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And,
besides, Benham, there's the expense. I can't afford the equestrian
order."
"It's not so great."
"Not so great! I don't mean the essential expense. But--the
incidentals. I don't know whether any one can realize how a poor
man is hampered by the dread of minor catastrophes. It isn't so
much that he is afraid of breaking his neck, Benham, as that he is
afraid of breaking something he will have to pay for. For instance--.
Benham! how much did your little expedition the other day--?"
He stopped short and regarded his friend with round eyes and raised
eyebrows.
A reluctant grin overspread Benham's face. He was beginning to see
the humour of the affair.
"The claim for the motor-bicycle isn't sent in yet. The repair of
the mudguards of the car is in dispute. Trinity Hall's crockery,
the plate-glass window, the whip-lash and wheel and so forth, the
hire of the horse and trap, sundry gratuities. . . . I doubt if the
total will come very much under fifty pounds. And I seem to have
lost a hat somewhere."
Billy regarded his toes and cleared his throat.


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