Harburn

"Harburn," I said, moved by an impulse which I couldn't resist, "I think you ought to take a pill."

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

"Harburn," I stammered, "I spoke of this in confidence.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

She let the curtain fall, and had vanished before Harburn had time to reach the window.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

But meeting Harburn at the Club a few days later and finding him in a genial mood, I let impulse prevail, and said:

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

Going into my Club one day I came on Harburn in the smoking-room.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

Now, a cartoonist like myself has got to be interested in the psychology of men and things, and I brooded over Harburn, for it seemed to me remarkable that one whom I had always associated with good humour and bluff indifference should be thus obsessed.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

But Holsteig, a fair, well-set-up man of about fifty, with a pointed beard and blue eyes like his son, sat immersed in his paper till Harburn said suddenly:

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

Harburn had made light of it, and though I suppose no man likes being cursed to his face in the presence of a friend, I felt his skin was quite thick enough to stand it.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

It's deeply interesting '-- I said to myself --' Who could have dreamed of such a reincarnation; for what on the surface could possibly be less alike than an 'Ironside,' and Harburn as I've known him up to now? '

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900

But Harburn, I could see, was giving it full rein.

Tatterdemalion John Galsworthy 1900