The Moon and Sixpence - Penn State University

Somerset Maugham
some honest soul in Holland, and I felt sure he
Chapter XL
would be happy. I smiled at the thought of the
vast number of bad pictures he would paint be- FOR THE NEXT MONTH, occupied with my own affairs,
fore he died.
I saw no one connected with this lamentable
Next day I saw him off for Amsterdam. business, and my mind ceased to be occupied
with it. But one day, when I was walking along,
bent on some errand, I passed Charles Strickland.
The sight of him brought back to me all the horror
which I was not unwilling to forget, and I
felt in me a sudden repulsion for the cause of it.
Nodding, for it would have been childish to cut
him, I walked on quickly; but in a minute I felt a
hand on my shoulder.
“ You’re in a great hurry,” he said cordially.
It was characteristic of him to display geniality
with anyone who showed a disinclination to
meet him, and the coolness of my greeting can
have left him in little doubt of that.
“I am,” I answered briefly.
“I’ll walk along with you,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
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