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"All right. Here we go!"
Hagerty picked her up easily in his arms.
"This is called the family acrobatic stunt," said Paula. "He
carries me up-stairs. Isn't it sweet of him?"
"Yes," said Anson.
Hagerty bent his head slightly until his face touched Paula's.
"And I love him," she said. "I've just been telling you, haven't I,
Anson?"
"Yes," he said.
"He's the dearest thing that ever lived in this world; aren't you,
darling?... Well, good night. Here we go. Isn't he strong?"
"Yes," Anson said.
"You'll find a pair of Pete's pajamas laid out for you. Sweet
dreams – see you at breakfast."
"Yes," Anson said.
VIII
The older members of the firm insisted that Anson should go
abroad for the summer. He had scarcely had a vacation in seven
years, they said. He was stale and needed a change. Anson resisted.
"If I go," he declared, "I won't come back any more."
"That's absurd, old man. You'll be back in three months with all
this depression gone. Fit as ever."
"No." He shook his head stubbornly. "If I stop, I won't go back
to work. If I stop, that means I've given up – I'm through."
"We'll take a chance on that. Stay six months if you like – we're
not afraid you'll leave us. Why, you'd be miserable if you didn't
work."
They arranged his passage for him. They liked Anson – every
one liked Anson - and the change that had been coming over him cast
a sort of pall over the office. The enthusiasm that had invariably
signalled up business, the consideration toward his equals and his
inferiors, the lift of his vital presence – within the past four months
his intense nervousness had melted down these qualities into the
fussy pessimism of a man of forty. On every transaction in which he
was involved he acted as a drag and a strain.
"If I go I'll never come back," he said.
Three days before he sailed Paula Legendre Hagerty died in
childbirth. I was with him a great deal then, for we were crossing