"No. The taste of all that's sweet and beautiful has gone out of my mouth; I'm a soured man inside of me; you're a thousand times better than I am. What is bitterness in you comes uppermost; it pleases you to hide the best part of you; but you cannot hide it from me, for I've had experience of you and know you. Now I'm the exact reverse. Outwardly you would think I'm an easy-going, easy-natured fellow, willing always to make the best of things, and to look on the brightest side. It is untrue; I am a living hypocrite. Inwardly I revile the world; because of my own disappointments I can see no good in it. Good fortune or bad fortune, what does it matter to me now? It cannot restore my faith, it cannot destroy the shroud which hangs over my heart. That is the difference between us. You are a thoroughly good fellow, I am a thoroughly bad one."
"It was not always the same with you. How have you become soured?"
"Thorough experience. Look here, Chaytor, it is only right you should be able to read me. You have bared your heart to me, and it is unfair that I should keep mine closed. There have been times when business of your own has called you to Sydney. We were never rich enough to go together, so you had to go alone, while I remained, in order not to lose the particular luckless claim we happened to be working in, and out of which we were always going to make our fortune. On the occasions of your visits you have executed a small commission for me, entailing but little trouble, but upon the successful result of which I set great store. It was merely to call at the Post-Office, and ask for letters for Basil Whittingham. The answer was always the same: there were none. Every time you returned and said, 'No letters for you, Basil,' I suffered more than I can express. There was less light in the world, my heart grew old. I believe I did not betray myself; at all events, I took pains not to do so."
"I never knew till now, Basil," said Chaytor falsely, and in a tone of false pity, "that you thought anything at all of not receiving letters. You certainly succeeded in making me believe that it did not matter one way or another."