THE OLYMPIAN ASPECT 



not. They are to the gardener so many creatures whom 

 he classes along with snails, bullfinches, rabbits and wasps 

 as " varmints." 



One can hear him sometimes invoking a god of the 

 name of Gum. " By Gum ! them young varmints a-been 

 'ere again. By Gum ! " 



He then makes an offering to this god in the shape of a 

 bonfire, the smell of which is more than most scents for 

 wonder. 



It is when Walter makes a bonfire that he is more god- 

 like than ever. He stands, a thick figure, deep in the 

 chest, broad in the shoulder, by the pile of dead leaves, 

 twigs, and garden rubbish, the smoke enveloping him in 

 misty wreaths, and the sun flashing on his fork as he 

 pitches fresh fuel on the smouldering fire. A tongue of 

 flame, greedily licking up leaves and dry sticks, lights on 

 his impassive face, and a quivering orange streak along 

 the muscles of his arms. We are fascinated by his arms. 

 They contain, I believe, the history of his mortal life and 

 ambitions, and are a key to his hidden emotions. 



On one arm is a ship under full sail, done in blue and 

 red tattoo. Below the ship is the word " Jane " ; below 

 that is a twist of rope. On the other arm is a heart, the 

 initials S.M., and an anchor. 



When we were young these two arms of Walter's were 

 an entire literature to us. We read him first, I think, 

 a pirate, very grim and horrible, and we translated " S.M." 

 as Spanish Main. A little later we dropped the idea of 

 the pirate, and took to the notion that Walter had been 

 (if he was not still) a smuggler who landed cargoes of rum 

 from the good ship " Jane," and deposited them with the 

 landlord of the " Saucy Mariner." It is noticeable that 

 we left out the heart in all these romances. Then, at 

 some impressionable moment, Walter became a seaman 

 who had given his heart to Sarah Mainwaring, which 



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