EPILOGUE 6on

v/

South America before, as a matter of fact. I've been to
the States, in my time, and I've been to Central America,
but not to South. But an old pal of mine's out there-
Montevideo's his headquarters-and he's put up a good
proposition, so I'm going to see what it looks like."

"Plenty o' money there, plenty. Only place where
there is now, there and the States. I shouldn't like to
live there though. Wouldn't suit me/'

"And where do you live when you're at home?"

"St. Helens. That's where my firm is, and that's
where I live. Been there all my life. D'you know it?"

"Saw it once from the train," Mr. Golspie replied.
"Bit ugly, isn't it?"

Mr. Sugden was not surprised. Obviously he had
heard this before. "Yes, it's a bit ugly, if you're not used
to it. But I'm a bit ugly myself. And if it comes to
that, you're no beauty." And he roared with laughter.

Mr. Golspie laughed too, companionably. They
strolled round the deck, on which Miss Lena Golspie,
in a fur coat and with a scarlet scarf about her neck,
soon made an appearance, to the delight of several of
the younger male passengers and ship's officers, who had
been waiting for this moment, after hoping, with the
despair born of many previous disappointments, that she
was not merely a fleeting vision, one of those lovely
creatures who come aboard for an hour or two and then
depart, leaving the whole ship under a shadow. She
joined her father and was introduced to Mr. Sugden
(not an impressionable man), and then wandered away,
to stare with disdainful interest at the other ships and to
gather but of the corners of her brilliant eyes a good deal
of exciting preliminary information about her fellow
passengers. The scene before her-the ship had stopped