For a moment he did not answer. He seemed not to have heard her question. Finally he spoke.
“Some persons would call it Duty. That isn’t what I call it. But I know exactly what it is. It is a force in you that will not be diverted. It points you to your job, whether it be loafing or playing or sweating labour. You may cry out against it, but you go on just the same. It keeps men—and women too—at the grubbiest of tasks. Without it civilization would not be.... My job is clear. I thought I never would do it, but now I know that I shall; and I know, too, that I always intended to. My wander-years were all preparing me for this—and I never suspected it until now. I have been standing aloof and watching life pass by, and now I am tumbled into the torrent.... It is part of the great plan.... But,” he added wistfully, “the watching days were good—and they were necessary.”
A chirp or two came into Phœbe’s voice, but the brooding sense of disaster still lingered. Finally she said, “But I don’t see how you can help them,” meaning Mrs. Wells and Jerry.
“Father left his affairs in the hands of a trusted group of his friends,” he explained. “They are to carry on the estate until such time as I shall make up my mind to take charge.... I thought that time was postponed for ever. Now,” he stood up and cried exultantly, “now I’m eager for it!”
“And so you’re not a villain after all.”
“I’m afraid not, Phœbe.”
“Humph!” She began to assert her old self. “Then Jawn is.”
“Wrong again.”
“Very well,” she shook her head. “I’ll watch him just the same. And I’ll keep an eye on you, too, sonny. It’s a nice story you’ve been tellin’ me. Mebbe it’s all true; but, I warn you, the moment either of you tries to sell me stock in rubber trees in Madagascar, I’ll put the whip to you.”
To help him out she told him of the meek gentleman who tried to hoodwink the village.