“I will consider whatever you wish me to. I will be guided by your common sense.”
“Good! Now get up and dress.”
He left the room. As I dressed I thought over the sermon he had preached. I could not gainsay its truth. Yet on the other hand I could not contemplate a changed mode of life without flinching. Two years of moral illness had undermined my moral courage. I wondered who my new employer was to be. I dreaded meeting him not a little. Thinking over the confidences of the night, I experienced no regret. Indeed I was glad to realize that I was no longer altogether alone in the world. Merivale had inspired me with an enthusiasm.
“What a splendid fellow he is!” I exclaimed.
“If he and I could only remain together I believe I should find my life worth living. It is marvelous, the faculty he has for making me forget myself. I suppose it is due to his animal spirits, his healthy temperament. He is as vigorous and bracing as a whiff of the west wind full in one’s face.”
I had never had a friend before. I relished my first taste of friendship.
Meantime I was preparing my toilet. In the midst of it Merivale came into the room.
“I suppose you know who your future master is to be?” he asked.
“No—how should I know?”
“Oh, you obtuse blockhead! You————”