第67章

Sohefellawayfromalloldfriendsexceptmyselfandthreeorfouroldintimatesofmyown，whowereassuretotaketohimashetothem，andwholikemyselfenjoyedgettingholdofayoungfreshmind。Ernestattendedtothekeepingofmyaccountbookswhenevertherewasanythingwhichcouldpossiblybeattendedto，whichthereseldomwas，andspentthegreaterpartoftherestofhistimeinaddingtothemanynotesandtentativeessayswhichhadalreadyaccumulatedinhisportfolios。Anyonewhowasusedtowritingcouldseeataglancethatliteraturewashisnaturaldevelopment，andI

waspleasedatseeinghimsettledowntoitsospontaneously。Iwaslesspleased，however，toobservethathewouldstilloccupyhimselfwithnonebutthemostserious，Ihadalmostsaidsolemn，subjects，justashenevercaredaboutanybutthemostseriouskindofmusic。

IsaidtohimonedaythattheveryslenderrewardwhichGodhadattachedtothepursuitofseriousinquirywasasufficientproofthatHedisapprovedofit，oratanyratethatHedidnotsetmuchstorebyitnorwishtoencourageit。

Hesaid：“Oh，don’ttalkaboutrewards。LookatMilton，whoonlygot5poundsfor’ParadiseLost。’“

“Andagreatdealtoomuch。”Irejoinedpromptly。“Iwouldhavegivenhimtwiceasmuchmyselfnottohavewrittenitatall。”

Ernestwasalittleshocked。“Atanyrate。”hesaidlaughingly，“I

don’twritepoetry。”

Thiswasacutatme，formyburlesqueswere，ofcourse，writteninrhyme。SoIdroppedthematter。

Afteratimehetookitintohisheadtore-openthequestionofhisgetting300poundsayearfordoing，ashesaid，absolutelynothing，andsaidhewouldtrytofindsomeemploymentwhichshouldbringhiminenoughtoliveupon。

Ilaughedatthisbutlethimalone。Hetriedandtriedveryhardforalongwhile，butIneedhardlysaywasunsuccessful。TheolderIgrow，themoreconvincedIbecomeofthefollyandcredulityofthepublic；butatthesametimetheharderdoIseeitistoimposeoneselfuponthatfollyandcredulity。

Hetriededitoraftereditorwitharticleafterarticle。Sometimesaneditorlistenedtohimandtoldhimtoleavehisarticles；healmostinvariably，however，hadthemreturnedtohimintheendwithapolitenotesayingthattheywerenotsuitedfortheparticularpapertowhichhehadsentthem。Andyetmanyoftheseveryarticlesappearedinhislaterworks，andnoonecomplainedofthem，notatleastonthescoreofbadliteraryworkmanship。“Isee。”hesaidtomeoneday，“thatdemandisveryimperious，andsupplymustbeverysuppliant。”

Once，indeed，theeditorofanimportantmonthlymagazineacceptedanarticlefromhim，andhethoughthehadnowgotafootingintheliteraryworld。Thearticlewastoappearinthenextissuebutone，andhewastoreceiveprooffromtheprintersinabouttendaysorafortnight；butweekafterweekpassedandtherewasnoproof；

monthaftermonthwentbyandtherewasstillnoroomforErnest’sarticle；atlengthafteraboutsixmonthstheeditoronemorningtoldhimthathehadfilledeverynumberofhisreviewforthenexttenmonths，butthathisarticleshoulddefinitelyappear。OnthisheinsistedonhavinghisMS。returnedtohim。

Sometimeshisarticleswereactuallypublished，andhefoundtheeditorhadeditedthemaccordingtohisownfancy，puttinginjokeswhichhethoughtwerefunny，orcuttingouttheverypassagewhichErnesthadconsideredthepointofthewholething，andthen，thoughthearticlesappeared，whenitcametopayingforthemitwasanothermatter，andheneversawhismoney。“Editors。”hesaidtomeonedayaboutthistime，“arelikethepe