第147章

’Isyourplacetheretobeleftalone？’askedClennam。

’Youexactlyhitit，’returnedFerdinand。’Itistherewiththeexpressintentionthateverythingshallbeleftalone。Thatiswhatitmeans。Thatiswhatit’sfor。Nodoubtthere’sacertainformtobekeptupthatit’sforsomethingelse，butit’sonlyaform。Why，goodHeaven，wearenothingbutforms!Thinkwhatalotofourformsyouhavegonethrough。Andyouhavenevergotanynearertoanend？’

’Never，’saidClennam。

’Lookatitfromtherightpointofview，andthereyouhaveus——

officialandeffectual。It’slikealimitedgameofcricket。A

fieldofoutsidersarealwaysgoingintobowlatthePublicService，andweblocktheballs。’

Clennamaskedwhatbecameofthebowlers？TheairyyoungBarnaclerepliedthattheygrewtired，gotdeadbeat，gotlamed，gottheirbacksbroken，diedoff，gaveitup，wentinforothergames。

’Andthisoccasionsmetocongratulatemyselfagain，’hepursued，’onthecircumstancethatourplacehashadnothingtodowithyourtemporaryretirement。Itveryeasilymighthavehadahandinit；

becauseitisundeniablethatwearesometimesamostunluckyplace，inoureffectsuponpeoplewhowillnotleaveusalone。MrClennam，Iamquiteunreservedwithyou。Asbetweenyourselfandmyself，IknowImaybe。Iwasso，whenIfirstsawyoumakingthemistakeofnotleavingusalone；becauseIperceivedthatyouwereinexperiencedandsanguine，andhad——Ihopeyou’llnotobjecttomysaying——somesimplicity。’

’Notatall。’

’Somesimplicity。ThereforeIfeltwhatapityitwas，andIwentoutofmywaytohinttoyou(whichreallywasnotofficial，butI

neveramofficialwhenIcanhelpit)somethingtotheeffectthatifIwereyou，Iwouldn’tbothermyself。However，youdidbotheryourself，andyouhavesincebotheredyourself。Now，don’tdoitanymore。’

’Iamnotlikelytohavetheopportunity，’saidClennam。

’Ohyes，youare!You’llleavehere。Everybodyleaveshere。

Therearenoendsofwaysofleavinghere。Now，don’tcomebacktous。Thatentreatyisthesecondobjectofmycall。Pray，don’tcomebacktous。Uponmyhonour，’saidFerdinandinaveryfriendlyandconfidingway，’Ishallbegreatlyvexedifyoudon’ttakewarningbythepastandkeepawayfromus。’

’Andtheinvention？’saidClennam。

’Mygoodfellow，’returnedFerdinand，’ifyou’llexcusethefreedomofthatformofaddress，nobodywantstoknowoftheinvention，andnobodycarestwopence-halfpennyaboutit。’

’NobodyintheOffice，thatistosay？’

’Noroutofit。Everybodyisreadytodislikeandridiculeanyinvention。Youhavenoideahowmanypeoplewanttobeleftalone。

YouhavenoideahowtheGeniusofthecountry(overlooktheParliamentarynatureofthephrase，anddon’tbeboredbyit)tendstobeingleftalone。Believeme，MrClennam，’saidthesprightlyyoungBarnacleinhispleasantestmanner，’ourplaceisnotawickedGianttobechargedatfulltilt；butonlyawindmillshowingyou，asitgrindsimmensequantitiesofchaff，whichwaythecountrywindblows。’

’IfIcouldbelievethat，’saidClennam，’itwouldbeadismalprospectforallofus。’

’Oh!Don’tsayso!’returnedFerdinand。’It’sallright。Wemusthavehumbug，wealllikehumbug，wecouldn’tgetonwithouthumbug。

Alittlehumbug，andagroove，andeverythinggoesonadmirably，ifyouleaveitalone。’

WiththishopefulconfessionofhisfaithastheheadoftherisingBarnacleswhowerebornofwoman，tobefollowedunderavarietyofwatchwordswhichtheyutterlyrepudiatedanddisbelieved，Ferdinandrose。Nothingcouldbemoreagreeablethanhisfrankandcourteousbearing，oradaptedwithamoregentlemanlyinstincttothecircumstancesofhisvisit。

’Isitfairtoask，’hesaid，asClennamgavehimhishandwitharealfeelingofthankfulnessforhiscandourandgood-humour，’whetheritistruethatourlatelamentedMerdleisthecauseofthispassinginconvenience？’

’Iamoneofthemanyhehasruined。Yes。’

’Hemusthavebeenanexceedinglycleverfellow，’saidFerdinandBarnacle。

Arthur，notbeinginthemoodtoextolthememoryofthedeceased，wassilent。

’Aconsummaterascal，ofcourse，’saidFerdinand，’butremarkablyclever!Onecannothelpadmiringthefellow。Musthavebeensuchamasterofhumbug。Knewpeoplesowell——gotoverthemsocompletely——didsomuchwiththem!’Inhiseasyway，hewasreallymovedtogenuineadmiration。

’Ihope，’saidArthur，’thatheandhisdupesmaybeawarningtopeoplenottohavesomuchdonewiththemagain。’

’MydearMrClennam，’returnedFerdinand，laughing，’haveyoureallysuchaverdanthope？Thenextmanwhohasaslargeacapacityandasgenuineatasteforswindling，willsucceedaswell。Pardonme，butIthinkyoureallyhavenoideahowthehumanbeeswillswarmtothebeatingofanyoldtinkett