her husband’s part in the quarrel and her children he had never seen—­settled itself upon Philip.  At first it made him angry, he told himself it was a sign of dotage; but there was something in Philip that attracted him, and he found himself smiling at him he knew not why.  Philip did not bore him.  Once or twice he put his hand on his shoulder:  it was as near a caress as he had got since his daughter left England so many years before.  When the time came for Philip to go Doctor South accompanied him to the station:  he found himself unaccountably depressed.

“I’ve had a ripping time here,” said Philip.  “You’ve been awfully kind to me.”

“I suppose you’re very glad to go?”

“I’ve enjoyed myself here.”

“But you want to get out into the world?  Ah, you have youth.”  He hesitated a moment.  “I want you to remember that if you change your mind my offer still stands.”

“That’s awfully kind of you.”

Philip shook hands with him out of the carriage window, and the train steamed out of the station.  Philip thought of the fortnight he was going to spend in the hop-field:  he was happy at the idea of seeing his friends again, and he rejoiced because the day was fine.  But Doctor South walked slowly back to his empty house.  He felt very old and very lonely.

CXVIII

It was late in the evening when Philip arrived at Ferne.  It was Mrs. Athelny’s native village, and she had been accustomed from her childhood to pick in the hop-field to which with her husband and her children she still went every year.  Like many Kentish folk her family had gone out regularly, glad to earn a little money, but especially regarding the annual outing, looked forward to for months, as the best of holidays.  The work was not hard, it was done in common, in the open air, and for the children it was a long, delightful picnic; here the young men met the maidens; in the long evenings when work was over they wandered about the lanes, making love; and the hopping season was generally followed by weddings.  They went out in carts with bedding, pots and pans, chairs and tables; and Ferne while the hopping lasted was deserted.  They were very exclusive and would have resented the intrusion of foreigners, as they called the people who came from London; they looked down upon them and feared them too; they were a rough lot, and the respectable country folk did not want to mix with them.  In the old days the hoppers slept in barns, but ten years ago a row of huts had been erected at the side of a meadow; and the Athelnys, like many others, had the same hut every year.