Suitcase in hand, Charles stumbled next morning over the greasy hall mat for the last time, and lurched out into the July sunshine. Lying awake in the night, he had dwelt lovingly on the kick he would plant, scientifically and deliberately, in the dog’s mouth as it yelped at him; but to-day, for the first time since he had entered the house, the animal was somewhere else, and his exit was silent.