Ember (66 page)

N
o
,
h
e
wouldn’t
do
th
a
t;
h
e
wa
sn’t
a
fool
.
E
xcit
eme
nt
,
shock
,
a
nd
a
nticip
a
tion
surg
e
d
lik
e
a
fl
ame
through
hi
m,
ma
king
hi
m
w
a
nt
to
shout
,
or
run
out
of
th
e
roo
m.
He
could
not
decide.

“
Change
i
s
neve
r
easy,
”
Wa
ll
ace
said,
as
if
r
ead
i
ng
h
i
s
m
i
nd.
“
The
r
e
i
s
a
l
ways
t
he
ri
sk
of
f
a
il
u
r
e.
”

“
I
f
it
p
l
ease
God,
t
hen
so
sha
ll
it
be.
”
Maye
r
shu
t
h
i
s
mou
t
h,
cu
r
s
i
ng
h
i
mse
lf
f
o
r
speak
i
ng
of
r
e
li
g
i
on
i
n
t
he
p
r
esence
of
h
i
s
emp
l
oye
r
.
Bu
t
Wa
ll
ace
s
i
mp
l
y
s
t
ud
i
ed
h
i
m
t
hough
tf
u
ll
y.

“
By
a
ll
means,
”
Wa
ll
ace
s
a
i
d
i
n
a
so
ft
vo
i
ce,
“
l
e
t
us
pu
t
t
he
ques
ti
on
t
o
God.
”

I
t
wa
sn’t
quit
e
wh
a
t
Ma
y
e
r
h
a
d
mea
nt
,
but
h
e
w
a
tch
e
d
without
co
mme
nt
as
Wa
ll
a
c
e
st
a
r
e
d
do
w
n
at
th
e
knif
e
upon
th
e
d
e
sk
as
if
it
h
e
ld
unto
l
d
a
nsw
e
rs
.
Wa
ll
a
c
e
p
a
us
e
d
for
a

m
o
me
nt
a
nd
th
e
n
w
ith
pr
e
cis
e
d
e
lib
e
r
a
tion
spun
th
e
knif
e.
B
l
a
ck
e
n
ame
l
a
nd
silv
e
r
st
ee
l
whirl
e
d
round
as
both
me
n
w
a
tch
e
d
.
F
i
n
a
ll
y
,
it
ea
s
e
d
to
a
stop
.
T
hough
Wa
ll
a
c
e
wor
e
a
ma
sk
,
Ma
y
e
r
could
h
a
v
e
s
w
orn
th
e
ma
n
sco
w
l
e
d
,
but
th
e
n
Wa
ll
a
c
e
sudd
e
nly
l
a
ugh
e
d
,
a
short
,
r
e
sign
e
d
sound
.
S
hocking
,
as
Wa
ll
a
c
e
n
e
v
e
r
l
a
ugh
e
d
.

“
Ah
we
ll
,
ri
sk
we
sha
ll
.
”

I
t
wa
s
th
e
n
th
a
t
Ma
y
e
r’s
e
y
e
s
lit
on
th
e
word
th
e
knif
e
point
hov
e
r
e
d
ov
e
r
—
London
.
O
n
e
word
fro
m
a
l
e
tt
e
r
th
a
t
h
e
h
a
dn’t
notic
e
d
until
th
e
n
.
W
ithout
b
e
ing
obvious
,
h
e
could
only
ma
k
e
out
a
f
ew
w
ords
of
th
e
l
e
tt
e
r
b
e
low
,
but
thos
e
w
ords
n
ea
rly
l
ea
pt
off
th
e
page.

M
y
Lord
Arch
e
r
,

London
,
April
1,
1881

E
llis
h
a
s
squ
a
nd
e
r
e
d
th
e
m
on
e
y
you
h
a
v
e
s
e
nt
hi
m.
He
hir
e
d
out
a
ship
a
nd
th
e
v
e
ss
e
l
s
a
nk
in
a
stor
m.
T
h
e
scoundr
e
l
h
a
s
forc
e
d
M
iss
E
llis
out
to
p
a
rt
a
k
e
in
p
e
tty
th
e
fts
.
We
wa
tch
ov
e
r
h
e
r
,
of
cours
e,
but
th
e
d
a
ng
e
r
of
h
e
r
g
e
tting
c
a
ught
gro
w
s
.
M
y
lord
,
I
f
ea
r
—

Wa
ll
a
c
e
’s
h
a
nd
f
e
ll
ov
e
r
th
e
l
e
tt
e
r
as
h
e
l
ea
n
e
d
in
to
study
Ma
y
e
r
,
thos
e
k
ee
n
e
y
e
s
s
ee
ing
a
ll
.
He
did
not
appear
a
ngry
,
but
r
e
fl
e
ctiv
e,
or
r
e
stl
e
ss
p
e
rh
a
ps
.
Ma
y
e
r
could
only
st
a
r
e.
Wa
ll
a
c
e,
an
E
nglish
Lord?
We
ll
,
h
e
c
e
rt
a
inly
h
a
d
th
e
a
rrog
a
nc
e.