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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