Barry Pain

“ It would be immoral to give them away or sell them. We must destroy them."
It was Mrs. Cheevers's opinion that George had excited himself, and she said so. She also said that she hoped he had not been taking anything elsewhere. She further hoped that that day would be far distant.
"When a man 's put out like that," she added, "bed 's the place for him."
And Mr. Cheevers went to bed. His last words that night dealt with the extreme picturesqueness of the gipsy encampment and the fact that the suburb should be glad to have its monotony broken by these beautiful and simple people. ”

“ Egson who conducted the lady clients to a similar desirable privacy behind another partition. There was, in fact, a general impression that the shop was Egson's, and Mr. Cheevers did nothing to disturb it. In the suburb he spoke of himself vaguely as being engaged in quite a small way in the export trade in the City. None the less, that shop was Cheevers', and the working capital belonged to Cheevers, and the profits accrued to Cheevers. Mr. and Mrs. Egson were merely paid servants, very well paid because they were singularly smart and remarkably hard-working, and perfectly honest. ”

“ Once, it was long ago, the shop had belonged to the Egsons, but speculation had swamped them. Then Cheevers. as he occasionally reminded them, rescued them. As the business spread, Mr. Cheevers took himself more and more seriously. He joined every available committee. He spoke in public whenever he had the chance, and sometimes when he had not. The affairs of his suburb were deep in his heart. One day, possibly, he might rise to higher things; but only to his wife, who was a good woman, did he darkly hint of his ambition. ”

“ As he turned his eyes to earth again, he espied a row of houses well built on an ugly design, each house exactly like its fellow. "The marvel to me is," he said to himself, "how people can live in such places." ”

“ The Chairman: It seems to me that Mr. Cheevers has no love of beauty.
Mr. Cheevers: You 're a liar. (Cries of "Order! Order!" and "Withdraw!")
Mr. Cheevers, rising again, amid considerable sensation, said that he was accustomed to give as good as he got. Give him civility and he would give civility in return. Give him sarcasm and he supposed he could be as sarcastic as anybody else if he cared to.
The Chairman: Unless Mr. Cheevers is rising for the purpose of making an apology I must refuse to hear him.
Mr. Cheevers: Steady on. I 'm coming to that. ”

“ Just as a constable in plain clothes might rightly drink a pint of bitter in order to prove that beer was being sold without a license, so he, in the search for evidence, might justly have his fortune told. ”

“ When the doctor had gone, Cheevers said—
"Thought we should never get rid of him! It 's a long time since we had a bit of a crack, old lady. You don't look a day older, for that matter, than you did when that photograph was taken. And, by the way, where is that photograph?"
Next day Mr. Cheevers went to business as usual. He has explained that there was nothing inconsistent whatever in his attitude regarding the gipsies whose immediate expulsion he now demanded. It took the eloquence and the argument of Cheevers to make this clear; but it has been done. The business is prospering ”

“ I had no wish to rebuke you, dear. One must live one's life, I suppose, such as it is. No Bass, thanks. I have been looking at the night sky, and that amber colour would jar upon me. Give me something in a lower tone. ”

“ Those which were not broken she dusted and replaced. She also hung up the photographs again in their appointed positions. Then she sighed deeply and went about her household duties. By the evening he would undoubtedly be better. He came back by the customary train with an air of kindly melancholy. She reminded him that he had promised to take her to the entertainment which the vicar was organising on behalf of the funds of the church school. ”