MISS MATFIELD WONDERS 220

Britisher doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. Cut he
feels deeply. He may have his work to do, taking him
away from his home into the loneliest places, and be
glad and proud to do it." Here the Major made a fine
gesture and came within an ace of wrecking his

o

daughter's toilet stand. So he sat down on the edge
of the bed, where he looked enormous and rather like
the White Knight in Through the Looking Glass.

"You're my little girl's friend, aren't you, Miss
Mattie?" he asked.

Miss Matfield said she was, and added that she would
be very sorry to lose her. ~

"I understand that, I understand that," and he
reached over and patted her lightly on the shoulder.
"She's a very lovable child, isn't she? And you can
understand a father's feelings. I have my work to do,
Miss Mattie, and I have many acquaintances, friends if
you like, in all parts of the world, but fundamentally,
at heart, I'm a lonely man—yes, a lonely man. Evelyn's
my only child, and I want her companionship, I want
her by my side, unless of course I should be called upon
to visit places where one's womenfolk couldn't be taken.
If it were "a question of our tropical possessions, that
would be different, quite different. I don't like to see
a white woman, especially a young girl, in such places.
They're for men, for us rough fellows who like to clean
up some backward part of the globe. If you've any
influence with her—and I'm sure you have, and a very
good influence too, a steadying influence naturally,
being older—"

'Thank you, Major Ansdell," said Miss Matfield
dryly. "You make me sound about fifty. It's not
complimentary of you."