第53章

Ifmygodsonhadbeenanolderman，andmorefixedinanydefinitegroove，thisiswhatIshouldhavedone，buthewasstillveryyoung，andmorethancommonlyunformedforhisage。If，again，I

hadknownofhisillnessIshouldnothavedaredtolayanyheavierburdenonhisbackthanhehadtobearalready；butnotbeinguneasyabouthishealth，Ithoughtafewyearsofroughingitandofexperienceconcerningtheimportanceofnotplayingtrickswithmoneywoulddohimnoharm。SoIdecidedtokeepasharpeyeuponhimassoonashecameoutofprison，andtolethimsplashaboutindeepwaterasbesthecouldtillIsawwhetherhewasabletoswim，orwasabouttosink。InthefirstcaseIwouldlethimgoonswimmingtillhewasnearlyeight-and-twenty，whenIwouldpreparehimgraduallyforthegoodfortunethatawaitedhim；inthesecondI

wouldhurryuptotherescue。SoIwrotetosaythatPryerhadabsconded，andthathecouldhave100poundsfromhisfatherwhenhecameoutofprison。Ithenwaitedtoseewhateffectthesetidingswouldhave，notexpectingtoreceiveananswerforthreemonths，forIhadbeentoldonenquirythatnolettercouldbereceivedbyaprisonertillafterhehadbeenthreemonthsingaol。IalsowrotetoTheobaldandtoldhimofPryer’sdisappearance。

Asamatteroffact，whenmyletterarrivedthegovernorofthegaolreadit，andinacaseofsuchimportancewouldhaverelaxedtherulesifErnest’sstatehadallowedit；hisillnesspreventedthis，andthegovernorleftittothechaplainandthedoctortobreakthenewstohimwhentheythoughthimstrongenoughtobearit，whichwasnowthecase。InthemeantimeIreceivedaformalofficialdocumentsayingthatmyletterhadbeenreceivedandwouldbecommunicatedtotheprisonerinduecourse；IbelieveitwassimplythroughamistakeonthepartofaclerkthatIwasnotinformedofErnest’sillness，butIheardnothingofittillIsawhimbyhisowndesireafewdaysafterthechaplinhadbrokentohimthesubstanceofwhatIhadwritten。

Ernestwasterriblyshockedwhenheheardofthelossofhismoney，buthisignoranceoftheworldpreventedhimfromseeingthefullextentofthemischief。Hehadneverbeeninseriouswantofmoneyyet，anddidnotknowwhatitmeant。Inreality，moneylossesarethehardesttobearofanybythosewhoareoldenoughtocomprehendthem。

Amancanstandbeingtoldthathemustsubmittoaseveresurgicaloperation，orthathehassomediseasewhichwillshortlykillhim，orthathewillbeacrippleorblindfortherestofhislife；

dreadfulassuchtidingsmustbe，wedonotfindthattheyunnervethegreaternumberofmankind；mostmen，indeed，gocoollyenougheventobehanged，butthestrongestquailbeforefinancialruin，andthebettermentheyare，themorecomplete，asageneralrule，istheirprostration。Suicideisacommonconsequenceofmoneylosses；itisrarelysoughtasameansofescapefrombodilysuffering。Ifwefeelthatwehaveacompetenceatourbacks，sothatwecandiewarmandquietlyinourbeds，withnoneedtoworryaboutexpense，weliveourlivesouttothedregs，nomatterhowexcruciatingourtorments。Jobprobablyfeltthelossofhisflocksandherdsmorethanthatofhiswifeandfamily，forhecouldenjoyhisflocksandherdswithouthisfamily，butnothisfamily——notforlong——ifhehadlostallhismoney。Lossofmoneyindeedisnotonlytheworstpaininitself，butitistheparentofallothers。

Letamanhavebeenbroughtuptoamoderatecompetence，andhavenospecially；thenlethismoneybesuddenlytakenfromhim，andhowlongishishealthlikelytosurvivethechangeinallhislittlewayswhichlossofmoneywillentail？Howlongagainistheesteemandsympathyoffriendslikelytosurviveruin？Peoplemaybeverysorryforus，buttheirattitude