Mulberry, would be only too glad to give him a fright, if not to lend the money to pay him off.
But even Evan was not blinded, by these lightening onsiderations, to his immediate obligations to Jan.
"I never expected you to help me like this," he said frankly. "I only came to ask you about this afternoon. I—I was thinking of shamming seedy!"
Jan seemed struck with the idea; he said, more than once, that it was a jolly good idea; but there would have been a great risk of his being seen, and now thank goodness all that was unnecessary. If only they could first save the follow, and then get those Old Boys out quickly before lunch! That would be worth doing still, Jan hastened to add, as though aware of some inconsistency in his remarks. His eyes were alight. He looked capable of all his old feats, as he stood up in the litter from which a fag could not cleanse the Augean study.
But Evan fell into a shamefaced mood; he was getting a sad insight into himself as compared with Jan; his self-conceit was suffering even on the surface. Jan would never have fallen into Mulberry's clutches; he would have kept him in his place, as indeed Sandham had done; either of those two were capable of coping with fifty Mulberries, whereas Evan had to own to himself that he was no match for one. He may even have realised, even at that early stage of his career, that in all the desperate passes of life he was a natural follower and a ready leaner on others. If he was not so very ready to lean on Jan, there were reasons for his reluctance. . . . And at least one reason did him credit.
"I don't know why you should want to do all this for me," he murmured on their way down to the ground, "It isn't as if I'd ever done anything fur you!"
