Kipps, page 119 by H.G. Wells
<< Return to Title Details & Download120
t's temptation,' Kipps remarked.
He glanced at Coote, leant forward, knocked the ash from his cigarette into the mighty fender. 'That's jest it,' he said, 'you get tempted. Before you know where you are.'
'Modern life,' said Coote, 'is so--complex. It isn't every one is Strong. Half the young fellows who go wrong aren't really bad.'
'That's jest it,' said Kipps.
'One gets a tone from one's surroundings--'
'That's exactly it,' said Kipps.
He meditated. 'I picked up with a chap,' he said. 'A Nacter. Leastways, he writes plays. Clever feller. But--'
He implied extensive moral obloquy by a movement of his head. 'Of course it's seeing life,' he added.
Coote pretended to understand the full implications of Kipps' remark. 'Is it worth it?' he asked.
'That's jest it,' said Kipps.
He decided to give some more. 'One gets talking,' he said. Then it's ''Ave a drink!' Old Methuselah three stars--and where are you? 'I been drunk,' he said, in a tone of profound humility, and added, 'lots of times.'
'Tt--tt,' said Coote.
'Dozens of times,' said Kipps, smiling sadly; and added, 'lately.'
His imagination became active and seductive. 'One thing leads to another. Cards, p'raps. Girls--'
'I know,' said Coote, 'I know.'
Kipps regarded the fire, and flushed slightly. He borrowed a sentence that Chitterlow had recently used. 'One can't tell tales out of school,' he said.
'I can imagine it,' said Coote.
Kipps looked with a confidential expression into Coote's face. 'It was bad enough when money was limited,' he remarked. 'But now'--he spoke with raised eyebrows--'I got to steady down.'
'You must' said Coote, protruding his lips into a sort of whistling concern for a moment.
'I must,' said Kipps, nodding his head slowly, with raised eyebrows. He looked at his cigarette end and threw it into the fender. He was beginning to think he was holding his own in this conversation rather well after all.
Kipps