Chapter 5

'I have a thousand men,' said he,
'To wait upon my will,
And towers nine upon the Tyne,
And three upon the Till.'?

'And what care I for you men,' said she,
'Or towers from Tyne to Till,
Sith you must go with me,' she said,
'To wait upon my will?'

Sir Hoggie and the Fairies

NEXT morning Torpenhow found Dick sunk in deepest repose of
tobacco.

'Well, madman, how d'you feel?'

'I don't know. I'm trying to find out.'

'You had much better do some work.'

'Maybe; but I'm in no hurry. I've made a discovery. Torp, there's too
much Ego in my Cosmos.'

'Not really! Is this revelation due to my lectures, or the Nilghai's?'

'It came to me suddenly, all on my own account. Much too much Ego;
and now I'm going to work.'

He turned over a few half-finished sketches, drummed on a new canvas,
cleaned three brushes, set Binkie to bite the toes of the lay figure, rattled
through his collection of arms and accoutrements, and then went out
abruptly, declaring that he had done enough for the day.

'This is positively indecent,' said Torpenhow, 'and the first time that
Dick has ever broken up a light morning. Perhaps he has found out that
he has a soul, or an artistic temperament, or something equally valuable.

That comes of leaving him alone for a month. Perhaps he has been going
out of evenings. I must look to this.' He rang for the bald-headed old
housekeeper, whom nothing could astonish or annoy.

'Beeton, did Mr. Heldar dine out at all while I was out of town?'

'Never laid 'is dress-clothes out once, sir, all the time. Mostly 'e dined in;
but 'e brought some most remarkable young gentlemen up 'ere after
theatres once or twice. Remarkable fancy they was. You gentlemen on
the top floor does very much as you likes, but it do seem to me, sir,
droppin' a walkin'-stick down five flights o' stairs an' then goin' down
four abreast to pick it up again at half-past two in the mornin', singin'

"Bring back the whiskey, Willie darlin,'"--not once or twice, but scores
o' times,--isn't charity to the other tenants. What I say is, "Do as you
would be done by." That's my motto.'

'Of course! of course! I'm afraid the top floor isn't the quietest in the
house.'

'I make no complaints, sir. I have spoke to Mr. Heldar friendly, an' he
laughed, an' did me a picture of the missis that is as good as a coloured
print. It 'asn't the high shine of a photograph, but what I say is, "Never
look a gift-horse in the mouth." Mr. Heldar's dress-clothes 'aven't been
on him for weeks.'

'Then it's all right,' said Torpenhow to himself. 'Orgies are healthy, and
Dick has a head of his own, but when it comes to women