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'Oh dreadful!' said Elfride
'The beetle was already coht of his hand, but couldn't stop the blow in time Down came the beetle upon poor John Smith's hand, and squashed en to a pummy'
'Dear me, dear me! poor fellow!' said the vicar, with an intonation like the groans of the wounded in a pianoforte perforue'
'John Smith, the master-mason?' cried Stephen hurriedly
'Ay, no other; and a better-hearted hty never made'
'Is he soStephen, 'that he has a son in London, a very pro fellow'
'Oh, how he must be hurt!' repeated Stephen
'A beetle couldn't hurt very little Well, sir, good-night t'ye; and ye, sir; and you,unnoticeable motions of withdrawal, and by the time this farewell remark came from his lips he was just outside the door of the roo the hall, stayedto close the door properly, and then was lost to their hearing
Stephen had meanwhile turned and said to the vicar: 'Please excuse ! I must leave John Smith is my father'
The vicar did not comprehend at first
'What did you say?' he inquired
'John Smith is e of redness rose from Mr Swancourt's neck, and came round over his face, the lines of his features becaet thinner It was evident that a series of little circuether, and for a lucid picture in Mr Swancourt's mind in such a manner as to render useless further explanation on Stephen's part
'Indeed,' the vicar said, in a voice dry and without inflection
This being a hich depends entirely upon its tone for its , Mr Swancourt's enunciation was equivalent to no expression at all
'I have to go now,' said Stephen, with an agitated bearing, and a ht to run off or stay longer 'On rant h antecedently it does not see of the nature of private business between us'
Mr Swancourt put on his straw hat, crossed the drawing-roo, and stepped out of the Frenchinto the verandah It required no further effort to perceive what, indeed, reasoning ht have foretold as the natural colour of a ood dinners, and patrician re for his generosity, and that Stephen's moments as his friend and equal were numbered, or had even now ceased