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Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924

"Chance"

Brown. Excellent, faithful woman; the wife
of his still more excellent and faithful steward. And Flora wished all
these excellent people, devoted to Anthony, she wished them all further;
and especially the nice, pleasant-spoken Mrs. Brown with her beady,
mobile eyes and her "Yes certainly, ma'am," which seemed to her to have a
mocking sound. And so this short trip--to the Western Islands only--came
to an end. It was so short that when young Powell joined the _Ferndale_
by a memorable stroke of chance, no more than seven months had elapsed
since the--let us say the liberation of the convict de Barral and his
avatar into Mr. Smith.
* * * * *
For the time the ship was loading in London Anthony took a cottage near a
little country station in Essex, to house Mr. Smith and Mr. Smith's
daughter. It was altogether his idea. How far it was necessary for Mr.
Smith to seek rural retreat I don't know. Perhaps to some extent it was
a judicious arrangement. There were some obligations incumbent on the
liberated de Barral (in connection with reporting himself to the police I
imagine) which Mr.


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