Atthedoorhehesitated，blinkingatanottoosplendidsunlight—andthepaperwiththereportofthesuicideofaladywasinhispocket。Hisheartwasbeatingagainstit。Thesuicideofalady—`thisactofmadnessordespair’。
Hewalkedalongthestreetwithoutlookingwhereheputhisfeet;andhewalkedinadirectionwhichwouldnotbringhimtotheplaceofappointmentwithanotherlady（anelderlynurserygovernessputtinghertrustinanApollo—likeambrosialhead）。Hewaswalkingawayfromit。Hecouldfacenowoman。Itwasruin。Hecouldneitherthink，work，sleep，noreat。Buthewasbeginningtodrinkwithpleasure，withanticipation，withhope。
Itwasruin。Hisrevolutionarycareer，sustainedbythesentimentandtrustfulnessofmanywomen，wasmenacedbyanimpenetrablemystery—themysteryofahumanbrainpulsatingwrongfullytotherhythmofjournalisticphrases……Willhangforeveroverthisact……，—itwasincliningtowardsthegutter—`……ofmadnessordespair。’
`Iamseriouslyill，’hemutteredtohimselfwithscientificinsight。
Alreadyhisrobustform，withanEmbassy’ssecret—servicemoney（inheritedfromMrVerloc）inhispockets，wasmarchinginthegutterasifintrainingforthetaskofaninevitablefuture。Alreadyhebowedhisbroadshoulders，hisheadofambrosiallocks，asifreadytoreceivetheleatheryokeofthesandwichboard。Asonthatnight，morethanaweekago，ComradeOssiponwalkedwithoutlookingwhereheputhisfeet，feelingnofatigue，feelingnothing，seeingnothing，hearingnotasound。`Animpenetrablemystery……