第117章

’Beasrichasyoucan，sir，’Pancksadjuredhimwithapowerfulconcentrationofallhisenergiesontheadvice。’Beasrichasyouhonestlycan。It’syourduty。Notforyoursake，butforthesakeofothers。Taketimebytheforelock。PoorMrDoyce(whoreallyisgrowingold)dependsuponyou。Yourrelativedependsuponyou。Youdon’tknowwhatdependsuponyou。’

’Well，well，well!’returnedArthur。’Enoughforto-night。’

’Onewordmore，MrClennam，’retortedPancks，’andthenenoughforto-night。Whyshouldyouleaveallthegainstothegluttons，knaves，andimpostors？Whyshouldyouleaveallthegainsthataretobegottomyproprietorandthelikeofhim？Yetyou’realwaysdoingit。WhenIsayyou，Imeansuchmenasyou。Youknowyouare。Why，Iseeiteverydayofmylife。Iseenothingelse。

It’smybusinesstoseeit。ThereforeIsay，’urgedPancks，’Goinandwin!’

’ButwhatofGoinandlose？’saidArthur。

’Can’tbedone，sir，’returnedPancks。’Ihavelookedintoit。

Nameupeverywhere——immenseresources——enormouscapital——greatposition——highconnection——governmentinfluence。Can’tbedone!’

Gradually，afterthisclosingexposition，MrPanckssubsided；

allowedhishairtodroopasmuchasiteverwoulddroopontheutmostpersuasion；reclaimedthepipefromthefire-irons，filleditanew，andsmokeditout。Theysaidlittlemore；butwerecompanytooneanotherinsilentlypursuingthesamesubjects，anddidnotpartuntilmidnight。Ontakinghisleave，MrPancks，whenhehadshakenhandswithClennam，workedcompletelyroundhimbeforehesteamedoutatthedoor。This，ArthurreceivedasanassurancethathemightimplicitlyrelyonPancks，ifheevershouldcometoneedassistance；eitherinanyofthemattersofwhichtheyhadspokenthatnight，oranyothersubjectthatcouldinanywayaffecthimself。

Atintervalsallnextday，andevenwhilehisattentionwasfixedonotherthings，hethoughtofMrPancks’sinvestmentofhisthousandpounds，andofhishaving’lookedintoit。’HethoughtofMrPancks’sbeingsosanguineinthismatter，andofhisnotbeingusuallyofasanguinecharacter。HethoughtofthegreatNationalDepartment，andofthedelightitwouldbetohimtoseeDoycebetteroff。HethoughtofthedarklythreateningplacethatwentbythenameofHomeinhisremembrance，andofthegatheringshadowswhichmadeityetmoredarklythreateningthanofold。Heobservedanewthatwhereverhewent，hesaw，orheard，ortouched，thecelebratednameofMerdle；hefounditdifficulteventoremainathisdeskacoupleofhours，withouthavingitpresentedtooneofhisbodilysensesthroughsomeagencyorother。Hebegantothinkitwascurioustoothatitshouldbeeverywhere，andthatnobodybutheshouldseemtohaveanymistrustofit。Thoughindeedhebegantoremember，whenhegottothis，evenhedidnotmistrustit；hehadonlyhappenedtokeepalooffromit。

Suchsymptoms，whenadiseaseofthekindisrife，areusuallythesignsofsickening。

TakingAdviceWhenitbecameknowntotheBritonsontheshoreoftheyellowTiberthattheirintelligentcompatriot，MrSparkler，wasmadeoneoftheLordsoftheirCircumlocutionOffice，theytookitasapieceofnewswithwhichtheyhadnonearerconcernthanwithanyotherpieceofnews——anyotherAccidentorOffence——intheEnglishpapers。Somelaughed；somesaid，bywayofcompleteexcuse，thatthepostwasvirtuallyasinecure，andanyfoolwhocouldspellhisnamewasgoodenoughforit；some，andthesethemoresolemnpoliticaloracles，saidthatDecimusdidwiselytostrengthenhimself，andthatthesoleconstitutionalpurposeofallplaceswithinthegiftofDecimus，was，thatDecimusshouldstrengthenhimself。AfewbiliousBritonstherewerewhowouldnotsubscribetothisarticleoffaith；buttheirobjectionwaspurelytheoretical。Inapracticalpointofview，theylistlesslyabandonedthematter，asbeingthebusinessofsomeotherBritonsunknown，somewhere，ornowhere。Inlikemanner，athome，greatnumbersofBritonsmaintained，foraslongasfour-and-twentyconsecutivehours，thatthoseinvisibleandanonymousBritons’oughttotakeitup；’andthati