第15章
“Cometotellusabouteverything，Mr。Pond’revo？”someonewouldsaypolitely。
“Youwait。”myuncleusedtoanswer，disconcerted，andsulkfortherestofhisvisit。
Orsomeonewithanimmenseairofinnocencewouldremarktotheworldgenerally，“They’retalkin’ofrebuildin’Wimblehurstalloveragain，I’mtold。Anybodyheardanythingofit？Goingtomakeitareg’larsmartgoin’，enterprisin’place——kindofCrystalPallas。”
“Earthquakeandapestilencebeforeyougetthat。”myunclewouldmutter，totheinfinitedelightofeveryone，andaddsomethinginaudibleabout“ColdMuttonFat。”。
WeweretornapartbyafinancialaccidenttomyuncleofwhichI
didnotatfirstgraspthefullbearings。HehaddevelopedwhatIregardedasaninnocentintellectualrecreationwhichhecalledstock-marketmeteorology。Ithinkhegottheideafromoneuseofcurvesinthegraphicpresentationofassociatedvariationsthathesawmeplotting。Hesecuredsomeofmysquaredpaperand，havingcastaboutforatime，decidedtotracetheriseandfallofcertainlinesandrailways。“There’ssomethinginthis，George。”hesaid，andIlittledreamtthatamongotherthingsthatwereinit，wasthewholeofhissparemoneyandmostofwhatmymotherhadlefttohimintrustforme。
“It’sasplainascanbe。”hesaid。“See，here’sonesystemofwavesandhere’sanother！ThesearepricesforUnionPacifics——extendingoveramonth。Nownextweek，markmywords，they’llbedownonewholepoint。We’regettingnearthesteeppartofthecurveagain。See？It’sabsolutelyscientific。It’sverifiable。Well，andapplyit！Youbuyinthehollowandsellonthecrest，andthereyouare！”
Iwassoconvincedofthetrivialityofthisamusementthattofindatlastthathehadtakenitinthemostdisastrousearnestoverwhelmedme。
Hetookmeforalongwalktobreakittome，overthehillstowardsYareandacrossthegreatgorsecommonsbyHazelbrow。
“Thereareupsanddownsinlife，George。”hesaid——halfwayacrossthatgreatopenspace，andpausedagainstthesky。”I
leftoutonefactorintheUnionPacificanalysis。”
“DIDyou？”Isaid，struckbythesuddenchanceinhisvoice。
“Butyoudon’tmean？”
Istoppedandturnedonhiminthenarrowsandyrutofpathwayandhestoppedlikewise。
“Ido，George。IDOmean。It’sbustme！I’mabankrupthereandnow。”
“Then——？”
“Theshop’sbusttoo。Ishallhavetogetoutofthat。”
“Andme？”
“Oh，you！——YOU’REallright。Youcantransferyourapprenticeship，and——er——well，I’mnotthesortofmantobecarelesswithtrustfunds，youcanbesure。Ikeptthataspectinmind。There’ssomeofitleftGeorge——trustme！——quiteadecentlittlesum。”
“Butyouandaunt？”
“Itisn’tQUITEthewaywemeanttoleaveWimblehurst，George；
butweshallhavetogo。Sale；allthethingsshovedaboutandticketed——lotahundredandone。Ugh！。It’sbeenalarkylittlehouseinsomeways。Thefirstwehad。Furnishing——aspreeinitsway。Veryhappy。”Hisfacewincedatsomememory。“Let’sgoon，George。”hesaidshortly，nearchoking，I
couldsee。
Iturnedmybackonhim，anddidnotlookroundagainforalittlewhile。
“That’showitis，yousee，George。”Iheardhimafteratime。
Whenwewerebackinthehighroadagainhecamealongside，andforatimewewalkedinsilence。
“Don’tsayanythinghomeyet。”hesaidpresently。“FortunesofWar。IgottopickthepropertimewithSusan——elseshe’llgetdepressed。Notthatsheisn’tafirst-ratebrickwhatevercomesalong。”
“Allright。”Isaid，“I’llbecareful“；anditseemedtomeforthetimealtogethertooselfishtobotherhimwithanyfurtherinquiriesabouthisresponsibilityasmytrustee。Hegavealittlesighofreliefatmynoteofassent，andwaspresentlytalkingquitecheerfullyofhisplans。Buthehad，
remember，onelapseintomoodinessthatcameandwentsuddenly。
“Thoseothers！”hesaid，asthoughthethoughthadstunghimforthefirsttime。
“Whatothers？”Iasked。
“Damnthem！”saidhe。
“Butwhatothers？”
“Allthosedamnedstick-in-the-mud-and-die-slowlytradespeople：
Ruck，thebutcher，Marbel，thegrocer。Snape！Gord！George，HOWthey’llgrin！”
Ithoughthimoverinthenextfewweeks，andIremembernowingreatdetailthelasttalkwehadtogetherbeforehehandedovertheshopandmetohissuccessor。Forhehadthegoodlucktosellhisbusiness，“lock，stock，andbarrel“——inwhichexpressionIfoundmyselfandmyindenturesincluded。Thehorrorsofasalebyauctionofthefurnitureevenwereavoided。
Irememberthateithercomingorgoingonthatoccasion，Ruck，thebutcher，stoodinhisdoorwayandregardeduswithagrinthatshowedhislongteeth。
“Youhalf-wittedhog！”saidmyuncle。“Yougrinninghyaena“；andthen，“Pleasantday，Mr。Ruck。”
“Goin’tomakeyourfortun’inLondon，then？”saidMr。Ruck，withslowenjoyment。
ThatlastexcursiontookusalongthecausewaytoBeeching，andsoupthedownsandroundalmostasfarasSteadhurst，home。Mymoods，aswewent，madeamingledweb。BythistimeIhadreallygraspedthefactthatmyunclehad，inplainEnglish，robbedme；
thelittleaccumulationsofmymother，sixhundredpoundsandmore，thatwouldhaveeducatedmeandstartedmeinbusiness，hadbeeneatenintoandwasmostlygoneintotheunexpectedhollowthatoughttohavebeenacrestoftheUnionPacificcurve，andoftheremainderhestillgavenoaccount。Iwastooyoungandinexperiencedtoinsistonthisorknowhowtogetit，butthethoughtofitallmadestreaksofdecidedlyblackangerinthatschemeofinterwovenfeelings。Andyouknow，Iwasalsoacutelysorryforhim——almostassorryasIwasformyauntSusan。EventhenIhadquitefoundhimout。Iknewhimtobeweakerthanmyself；hisincurable，irresponsiblechildishnesswasascleartomethenasitwasonhisdeathbed，hisredeemingandexcusingimaginativesilliness。ThroughsomeoddmentaltwistperhapsI
wasdisposedtoexoneratehimevenatthecostofblamingmypooroldmotherwhohadleftthingsinhisuntrustworthyhands。
Ishouldhaveforgivenhimaltogether，Ibelieve，ifhehadbeeninanymannerapologetictome；buthewasn’tthat。HekeptreassuringmeinawayIfoundirritating。Mostly，however，hissolicitudewasforAuntSusanandhimself。
“It’stheseCrises，George。”hesaid，“tryCharacter。Youraunt’scomeoutwell，myboy。”
Hemademeditativenoisesforaspace。
“Hadhercryofcourse。”——thethinghadbeenonlytoopainfullyevidenttomeinhereyesandswollenface——“whowouldn’t？Butnow——buoyantagain！。She’saCorker。
“We’llbesorrytoleavethelittlehouseofcourse。It’sabitlikeAdamandEve，youknow。Lord！whatachapoldMiltonwas！
“’Theworldwasallbeforethem，wheretochooseTheirplaceofrest，andProvidencetheirguide。’
Itsounds，George。Providencetheirguide！。Well——thankgoodnessthere’snoimeedgitprospectofeitherCainorAbel！
“Afterall，itwon’tbesobadupthere。Notthescenery，perhaps，ortheairwegethere，but——LIFE！We’vegotverycomfortablelittlerooms，verycomfortableconsidering，andI
shallrise。We’renotdoneyet，we’renotbeaten；don’tthinkthat，George。IshallpaytwentyshillingsinthepoundbeforeI’vedone——youmarkmywords，George，——twenty——fivetoyou。I
gotthissituationwithintwenty-fourhours——othersoffered。
It’sanimportantfirm——oneofthebestinLondon。Ilookedtothat。Imighthavegotfourorfiveshillingsaweekmore——elsewhere。QuartersIcouldname。ButIsaidtothemplainly，wagestogoonwith，butopportunity’smygame——development。Weunderstoodeachother。”
Hethrewouthischest，andthelittleroundeyesbehindhisglassesrestedvaliantlyonimaginaryemployers。
Wewouldgooninsilenceforaspacewhileherevisedandrestatedthatencounter。Thenhewouldbreakoutabruptlywithsomebanalphrase。
“TheBattleofLife，George，myboy。”hewouldcry，or“UpsandDowns！”
HeignoredorwaivedthepoorlittleattemptsImadetoascertainmyownposition。“That’sallright。”hewouldsay；or，“Leaveallthattome。I’LLlookafterthem。”Andhewoulddriftawaytowardsthephilosophyandmoralofthesituation。WhatwasItodo？
“Neverputallyourresourcesintoonechance，George；that’sthelessonIdrawfromthis。Haveforcesinreserve。Itwasahundredtoone，George，thatIwasright——ahundredtoone。I