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he did not care, and when he went with them to the Tivoli
to see Miss Antonia wear it for the first time he was filled
with elation. In answer to her questions he at last told Mrs.
Hodges how he had learnt to draw—fearing that the peo-
ple he lived with would think he wanted to put on airs, he
had always taken the greatest care to say nothing about his
past occupations—and she repeated the information to Mr.
Sampson. The buyer said nothing to him on the subject, but
began to treat him a little more deferentially and presently
gave him designs to do for two of the country customers.
They met with satisfaction. Then he began to speak to his
clients of a ‘clever young feller, Paris art-student, you know,’
who worked for him; and soon Philip, ensconced behind
a screen, in his shirt sleeves, was drawing from morning
till night. Sometimes he was so busy that he had to dine at
three with the ‘stragglers.’ He liked it, because there were
few of them and they were all too tired to talk; the food also
was better, for it consisted of what was left over from the
buyers’ table. Philip’s rise from shop-walker to designer of
costumes had a great effect on the department. He realised
that he was an object of envy. Harris, the assistant with the
queer-shaped head, who was the first person he had known
at the shop and had attached himself to Philip, could not
conceal his bitterness.
‘Some people ‘ave all the luck,’ he said. ‘You’ll be a buyer
yourself one of these days, and we shall all be calling you
sir.’
He told Philip that he should demand higher wages, for
notwithstanding the difficult work he was now engaged

Of Human Bondage