第16章

workeditoutafterwards。Andherewearespikedontheoff-chance。IfI’dhaveonlykeptbackalittle，I’dhavehaditonU。P。nextday，likeashot，andcomeoutontherise。Thereyouare！”

Histhoughtstookagraverturn。

“It’swhereyou’llbumpupagainstChancelikethis，George，thatyoufeeltheneedofreligion。Yourhard-and-fastscientificmen——yourSpencersandHuxleys——theydon’tunderstandthat。I

do。I’vethoughtofitalotlately——inbedandabout。IwasthinkingofitthismorningwhileIshaved。It’snotirreverentformetosayit，Ihope——butGodcomesinontheoff-chance，George。See？Don’tyoubetoococksureofanything，goodorbad。That’swhatImakeoutofit。Icouldhavesworn。Well，doyouthinkI——particularasIam——wouldhavetouchedthoseUnionPacificswithtrustmoneyatall，ifIhadn’tthoughtitathoroughlygoodthing——goodwithoutspotorblemish？。Anditwasbad！

“It’salessontome。Youstartintogetahundredpercent。

andyoucomeoutwiththat。Itmeans，inaway，areproofforPride。I’vethoughtofthat，George——intheNightWatches。I

wasthinkingthismorningwhenIwasshaving，thatthat’swherethegoodofitallcomesin。AtthebottomI’mamysticintheseaffairs。Youcalculateyou’regoingtodothisorthat，butatbottomwhoknowsatallWHAThe’sdoing？Whenyoumostthinkyou’redoingthings，they’rebeingdonerightoveryourhead。

YOU’REbeingdone——inasense。Takeahundred-toonechance，oronetoahundred——whatdoesitmatter？You’rebeingLed。”

It’soddthatIheardthisatthetimewithunutterablecontempt，andnowthatIrecallit——well，Iaskmyself，whathaveIgotbetter？

“Iwish。”saidI，becomingforamomentoutrageous，“YOUwerebeingLedtogivemesomeaccountofmymoney，uncle。”

“Notwithoutabitofpapertofigureon，George，Ican’t。Butyoutrustmeaboutthatneverfear。Youtrustme。”

AndintheendIhadto。

Ithinkthebankruptcyhitmyauntprettyhard。Therewas，sofarasIcanremembernow，acompletecessationofallthosecheerfuloutbreaksofelasticity，nomoreskylarkingintheshopnorscamperingaboutthehouse。ButtherewasnofussthatI

saw，andonlylittlesignsinhercomplexionofthefitsofweepingthatmusthavetakenher。Shedidn’tcryattheend，thoughtomeherfacewithitsstrainofself-possessionwasmorepatheticthananyweeping。“Well“shesaidtomeasshecamethroughtheshoptothecab，“Here’soldorf，George！OrftoMomenumbertwo！Good-bye！”Andshetookmeinherarmsandkissedmeandpressedmetoher。ThenshedivedstraightforthecabbeforeIcouldanswerher。

Myunclefollowed，andheseemedtomeatrifletoovaliantandconfidentinhisbearingforreality。Hewasunusuallywhiteintheface。Hespoketohissuccessoratthecounter。“Herewego！”hesaid。“Onedown，theotherup。You’llfinditaquietlittlebusinesssolongasyourunitonquietlines——anicequietlittlebusiness。There’snothingmore？No？Well，ifyouwanttoknowanythingwritetome。I’llalwaysexplainfully。

Anything——business，placeorpeople。You’llfindPilAntibil。alittleoverstockedby-the-by，Ifounditsoothedmymindthedaybeforeyesterdaymaking’em，andImade’emallday。Thousands！

Andwhere’sGeorge？Ah！thereyouare！I’llwritetoyou，George，FULLY，aboutallthataffair。Fully！”

Itbecamecleartomeasifforthefirsttime，thatIwasreallypartingfrommyauntSusan。Iwentoutontothepavementandsawherheadcranedforward，herwide-openblueeyesandherlittlefaceintentontheshopthathadcombinedforherallthecharmsofabigdoll’shouseandalittlehomeofherveryown。

“Good-bye！”shesaidtoitandtome。Oureyesmetforamoment——perplexed。Myunclebustledoutandgaveafewtotallyunnecessarydirectionstothecabmanandgotinbesideher。“Allright？”askedthedriver。“Right。”saidI；andhewokeupthehorsewithaflickofhiswhip。Myaunt’seyessurveyedmeagain。“Sticktoyouroldscienceandthings，George，andwriteandtellmewhentheymakeyouaProfessor。”shesaidcheerfully。

Shestaredatmeforasecondlongerwitheyesgrowingwiderandbrighterandasmilethathadbecomefixed，glancedagainatthebrightlittleshopstillsaying“Ponderevo“withalltheemphasisofitsfascia，andthenfloppedbackhastilyoutofsightofmeintotherecessesofthecab。ThenithadgonefrombeforemeandIbeheldMr。Snape，thehairdresser，insidehisstoreregardingitsdeparturewithaquietsatisfactionandexchangingsmilesandsignificantheadshakeswithMr。Marbel。

Iwasleft，Isay，aspartofthelock，stock，andbarrel，atWimblehurstwithmynewmaster，aMr。Mantell；whoplaysnopartintheprogressofthisstoryexceptinsofarasheeffacedmyuncle’straces。Sosoonasthefreshnessofthisnewpersonalityfaded，IbegantofindWimblehurstnotonlyadullbutalonelyplace，andtomissmyauntSusanimmensely。TheadvertisementsofthesummertermsforCoughLinctuswereremoved；thebottlesofcolouredwater——red，green，andyellow——restoredtotheirplaces；thehorseannouncingveterinarymedicine，whichmyuncle，sizzlingallthewhile，hadcolouredincarefulportraitureofaGoodwoodfavourite，rewhitened；andIturnedmyselfevenmoreresolutelythanbeforetoLatin(untilthepassingofmypreliminaryexaminationenabledmetodropthat)，andthentomathematicsandscience。

TherewereclassesinElectricityandMagnetismattheGrammarSchool。Itookalittle“elementary“prizeinthatinmyfirstyearandamedalinmythird；andinChemistryandHumanPhysiologyandSound，LightandHeat，Ididwell。Therewasalsoalighter，morediscursivesubjectcalledPhysiography，inwhichonerangedamongthesciencesandencounteredGeologyasaprocessofevolutionfromEozoontoEastryHouse，andAstronomyasarecordofcelestialmovementsofthemostaustereandinvariableintegrity。Ilearntoutofbadly-written，condensedlittletext-books，andwiththeminimumofexperiment，butstillIlearnt。Onlythirtyyearsagoitwas，andIrememberIlearntoftheelectriclightasanexpensive，impracticabletoy，thetelephoneasacuriosity，electrictractionasapracticalabsurdity。Therewasnoargon，noradium，nophagocytes——atleasttomyknowledge，andaluminiumwasadear，infrequentmetal。Thefastestshipsintheworldwentthenatnineteenknots，andnoonebutalunatichereandthereeverthoughtitpossiblethatmenmightfly。

Manythingshavehappenedsincethen，butthelastglanceIhadofWimblehursttwoyearsagoremarkednochangewhateverinitspleasanttranquillity。Theyhadnotevenbuiltanyfreshhouses——atleastnotactuallyinthetown，thoughaboutthestationtherehadbeensomebuilding。Butitwasagoodplacetodoworkin，forallitsquiescence。IwassoonbeyondthesmallrequirementsofthePharmaceuticalSociety’sexamination，andastheydonotpermitcandidatestositforthatuntiloneandtwenty，IwaspresentlyfillingupmytimeandpreventingmystudiesbecomingtoodesultorybymakinganattackupontheLondonUniversitydegreeofBachelorofScience，whichimpressedmethenasaverysplendidbutalmostimpossibleachievement。

Thedegreeinmathematicsandchemistryappealedtomeasparticularlycongenial——albeitgiddilyinaccessible。Isettowork。IhadpresentlytoarrangeaholidayandgotoLondontomatriculate，andsoitwasIcameuponmyauntanduncleagain。

Inmanywaysthatvisitmarkedanepoch。ItwasmyfirstimpressionofLondonatall。Iwasthennineteen，andbyaconspiracyofchancesmynearestapproachtothathumanwildernesshadbeenmybriefvisittoChatham。Chathamtoohadbeenmylargesttown。SothatIgotLondonatlastwithanexceptionalfreshnessofeffect，asthesuddenrevelationofawholeunsuspectedothersidetolife。

IcametoitonadullandsmokydaybytheSouthEasternRailway，andourtrainwashalfanhourlate，stoppingandgoingonandstoppingagain。ImarkedbeyondChiselhurstthegrowingmultitudeofvillas，andsocamestagebystagethroughmultiplyinghousesanddiminishinginterspacesofmarketgardenanddingygrasstoregionsofinterlacingrailwaylines，bigfactories，gasometersandwidereekingswampsofdingylittlehomes，moreofthemandmoreandmore。Thenumberoftheseandtheirdinginessandpovertyincreased，andhereroseagreatpublichouseandhereaBoardSchoolandthereagauntfactory；

andawaytotheeastthereloomedforatimeaqueer，incongruousforestofmastsandspars。Thecongestionofhousesintensifiedandpileduppresentlyintotenements；Imarveledmoreandmoreatthisboundlessworldofdingypeople；whiffsofindustrialsmell，ofleather，ofbrewing，driftedintothecarriage；theskydarkened，Irumbledthunderouslyoverbridges，van-crowdedstreets，peereddownonandcrossedtheThameswithanabrupteclatofsound。Igotaneffectoftallwarehouses，ofgreywater，bargecrowded，ofbroadbanksofindescribablemud，andthenIwasinCannonStreetStation——amonstrousdirtycavernwithtrainspackedacrossitsvastfloorandmoreportersstandingalongtheplatformthanIhadeverbeeninmylifebefore。Ialightedwithmyportmanteauandstruggledalong，realisingforthefirsttimejusthowsmallandweakIcouldstilluponoccasionfeel。Inthisworld，Ifelt，anHonoursmedalinElectricityandmagnetismcountedfornothingatall。

AfterwardsIdroveinacabdownacanonofrushingstreetbetweenhighwarehouses，andpeepedupastonishedattheblackenedgreysofSaintPaul’s。ThetrafficofCheapside——itwasmostlyinhorseomnibusesinthosedays——seemedstupendous，itsroarwasstupendous；Iwonderedwherethemoneycamefromtoemploysomanycabs，whatindustrycouldsupporttheendlessjostlingstreamofsilk-hatted，frock-coated，hurryingmen。DownaturningIfoundtheTemperanceHotelMr。Mantellhadrecommendedtome。Theporterinagreenuniformwhotookovermyportmanteau，seemed，Ithought，todespisemeagooddeal。