce you all,' I cried in the bitterness of my soul. But now everything seems changed. Since you came my faith in human goodness and sincerity and truth is restored. I don't know why, but it is so. I can rely upon your friendship, Basil?"
"You can. I will never forget your goodness; never."