Explore "The Remittance Man" by Ambrose Pratt on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Jan marched out of the house in a mood that increased in bitterness with every step he took, for he quickly realised that he had destroyed his last chance of obtaining employment in that neighborhood, and he had been very earnest in the quest. Pride carried him through the outer door, chin in air, but he called himself a "fool" as he crossed the verandah, and an "idiot" before he had reached the steps. Ere he had half traversed the shrubbery all satisfaction in his petty triumph had evaporated.
He had begun to walk dejectedly, when, on turning an angle in the path, he perceived Jack and Marion standing by the gate. The encounter was unescapable, and it seemed to him that it provided the last straw needed to render his burden intolerable. But he reckoned without his host. Earlier in the morning before leaving his hut, he had stiffened the threadbare soles of his shoes with a piece of brown paper, but he had neglected to consider the forlorn condition of their heels. One of these now, at the worst possible moment, struck against an obstruction in the path, and before Marion's eyes, completely parted company with the sole.