CHAPTER VI

BLACKMOOR Hans surrendered to Blackmoor with surprising swiftness. Before he knew where at all he was he was selecting the books for Bigges to shove into the top of the bag (and it was a kind of desecration for Bigges even to touch them): two volumes of Chapman's _Homer_, a volume of Galleon's Letters, and _Crotchet Castle_ and _Melincourt_. And while he stood watching disgustedly Bigges' broad beam, he was thinking: 'Why the devil . . . to surrender to that old woman's whims! . . . And Ruth will be more possessive…