,,erewhon ,,revisited ,,twenty ,,years ,,later ,both by the ,original ,discoverer of the ,country and by his ,son ,i forget when1 but not very long after ,i had published 8,erewhon0 in #ahgb1 it occurred to me to ask myself what course events in ,erewhon would probably take after ,mr4 ,higgs1 as ,i suppose ,i may now call him1 had made his escape in the balloon with ,arowhena4 ,given a people in the conditions supposed to exist in ,erewhon1 and given the apparently miraculous ascent of a remarkable stranger into the heavens with an earthly bride--what would be the effect on the people generally8 ,there was no use in trying to solve this problem before1 say1 twenty years should have given time for ,erewhonian developments to assume something like permanent shape1 and in #ahib ,i was too busy with books now published to be able to attend to ,erewhon4 ,it was not till the early winter of #aijj1 i4e4 as nearly as may be thirty years after the date of ,higgs's escape1 that ,i found time to deal with the question above stated1 and to answer it1 according to my lights1 in the book which ,i now lay before the public4 ,i have concluded1 ,i believe rightly1 that the events described in ,chapter ,,xxiv4 of 8,erewhon0 would give rise to such a cataclysmic change in the old ,erewhonian opinions as would result in the development of a new religion4 ,now the development of all new religions follows much the same general course4 ,in all cases the times are more or less out of joint--older faiths are losing their hold upon the masses4 ,at such times1 let a personality appear1 strong in itself1 and made to seem still stronger by association with some supposed transcendent miracle1 and it will be easy to raise a ,lo here6 that will attract many followers4 ,if there be a single great1 and apparently well-authenticated1 miracle1 others will accrete round it2 then1 in all religions that have so originated1 there will follow temples1 priests1 rites1 sincere believers1 and unscrupulous exploiters of public credulity4 ,to chronicle the events that followed ,higgs's balloon ascent without shewing that they were much as they have been under like conditions in other places1 would be to hold the mirror up to something very wide of nature4 ,analogy1 however1 between courses of events is one thing--historic parallelisms abound2 analogy between the main actors in events is a very different one1 and one1 moreover1 of which few examples can be found4 ,the development of the new ideas in ,erewhon is a familiar one1 but there is no more likeness between ,higgs and the founder of any other religion1 than there is between ,jesus ,christ and ,mahomet4 ,he is a typical middle- class ,englishman1 deeply tainted with priggishness in his earlier years1 but in great part freed from it by the sweet uses of adversity4 ,if ,i may be allowed for a moment to speak about myself1 ,i would say that ,i have never ceased to profess myself a member of the more advanced wing of the ,english ,broad ,church4 ,what those who belong to this wing believe1 ,i believe4 ,what they reject1 ,i reject4 ,no two people think absolutely alike on any subject1 but when ,i converse with advanced ,broad ,churchmen ,i find myself in substantial harmony with them4 ,i believe--and should be very sorry if ,i did not believe--that1 mutatis mutandis1 such men will find the advice given on pp4 #bgg-bha and #bhg-bia of this book much what1 under the supposed circumstances1 they would themselves give4 ,lastly1 ,i should express my great obligations to ,mr4 ,r4 ,a4 ,streatfeild of the ,british ,museum1 who1 in the absence from ,england of my friend ,mr4 ,h4 ,festing ,jones1 has kindly supervised the corrections of my book as it passed through the press4 ,,samuel ,,butler4 ,may #a1 #aija4 ,,chapter ,i3 ,,ups ,,and ,,downs ,,of ,,fortune--,,my ,,father ,,starts ,,for ,,erewhon ,before telling the story of my father's second visit to the remarkable country which he discovered now some thirty years since1 ,i should perhaps say a few words about his career between the publication of his book in #ahgb1 and his death in the early summer of #ahia4 ,i shall thus touch briefly on the causes that occasioned his failure to maintain that hold on the public which he had apparently secured at first4 ,his book1 as the reader may perhaps know1 was published anonymously1 and my poor father used to ascribe the acclamation with which it was received1 to the fact that no one knew who it might not have been written by4 ,omne ignotum pro magnifico1 and during its month of anonymity the book was a frequent topic of appreciative comment in good literary circles4 ,almost coincidently with the discovery that he was a mere nobody1 people began to feel that their admiration had been too hastily bestowed1 and before long opinion turned all the more seriously against him for this very reason4 ,the subscription1 to which the ,lord ,mayor had at first given his cordial support1 was curtly announced as closed before it had been opened a week2 it had met with so little success that ,i will not specify the amount eventually handed over1 not without protest1 to my father2 small1 however1 as it was1 he narrowly escaped being prosecuted for trying to obtain money under false pretences4 ,the ,geographical ,society1 which had for a few days received him with open arms1 was among the first to turn upon him--not1 so far as ,i can ascertain1 on account of the mystery in which he had enshrouded the exact whereabouts of ,erewhon1 nor yet by reason of its being persistently alleged that he was subject to frequent attacks of alcoholic poisoning--but through his own want of tact1 and a highly-strung nervous state1 which led him to attach too much importance to his own discoveries1 and not enough to those of other people4 ,this1 at least1 was my father's version of the matter1 as ,i heard it from his own lips in the later years of his life4 8,i was still very young10 he said to me1 8and my mind was more or less unhinged by the strangeness and peril of my adventures40 ,be this as it may1 ,i fear there is no doubt that he was injudicious2 and an ounce of judgement is worth a pound of discovery4 ,hence1 in a surprisingly short time1 he found himself dropped even by those who had taken him up most warmly1 and had done most to find him that employment as a writer of religious tracts on which his livelihood was then dependent4 ,the discredit1 however1 into which my father fell1 had the effect of deterring any considerable number of people from trying to rediscover ,erewhon1 and thus caused it to remain as unknown to geographers in general as though it had never been found4 ,a few shepherds and cadets at up-country stations had1 indeed1 tried to follow in my father's footsteps1 during the time when his book was still being taken seriously2 but they had most of them returned1 unable to face the difficulties that had opposed them4 ,some few1 however1 had not returned1 and though search was made for them1 their bodies had not been found4 ,when he reached ,erewhon on his second visit1 my father learned that others had attempted to visit the country more recently--probably quite independently of his own book2 and before he had himself been in it many hours he gathered what the fate of these poor fellows doubtless was4 ,another reason that made it more easy for ,erewhon to remain unknown1 was the fact that the more mountainous districts1 though repeatedly prospected for gold1 had been pronounced non-auriferous1 and as there was no sheep or cattle country1 save a few river-bed flats above the upper gorges of any of the rivers1 and no game to tempt the sportsman1 there was nothing to induce people to penetrate into the fastnesses of the great snowy range4 ,no more1 therefore1 being heard of ,erewhon1 my father's book came to be regarded as a mere work of fiction1 and ,i have heard quite recently of its having been seen on a second-hand bookstall1 marked 8#f;d4 very readable40 ,though there was no truth in the stories about my father's being subject to attacks of alcoholic poisoning1 yet1 during the first few years after his return to ,england1 his occasional fits of ungovernable excitement gave some colour to the opinion that much of what he said he had seen and done might be only subjectively true4 ,i refer more particularly to his interview with ,chowbok in the wool-shed1 and his highly coloured description of the statues on the top of the pass leading into ,erewhon4 ,these were soon set down as forgeries of delirium1 and it was maliciously urged1 that though in his book he had only admitted having taken 8two or three bottles of brandy0 with him1 he had probably taken at least a dozen2 and that if on the night before he reached the statues he had 8only four ounces of brandy0 left1 he must have been drinking heavily for the preceding fortnight or three weeks4 ,those who read the following pages will1 ,i think1 reject all idea that my father was in a state of delirium1 not without surprise that any one should have ever entertained it4 ,it was ,chowbok who1 if he did not originate these calumnies1 did much to disseminate and gain credence for them4 ,he remained in ,england for some years1 and never tired of doing what he could to disparage my father4 ,the cunning creature had ingratiated himself with our leading religious societies1 especially with the more evangelical among them4 ,whatever doubt there might be about his sincerity1 there was none about his colour1 and a coloured convert in those days was more than ,exeter ,hall could resist4 ,chowbok saw that there was no room for him and for my father1 and declared my poor father's story to be almost wholly false4 ,it was true1 he said1 that he and my father had explored the head-waters of the river described in his book1 but he denied that my father had gone on without him1 and he named the river as one distant by many thousands of miles from the one it really was4 ,he said that after about a fortnight he had returned in company with my father1 who by that time had become incapacitated for further travel4 ,at this point he would shrug his shoulders1 look mysterious1 and thus say 8alcoholic poisoning0 even more effectively than if he had uttered the words themselves4 ,for a man's tongue lies often in his shoulders4 ,readers of my father's book will remember that ,chowbok had given a very different version when he had returned to his employer's station2 but ,time and ,distance afford cover under which falsehood can often do truth to death securely4 ,i never understood why my father did not bring my mother forward to confirm his story4 ,he may have done so while ,i was too young to know anything about it4 ,but when people have made up their minds1 they are impatient of further evidence2 my mother1 moreover1 was of a very retiring disposition4 ,the ,italians say3- 8,chi lontano va ammogliare ,sar ingannato1 o vorr ingannare40 8,if a man goes far afield for a wife1 he will be deceived--or means deceiving40 ,the proverb is as true for women as for men1 and my mother was never quite happy in her new surroundings4 ,wilfully deceived she assuredly was not1 but she could not accustom herself to ,english modes of thought2 indeed she never even nearly mastered our language2 my father always talked with her in ,erewhonian1 and so did ,i1 for as a child she had taught me to do so1 and ,i was as fluent with her language as with my father's4 ,in this respect she often told me ,i could pass myself off anywhere in ,erewhon as a native2 ,i shared also her personal appearance1 for though not wholly unlike my father1 ,i had taken more closely after my mother4 ,in mind1 if ,i may venture to say so1 ,i believe ,i was more like my father4 ,i may as well here inform the reader that ,i was born at the end of ,september #ahga1 and was christened ,john1 after my grandfather4 ,from what ,i have said above he will readily believe that my earliest experiences were somewhat squalid4 ,memories of childhood rush vividly upon me when ,i pass through a low ,london alley1 and catch the faint sickly smell that pervades it--half paraffin1 half black-currants1 but wholly something very different4 ,i have a fancy that we lived in ,blackmoor ,street1 off ,drury ,lane4 ,my father1 when first ,i knew of his doing anything at all1 supported my mother and myself by drawing pictures with coloured chalks upon the pavement2 ,i used sometimes to watch him1 and marvel at the skill with which he represented fogs1 floods1 and fires4 ,these three 8f's10 he would say1 were his three best friends1 for they were easy to do and brought in halfpence freely4 ,the return of the dove to the ark was his favourite subject4 ,such a little ark1 on such a hazy morning1 and such a little pigeon--the rest of the picture being cheap sky1 and still cheaper sea2 nothing1 ,i have often heard him say1 was more popular than this with his clients4 ,he held it to be his masterpiece1 but would add with some navet that he considered himself a public benefactor for carrying it out in such perishable fashion4 8,at any rate10 he would say1 8no one can bequeath one of my many replicas to the nation40 ,i never learned how much my father earned by his profession1 but it must have been something considerable1 for we always had enough to eat and drink2 ,i imagine that he did better than many a struggling artist with more ambitious aims4 ,he was strictly temperate during all the time that ,i knew anything about him1 but he was not a teetotaler2 ,i never saw any of the fits of nervous excitement which in his earlier years had done so much to wreck him4 ,in the evenings1 and on days when the state of the pavement did not permit him to work1 he took great pains with my education1 which he could very well do1 for as a boy he had been in the sixth form of one of our foremost public schools4 ,i found him a patient1 kindly instructor1 while to my mother he was a model husband4 ,whatever others may have said about him1 ,i can never think of him without very affectionate respect4 ,things went on quietly enough1 as above indicated1 till ,i was about fourteen1 when by a freak of fortune my father became suddenly affluent4 ,a brother of his father's had emigrated to ,australia in #ahea1 and had amassed great wealth4 ,we knew of his existence1 but there had been no intercourse between him and my father1 and we did not even know that he was rich and unmarried4 ,he died intestate towards the end of #ahhe1 and my father was the only relative he had1 except1 of course1 myself1 for both my father's sisters had died young1 and without leaving children4 ,the solicitor through whom the news reached us was1 happily1 a man of the highest integrity1 and also very sensible and kind4 ,he was a ,mr4 ,alfred ,emery ,cathie1 of #ae ,clifford's ,inn1 ,e4,c41 and my father placed himself unreservedly in his hands4 ,i was at once sent to a first-rate school1 and such pains had my father taken with me that ,i was placed in a higher form than might have been expected considering my age4 ,the way in which he had taught me had prevented my feeling any dislike for study2 ,i therefore stuck fairly well to my books1 while not neglecting the games which are so important a part of healthy education4 ,everything went well with me1 both as regards masters and school-fellows2 nevertheless1 ,i was declared to be of a highly nervous and imaginative temperament1 and the school doctor more than once urged our headmaster not to push me forward too rapidly--for which ,i have ever since held myself his debtor4 ,early in #ahij1 ,i being then home from ,oxford 7where ,i had been entered in the preceding year71 my mother died2 not so much from active illness1 as from what was in reality a kind of maladie du pays4 ,all along she had felt herself an exile1 and though she had borne up wonderfully during my father's long struggle with adversity1 she began to break as soon as prosperity had removed the necessity for exertion on her own part4 ,my father could never divest himself of the feeling that he had wrecked her life by inducing her to share her lot with his own2 to say that he was stricken with remorse on losing her is not enough2 he had been so stricken almost from the first year of his marriage2 on her death he was haunted by the wrong he accused himself--as it seems to me very unjustly--of having done her1 for it was neither his fault nor hers--it was ,at4 ,his unrest soon assumed the form of a burning desire to revisit the country in which he and my mother had been happier together than perhaps they ever again were4 ,i had often heard him betray a hankering after a return to ,erewhon1 disguised so that no one should recognise him2 but as long as my mother lived he would not leave her4 ,when death had taken her from him1 he so evidently stood in need of a complete change of scene1 that even those friends who had most strongly dissuaded him from what they deemed a madcap enterprise1 thought it better to leave him to himself4 ,it would have mattered little how much they tried to dissuade him1 for before long his passionate longing for the journey became so overmastering that nothing short of restraint in prison or a madhouse could have stayed his going2 but we were not easy about him4 8,he had better go10 said ,mr4 ,cathie to me1 when ,i was at home for the ,easter vacation1 8and get it over4 ,he is not well1 but he is still in the prime of life2 doubtless he will come back with renewed health and will settle down to a quiet home life again40 ,this1 however1 was not said till it had become plain that in a few days my father would be on his way4 ,he had made a new will1 and left an ample power of attorney with ,mr4 ,cathie--or1 as we always called him1 ,alfred--who was to supply me with whatever money ,i wanted2 he had put all other matters in order in case anything should happen to prevent his ever returning1 and he set out on ,october #a1 #ahij1 more composed and cheerful than ,i had seen him for some time past4 ,i had not realised how serious the danger to my father would be if he were recognised while he was in ,erewhon1 for ,i am ashamed to say that ,i had not yet read his book4 ,i had heard over and over again of his flight with my mother in the balloon1 and had long since read his few opening chapters1 but ,i had found1 as a boy naturally would1 that the succeeding pages were a little dull1 and soon put the book aside4 ,my father1 indeed1 repeatedly urged me not to read it1 for he said there was much in it--more especially in the earlier chapters1 which ,i had alone found interesting--that he would gladly cancel if he could4 8,but there60 he had said with a laugh1 8what does it matter80 ,he had hardly left1 before ,i read his book from end to end1 and1 on having done so1 not only appreciated the risks that he would have to run1 but was struck with the wide difference between his character as he had himself portrayed it1 and the estimate ,i had formed of it from personal knowledge4 ,when1 on his return1 he detailed to me his adventures1 the account he gave of what he had said and done corresponded with my own ideas concerning him2 but ,i doubt not the reader will see that the twenty years between his first and second visit had modified him even more than so long an interval might be expected to do4 ,i heard from him repeatedly during the first two months of his absence1 and was surprised to find that he had stayed for a week or ten days at more than one place of call on his outward journey4 ,on ,november #bf he wrote from the port whence he was to start for ,erewhon1 seemingly in good health and spirits2 and on ,december #bg1 #ahia1 he telegraphed for a hundred pounds to be wired out to him at this same port4 ,this puzzled both ,mr4 ,cathie and myself1 for the interval between ,november #bf and ,december #bg seemed too short to admit of his having paid his visit to ,erewhon and returned2 as1 moreover1 he had added the words1 8,coming home10 we rather hoped that he had abandoned his intention of going there4 ,we were also surprised at his wanting so much money1 for he had taken a hundred pounds in gold1 which from some fancy1 he had stowed in a small silver jewel-box that he had given my mother not long before she died4 ,he had also taken a hundred pounds worth of gold nuggets1 which he had intended to sell in ,erewhon so as to provide himself with money when he got there4 ,i should explain that these nuggets would be worth in ,erewhon fully ten times as much as they would in ,europe1 owing to the great scarcity of gold in that country4 ,the ,erewhonian coinage is entirely silver--which is abundant1 and worth much what it is in ,england--or copper1 which is also plentiful2 but what we should call five pounds' worth of silver money would not buy more than one of our half-sovereigns in gold4 ,he had put his nuggets into ten brown holland bags1 and he had had secret pockets made for the old ,erewhonian dress which he had worn when he escaped1 so that he need never have more than one bag of nuggets accessible at a time4 ,he was not likely1 therefore1 to have been robbed4 ,his passage to the port above referred to had been paid before he started1 and it seemed impossible that a man of his very inexpensive habits should have spent two hundred pounds in a single month--for the nuggets would be immediately convertible in an ,english colony4 ,there was nothing1 however1 to be done but to cable out the money and wait my father's arrival4 ,returning for a moment to my father's old ,erewhonian dress1 ,i should say that he had preserved it simply as a memento and without any idea that he should again want it4 ,it was not the court dress that had been provided for him on the occasion of his visit to the king and queen1 but the everyday clothing that he had been ordered to wear when he was put in prison1 though his ,english coat1 waistcoat1 and trousers had been allowed to remain in his own possession4 ,these1 ,i had seen from his book1 had been presented by him to the queen 7with the exception of two buttons1 which he had given to ,yram as a keepsake71 and had been preserved by her displayed upon a wooden dummy4 ,the dress in which he escaped had been soiled during the hours that he and my mother had been in the sea1 and had also suffered from neglect during the years of his poverty2 but he wished to pass himself off as a common peasant or working-man1 so he preferred to have it set in order as might best be done1 rather than copied4 ,so cautious was he in the matter of dress that he took with him the boots he had worn on leaving ,erewhon1 lest the foreign make of his ,english boots should arouse suspicion4 ,they were nearly new1 and when he had had them softened and well greased1 he found he could still wear them quite comfortably4 ,but to return4 ,he reached home late at night one day at the beginning of ,february1 and a glance was enough to show that he was an altered man4 8,what is the matter80 said ,i1 shocked at his appearance4 8,did you go to ,erewhon1 and were you ill-treated there80 8,i went to ,erewhon10 he said1 8and ,i was not ill-treated there1 but ,i have been so shaken that ,i fear ,i shall quite lose my reason4 ,do not ask me more now4 ,i will tell you about it all to-morrow4 ,let me have something to eat1 and go to bed40 ,when we met at breakfast next morning1 he greeted me with all his usual warmth of affection1 but he was still taciturn4 8,i will begin to tell you about it10 he said1 8after breakfast4 ,where is your dear mother8 ,how was it that ,i have 4 4 4 0 ,then of a sudden his memory returned1 and he burst into tears4 ,i now saw1 to my horror1 that his mind was gone4 ,when he recovered1 he said3 8,it has all come back again1 but at times now ,i am a blank1 and every week am more and more so4 ,i daresay ,i shall be sensible now for several hours4 ,we will go into the study after breakfast1 and ,i will talk to you as long as ,i can do so40 ,let the reader spare me1 and let me spare the reader any description of what we both of us felt4 ,when we were in the study1 my father said1 8,my dearest boy1 get pen and paper and take notes of what ,i tell you4 ,it will be all disjointed2 one day ,i shall remember this1 and another that1 but there will not be many more days on which ,i shall remember anything at all4 ,i cannot write a coherent page4 ,you1 when ,i am gone1 can piece what ,i tell you together1 and tell it as ,i should have told it if ,i had been still sound4 ,but do not publish it yet2 it might do harm to those dear good people4 ,take the notes now1 and arrange them the sooner the better1 for you may want to ask me questions1 and ,i shall not be here much longer4 ,let publishing wait till you are confident that publication can do no harm2 and above all1 say nothing to betray the whereabouts of ,erewhon1 beyond admitting 7which ,i fear ,i have already done7 that it is in the ,southern hemisphere40 ,these instructions ,i have religiously obeyed4 ,for the first days after his return1 my father had few attacks of loss of memory1 and ,i was in hopes that his former health of mind would return when he found himself in his old surroundings4 ,during these days he poured forth the story of his adventures so fast1 that if ,i had not had a fancy for acquiring shorthand1 ,i should not have been able to keep pace with him4 ,i repeatedly urged him not to overtax his strength1 but he was oppressed by the fear that if he did not speak at once1 he might never be able to tell me all he had to say2 ,i had1 therefore1 to submit1 though seeing plainly enough that he was only hastening the complete paralysis which he so greatly feared4 ,sometimes his narrative would be coherent for pages together1 and he could answer any questions without hesitation2 at others1 he was now here and now there1 and if ,i tried to keep him to the order of events he would say that he had forgotten intermediate incidents1 but that they would probably come back to him1 and ,i should perhaps be able to put them in their proper places4 ,after about ten days he seemed satisfied that ,i had got all the facts1 and that with the help of the pamphlets which he had brought with him ,i should be able to make out a connected story4 8,remember10 he said1 8that ,i thought ,i was quite well so long as ,i was in ,erewhon1 and do not let me appear as anything else40 ,when he had fully delivered himself1 he seemed easier in his mind1 but before a month had passed he became completely paralysed1 and though he lingered till the beginning of ,june1 he was seldom more than dimly conscious of what was going on around him4 ,his death robbed me of one who had been a very kind and upright elder brother rather than a father2 and so strongly have ,i felt his influence still present1 living and working1 as ,i believe for better within me1 that ,i did not hesitate to copy the epitaph which he saw in the ,musical ,bank at ,fairmead1 #a and to have it inscribed on the very simple monument which he desired should alone mark his grave4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the foregoing was written in the summer of #ahia2 what ,i now add should be dated ,december #c1 #aijj4 ,if1 in the course of my work1 ,i have misrepresented my father1 as ,i fear ,i may have sometimes done1 ,i would ask my readers to remember that no man can tell another's story without some involuntary misrepresentation both of facts and characters4 ,they will1 of course1 see that 8,erewhon ,revisited0 is written by one who has far less literary skill than the author of 8,erewhon20 but again ,i would ask indulgence on the score of youth1 and the fact that this is my first book4 ,it was written nearly ten years ago1 i4e4 in the months from ,march to ,august #ahia1 but for reasons already given it could not then be made public4 ,i have now received permission1 and therefore publish the following chapters1 exactly1 or very nearly exactly1 as they were left when ,i had finished editing my father's diaries1 and the notes ,i took down from his own mouth--with the exception1 of course1 of these last few lines1 hurriedly written as ,i am on the point of leaving ,england1 of the additions ,i made in #ahib1 on returning from my own three hours' stay in ,erewhon1 and of the ,postscript4 ,,chapter ,,ii3 ,,to ,,the ,,foot ,,of ,,the ,,pass ,,into ,,erewhon ,when my father reached the colony for which he had left ,england some twenty-two years previously1 he bought a horse1 and started up country on the evening of the day after his arrival1 which was1 as ,i have said1 on one of the last days of ,november #ahij4 ,he had taken an ,english saddle with him1 and a couple of roomy and strongly made saddle-bags4 ,in these he packed his money1 his nuggets1 some tea1 sugar1 tobacco1 salt1 a flask of brandy1 matches1 and as many ship's biscuits as he thought he was likely to want2 he took no meat1 for he could supply himself from some accommodation-house or sheep-station1 when nearing the point after which he would have to begin camping out4 ,he rolled his ,erewhonian dress and small toilette necessaries inside a warm red blanket1 and strapped the roll on to the front part of his saddle4 ,on to other ,d's1 with which his saddle was amply provided1 he strapped his ,erewhonian boots1 a tin pannikin1 and a billy that would hold about a quart4 ,i should1 perhaps1 explain to ,english readers that a billy is a tin can1 the name for which 7doubtless of ,french ,canadian origin7 is derived from the words 8faire bouillir40 ,he also took with him a pair of hobbles and a small hatchet4 ,he spent three whole days in riding across the plains1 and was struck with the very small signs of change that he could detect1 but the fall in wool1 and the failure1 so far1 to establish a frozen meat trade1 had prevented any material development of the resources of the country4 ,when he had got to the front ranges1 he followed up the river next to the north of the one that he had explored years ago1 and from the head waters of which he had been led to discover the only practicable pass into ,erewhon4 ,he did this1 partly to avoid the terribly dangerous descent on to the bed of the more northern river1 and partly to escape being seen by shepherds or bullock-drivers who might remember him4 ,if he had attempted to get through the gorge of this river in #ahgj1 he would have found it impassable2 but a few river-bed flats had been discovered above the gorge1 on which there was now a shepherd's hut1 and on the discovery of these flats a narrow horse track had been made from one end of the gorge to the other4 ,he was hospitably entertained at the shepherd's hut just mentioned1 which he reached on ,monday1 ,december #a4 ,he told the shepherd in charge of it that he had come to see if he could find traces of a large wingless bird1 whose existence had been reported as having been discovered among the extreme head waters of the river4 8,be careful1 sir10 said the shepherd2 8the river is very dangerous2 several people--one only about a year ago--have left this hut1 and though their horses and their camps have been found1 their bodies have not4 ,when a great fresh comes down1 it would carry a body out to sea in twenty-four hours40 ,he evidently had no idea that there was a pass through the ranges up the river1 which might explain the disappearance of an explorer4 ,next day my father began to ascend the river4 ,there was so much tangled growth still unburnt wherever there was room for it to grow1 and so much swamp1 that my father had to keep almost entirely to the river-bed--and here there was a good deal of quicksand4 ,the stones also were often large for some distance together1 and he had to cross and recross streams of the river more than once1 so that though he travelled all day with the exception of a couple of hours for dinner1 he had not made more than some five and twenty miles when he reached a suitable camping ground1 where he unsaddled his horse1 hobbled him1 and turned him out to feed4 ,the grass was beginning to seed1 so that though it was none too plentiful1 what there was of it made excellent feed4 ,he lit his fire1 made himself some tea1 ate his cold mutton and biscuits1 and lit his pipe1 exactly as he had done twenty years before4 ,there was the clear starlit sky1 the rushing river1 and the stunted trees on the mountain-side2 the woodhens cried1 and the 8more-pork0 hooted out her two monotonous notes exactly as they had done years since2 one moment1 and time had so flown backwards that youth came bounding back to him with the return of his youth's surroundings2 the next1 and the intervening twenty years--most of them grim ones--rose up mockingly before him1 and the buoyancy of hope yielded to the despondency of admitted failure4 ,by and by buoyancy reasserted itself1 and1 soothed by the peace and beauty of the night1 he wrapped himself up in his blanket and dropped off into a dreamless slumber4 ,next morning1 i4e4 ,december #c1 he rose soon after dawn1 bathed in a backwater of the river1 got his breakfast1 found his horse on the river- bed1 and started as soon as he had duly packed and loaded4 ,he had now to cross streams of the river and recross them more often than on the preceding day1 and this1 though his horse took well to the water1 required care2 for he was anxious not to wet his saddle-bags1 and it was only by crossing at the wide1 smooth1 water above a rapid1 and by picking places where the river ran in two or three streams1 that he could find fords where his practised eye told him that the water would not be above his horse's belly--for the river was of great volume4 ,fortunately1 there had been a late fall of snow on the higher ranges1 and the river was1 for the summer season1 low4 ,towards evening1 having travelled1 so far as he could guess1 some twenty or five and twenty miles 7for he had made another mid day halt71 he reached the place1 which he easily recognised1 as that where he had camped before crossing to the pass that led into ,erewhon4 ,it was the last piece of ground that could be called a flat 7though it was in reality only the sloping delta of a stream that descended from the pass7 before reaching a large glacier that had encroached on the river-bed1 which it traversed at right angles for a considerable distance4 ,here he again camped1 hobbled his horse1 and turned him adrift1 hoping that he might again find him some two or three months hence1 for there was a good deal of sweet grass here and there1 with sow-thistle and anise2 and the coarse tussock grass would be in full seed shortly1 which alone would keep him going for as long a time as my father expected to be away4 ,little did he think that he should want him again so shortly4 ,having attended to his horse1 he got his supper1 and while smoking his pipe congratulated himself on the way in which something had smoothed away all the obstacles that had so nearly baffled him on his earlier journey4 ,was he being lured on to his destruction by some malicious fiend1 or befriended by one who had compassion on him and wished him well8 ,his naturally sanguine temperament inclined him to adopt the friendly spirit theory1 in the peace of which he again laid himself down to rest1 and slept soundly from dark till dawn4 ,in the morning1 though the water was somewhat icy1 he again bathed1 and then put on his ,erewhonian boots and dress4 ,he stowed his ,european clothes1 with some difficulty1 into his saddle-bags4 ,herein also he left his case full of ,english sovereigns1 his spare pipes1 his purse1 which contained two pounds in gold and seven or eight shillings1 part of his stock of tobacco1 and whatever provision was left him1 except the meat--which he left for sundry hawks and parrots that were eyeing his proceedings apparently without fear of man4 ,his nuggets he concealed in the secret pockets of which ,i have already spoken1 keeping one bag alone accessible4 ,he had had his hair and beard cut short on shipboard the day before he landed4 ,these he now dyed with a dye that he had brought from ,england1 and which in a few minutes turned them very nearly black4 ,he also stained his face and hands deep brown4 ,he hung his saddle and bridle1 his ,english boots1 and his saddle-bags on the highest bough that he could reach1 and made them fairly fast with strips of flax leaf1 for there was some stunted flax growing on the ground where he had camped4 ,he feared that1 do what he might1 they would not escape the inquisitive thievishness of the parrots1 whose strong beaks could easily cut leather2 but he could do nothing more4 ,it occurs to me1 though my father never told me so1 that it was perhaps with a view to these birds that he had chosen to put his ,english sovereigns into a metal box1 with a clasp to it which would defy them4 ,he made a roll of his blanket1 and slung it over his shoulder2 he also took his pipe1 tobacco1 a little tea1 a few ship's biscuits1 and his billy and pannikin2 matches and salt go without saying4 ,when he had thus ordered everything as nearly to his satisfaction as he could1 he looked at his watch for the last time1 as he believed1 till many weeks should have gone by1 and found it to be about seven o'clock4 ,remembering what trouble it had got him into years before1 he took down his saddle-bags1 reopened them1 and put the watch inside4 ,he then set himself to climb the mountain side1 towards the saddle on which he had seen the statues4 ,,chapter ,,iii3 ,,my ,,father ,,while ,,camping ,,is ,,accosted ,,by ,,professors ,,hanky ,,and ,,panky ,my father found the ascent more fatiguing than he remembered it to have been4 ,the climb1 he said1 was steady1 and took him between four and five hours1 as near as he could guess1 now that he had no watch2 but it offered nothing that could be called a difficulty1 and the watercourse that came down from the saddle was a sufficient guide2 once or twice there were waterfalls1 but they did not seriously delay him4 ,after he had climbed some three thousand feet1 he began to be on the alert for some sound of ghostly chanting from the statues2 but he heard nothing1 and toiled on till he came to a sprinkling of fresh snow--part of the fall which he had observed on the preceding day as having whitened the higher mountains2 he knew1 therefore1 that he must now be nearing the saddle4 ,the snow grew rapidly deeper1 and by the time he reached the statues the ground was covered to a depth of two or three inches4 ,he found the statues smaller than he had expected4 ,he had said in his book--written many months after he had seen them--that they were about six times the size of life1 but he now thought that four or five times would have been enough to say4 ,their mouths were much clogged with snow1 so that even though there had been a strong wind 7which there was not7 they would not have chanted4 ,in other respects he found them not less mysteriously impressive than at first4 ,he walked two or three times all round them1 and then went on4 ,the snow did not continue far down1 but before long my father entered a thick bank of cloud1 and had to feel his way cautiously along the stream that descended from the pass4 ,it was some two hours before he emerged into clear air1 and found himself on the level bed of an old lake now grassed over4 ,he had quite forgotten this feature of the descent--perhaps the clouds had hung over it2 he was overjoyed1 however1 to find that the flat ground abounded with a kind of quail1 larger than ours1 and hardly1 if at all1 smaller than a partridge4 ,the abundance of these quails surprised him1 for he did not remember them as plentiful anywhere on the ,erewhonian side of the mountains4 ,the ,erewhonian quail1 like its now nearly1 if not quite1 extinct ,new ,zealand congener1 can take three successive flights of a few yards each1 but then becomes exhausted2 hence quails are only found on ground that is never burned1 and where there are no wild animals to molest them2 the cats and dogs that accompany ,european civilisation soon exterminate them2 my father1 therefore1 felt safe in concluding that he was still far from any village4 ,moreover he could see no sheep or goat's dung2 and this surprised him1 for he thought he had found signs of pasturage much higher than this4 ,doubtless1 he said to himself1 when he wrote his book he had forgotten how long the descent had been4 ,but it was odd1 for the grass was good feed enough1 and ought1 he considered1 to have been well stocked4 ,tired with his climb1 during which he had not rested to take food1 but had eaten biscuits1 as he walked1 he gave himself a good long rest1 and when refreshed1 he ran down a couple of dozen quails1 some of which he meant to eat when he camped for the night1 while the others would help him out of a difficulty which had been troubling him for some time4 ,what was he to say when people asked him1 as they were sure to do1 how he was living8 ,and how was he to get enough ,erewhonian money to keep him going till he could find some safe means of selling a few of his nuggets8 ,he had had a little ,erewhonian money when he went up in the balloon1 but had thrown it over1 with everything else except the clothes he wore and his ,,mss41 when the balloon was nearing the water4 ,he had nothing with him that he dared offer for sale1 and though he had plenty of gold1 was in reality penniless4 ,when1 therefore1 he saw the quails1 he again felt as though some friendly spirit was smoothing his way before him4 ,what more easy than to sell them at ,coldharbour 7for so the name of the town in which he had been imprisoned should be translated71 where he knew they were a delicacy1 and would fetch him the value of an ,english shilling a piece8 ,it took him between two and three hours to catch two dozen4 ,when he had thus got what he considered a sufficient stock1 he tied their legs together with rushes1 and ran a stout stick through the whole lot4 ,soon afterwards he came upon a wood of stunted pines1 which1 though there was not much undergrowth1 nevertheless afforded considerable shelter and enabled him to gather wood enough to make himself a good fire4 ,this was acceptable1 for though the days were long1 it was now evening1 and as soon as the sun had gone the air became crisp and frosty4 ,here he resolved to pass the night4 ,he chose a part where the trees were thickest1 lit his fire1 plucked and cleaned four quails1 filled his billy with water from the stream hard by1 made tea in his pannikin1 grilled two of his birds on the embers1 ate them1 and when he had done all this1 he lit his pipe and began to think things over4 8,so far so good10 said he to himself2 but hardly had the words passed through his mind before he was startled by the sound of voices1 still at some distance1 but evidently drawing towards him4 ,he instantly gathered up his billy1 pannikin1 tea1 biscuits1 and blanket1 all of which he had determined to discard and hide on the following morning2 everything that could betray him he carried full haste into the wood some few yards off1 in the direction opposite to that from which the voices were coming1 but he let his quails lie where they were1 and put his pipe and tobacco in his pocket4 ,the voices drew nearer and nearer1 and it was all my father could do to get back and sit down innocently by his fire1 before he could hear what was being said4 8,thank goodness10 said one of the speakers 7of course in the ,erewhonian language71 8we seem to be finding somebody at last4 ,i hope it is not some poacher2 we had better be careful40 8,nonsense60 said the other4 8,it must be one of the rangers4 ,no one would dare to light a fire while poaching on the ,king's preserves4 ,what o'clock do you make it80 8,half after nine40 ,and the watch was still in the speaker's hand as he emerged from darkness into the glowing light of the fire4 ,my father glanced at it1 and saw that it was exactly like the one he had worn on entering ,erewhon nearly twenty years previously4 ,the watch1 however1 was a very small matter2 the dress of these two men 7for there were only two7 was far more disconcerting4 ,they were not in the ,erewhonian costume4 ,the one was dressed like an ,englishman or would- be ,englishman1 while the other was wearing the same kind of clothes but turned the wrong way round1 so that when his face was towards my father his body seemed to have its back towards him1 and vice verso4 ,the man's head1 in fact1 appeared to have been screwed right round2 and yet it was plain that if he were stripped he would be found built like other people4 ,what could it all mean8 ,the men were about fifty years old4 ,they were well-to-do people1 well clad1 well fed1 and were felt instinctively by my father to belong to the academic classes4 ,that one of them should be dressed like a sensible ,englishman dismayed my father as much as that the other should have a watch1 and look as if he had just broken out of ,bedlam1 or as ,king ,dagobert must have looked if he had worn all his clothes as he is said to have worn his breeches4 ,both wore their clothes so easily--for he who wore them reversed had evidently been measured with a view to this absurd fashion--that it was plain their dress was habitual4 ,my father was alarmed as well as astounded1 for he saw that what little plan of a campaign he had formed must be reconstructed1 and he had no idea in what direction his next move should be taken2 but he was a ready man1 and knew that when people have taken any idea into their heads1 a little confirmation will fix it4 ,a first idea is like a strong seedling2 it will grow if it can4 ,in less time than it will have taken the reader to get through the last foregoing paragraphs1 my father took up the cue furnished him by the second speaker4 8,yes10 said he1 going boldly up to this gentleman1 8,i am one of the rangers1 and it is my duty to ask you what you are doing here upon the ,king's preserves40 8,quite so1 my man10 was the rejoinder4 8,we have been to see the statues at the head of the pass1 and have a permit from the ,mayor of ,sunch'ston to enter upon the preserves4 ,we lost ourselves in the thick fog1 both going and coming back40 ,my father inwardly blessed the fog4 ,he did not catch the name of the town1 but presently found that it was commonly pronounced as ,i have written it4 8,be pleased to show it me10 said my father in his politest manner4 ,on this a document was handed to him4 ,i will here explain that ,i shall translate the names of men and places1 as well as the substance of the document2 and ,i shall translate all names in future4 ,indeed ,i have just done so in the case of ,sunch'ston4 ,as an example1 let me explain that the true ,erewhonian names for ,hanky and ,panky1 to whom the reader will be immediately introduced1 are ,sukoh and ,sukop--names too cacophonous to be read with pleasure by the ,english public4 ,i must ask the reader to believe that in all cases ,i am doing my best to give the spirit of the original name4 ,i would also express my regret that my father did not either uniformly keep to the true ,erewhonian names1 as in the cases of ,senoj ,nosnibor1 ,ydgrun1 ,thims1 c4--names which occur constantly in ,erewhon--or else invariably invent a name1 as he did whenever he considered the true name impossible4 ,my poor mother's name1 for example1 was really ,nna ,haras1 and ,mahaina's ,enaj ,ysteb1 which he dared not face4 ,he1 therefore1 gave these characters the first names that euphony suggested1 without any attempt at translation4 ,rightly or wrongly1 ,i have determined to keep consistently to translation for all names not used in my father's book2 and throughout1 whether as regards names or conversations1 ,i shall translate with the freedom without which no translation rises above construe level4 ,let me now return to the permit4 ,the earlier part of the document was printed1 and ran as follows3- 8,extracts from the ,act for the afforesting of certain lands lying between the town of ,sunchildston1 formerly called ,coldharbour1 and the mountains which bound the kingdom of ,erewhon1 passed in the year ,three1 being the eighth year of the reign of his ,most ,gracious ,majesty ,king ,well-beloved the ,twenty-,second4 8,whereas it is expedient to prevent any of his ,majesty's subjects from trying to cross over into unknown lands beyond the mountains1 and in like manner to protect his ,majesty's kingdom from intrusion on the part of foreign devils1 it is hereby enacted that certain lands1 more particularly described hereafter1 shall be afforested and set apart as a hunting-ground for his ,majesty's private use4 8,it is also enacted that the ,rangers and ,under-rangers shall be required to immediately kill without parley any foreign devil whom they may encounter coming from the other side of the mountains4 ,they are to weight the body1 and throw it into the ,blue ,pool under the waterfall shown on the plan hereto annexed2 but on pain of imprisonment for life they shall not reserve to their own use any article belonging to the deceased4 ,neither shall they divulge what they have done to any one save the ,head ,ranger1 who shall report the circumstances of the case fully and minutely to his ,majesty4 8,as regards any of his ,majesty's subjects who may be taken while trespassing on his ,majesty's preserves without a special permit signed by the ,mayor of ,sunchildston1 or any who may be convicted of poaching on the said preserves1 the ,rangers shall forthwith arrest them and bring them before the ,mayor of ,sunchildston1 who shall enquire into their antecedents1 and punish them with such term of imprisonment1 with hard labour1 as he may think fit1 provided that no such term be of less duration than twelve calendar months4 8,for the further provisions of the said ,act1 those whom it may concern are referred to the ,act in full1 a copy of which may be seen at the official residence of the ,mayor of ,sunchildston40 ,then followed in ,,ms4 8,,xix4 xii4 #bi4 ,permit ,professor ,hanky1 ,royal ,professor of ,worldly ,wisdom at ,bridgeford1 seat of learning1 city of the people who are above suspicion1 and ,professor ,panky1 ,royal ,professor of ,unworldly ,wisdom in the said city1 or either of them0 here the ,,ms4 ended1 the rest of the permit being in print 8to pass freely during the space of forty-eight hours from the date hereof1 over the ,king's preserves1 provided1 under pain of imprisonment with hard labour for twelve months1 that they do not kill1 nor cause to be killed1 nor eat1 if another have killed1 any one or more of his ,majesty's quails40 ,the signature was such a scrawl that my father could not read it1 but underneath was printed1 8,mayor of ,sunchildston1 formerly called ,coldharbour40 ,what a mass of information did not my father gather as he read1 but what a far greater mass did he not see that he must get hold of ere he could reconstruct his plans intelligently4 8,the year three10 indeed2 and ,,xix4 xii4 #bi1 in ,roman and ,arabic characters6 ,there were no such characters when he was in ,erewhon before4 ,it flashed upon him that he had repeatedly shewn them to the ,nosnibors1 and had once even written them down4 ,it could not be that 4 4 4 ,no1 it was impossible2 and yet there was the ,european dress1 aimed at by the one ,professor1 and attained by the other4 ,again 8,,xix40 what was that8 8xii40 might do for ,december1 but it was now the #dth of ,december not the #bith4 8,afforested0 too8 ,then that was why he had seen no sheep tracks4 ,and how about the quails he had so innocently killed8 ,what would have happened if he had tried to sell them in ,coldharbour8 ,what other like fatal error might he not ignorantly commit8 ,and why had ,coldharbour become ,sunchildston8 ,these thoughts raced through my poor father's brain as he slowly perused the paper handed to him by the ,professors4 ,to give himself time he feigned to be a poor scholar1 but when he had delayed as long as he dared1 he returned it to the one who had given it him4 ,without changing a muscle he said-- 8,your permit1 sir1 is quite regular4 ,you can either stay here the night or go on to ,sunchildston as you think fit4 ,may ,i ask which of you two gentlemen is ,professor ,hanky1 and which ,professor ,panky80 8,my name is ,panky10 said the one who had the watch1 who wore his clothes reversed1 and who had thought my father might be a poacher4 8,and mine ,hanky10 said the other4 8,what do you think1 ,panky10 he added1 turning to his brother ,professor1 8had we not better stay here till sunrise8 ,we are both of us tired1 and this fellow can make us a good fire4 ,it is very dark1 and there will be no moon this two hours4 ,we are hungry1 but we can hold out till we get to ,sunchildston2 it cannot be more than eight or nine miles further down40 ,panky assented1 but then1 turning sharply to my father1 he said1 8,my man1 what are you doing in the forbidden dress8 ,why are you not in ranger's uniform1 and what is the meaning of all those quails80 ,for his seedling idea that my father was in reality a poacher was doing its best to grow4 ,quick as thought my father answered1 8,the ,head ,ranger sent me a message this morning to deliver him three dozen quails at ,sunchildston by to-morrow afternoon4 ,as for the dress1 we can run the quails down quicker in it1 and he says nothing to us so long as we only wear out old clothes and put on our uniforms before we near the town4 ,my uniform is in the ranger's shelter an hour and a half higher up the valley40 8,see what comes10 said ,panky1 8of having a whippersnapper not yet twenty years old in the responsible post of ,head ,ranger4 ,as for this fellow1 he may be speaking the truth1 but ,i distrust him40 8,the man is all right1 ,panky10 said ,hanky1 8and seems to be a decent fellow enough40 ,then to my father1 8,how many brace have you got80 ,and he looked at them a little wistfully4 8,i have been at it all day1 sir1 and ,i have only got eight brace4 ,i must run down ten more brace to-morrow40 8,i see1 ,i see40 ,then1 turning to ,panky1 he said1 8,of course1 they are wanted for the ,mayor's banquet on ,sunday4 ,by the way1 we have not yet received our invitation2 ,i suppose we shall find it when we get back to ,sunchildston40 8,sunday1 ,sunday1 ,sunday60 groaned my father inwardly2 but he changed not a muscle of his face1 and said stolidly to ,professor ,hanky1 8,i think you must be right1 sir2 but there was nothing said about it to me1 ,i was only told to bring the birds40 ,thus tenderly did he water the ,professor's second seedling4 ,but ,panky had his seedling too1 and1 ,cain-like1 was jealous that ,hanky's should flourish while his own was withering4 8,and what1 pray1 my man10 he said somewhat peremptorily to my father1 8are those two plucked quails doing8 ,were you to deliver them plucked8 ,and what bird did those bones belong to which ,i see lying by the fire with the flesh all eaten off them8 ,are the under-rangers allowed not only to wear the forbidden dress but to eat the ,king's quails as well80 ,the form in which the question was asked gave my father his cue4 ,he laughed heartily1 and said1 8,why1 sir1 those plucked birds are landrails1 not quails1 and those bones are landrail bones4 ,look at this thigh-bone2 was there ever a quail with such a bone as that80 ,i cannot say whether or no ,professor ,panky was really deceived by the sweet effrontery with which my father proffered him the bone4 ,if he was taken in1 his answer was dictated simply by a donnish unwillingness to allow any one to be better informed on any subject than he was himself4 ,my father1 when ,i suggested this to him1 would not hear of it4 8,oh no10 he said2 8the man knew well enough that ,i was lying40 ,however this may be1 the ,professor's manner changed4 8,you are right10 he said1 8,i thought they were landrail bones1 but was not sure till ,i had one in my hand4 ,i see1 too1 that the plucked birds are landrails1 but there is little light1 and ,i have not often seen them without their feathers40 8,i think10 said my father to me1 8that ,hanky knew what his friend meant1 for he said1 #8,panky1 ,i am very hungry4'0 8,oh1 ,hanky1 ,hanky10 said the other1 modulating his harsh voice till it was quite pleasant4 8,don't corrupt the poor man40 8,panky1 drop that2 we are not at ,bridgeford now2 ,i am very hungry1 and ,i believe half those birds are not quails but landrails40 ,my father saw he was safe4 ,he said1 8,perhaps some of them might prove to be so1 sir1 under certain circumstances4 ,i am a poor man1 sir40 8,come1 come10 said ,hanky2 and he slipped a sum equal to about half-a-crown into my father's hand4 8,i do not know what you mean1 sir10 said my father1 8and if ,i did1 half-a- crown would not be nearly enough40 8,hanky10 said ,panky1 8you must get this fellow to give you lessons40 ,,chapter ,,iv3 ,,my ,,father ,,overhears ,,more ,,of ,,hanky ,,and ,,panky',s ,,conversation ,my father1 schooled under adversity1 knew that it was never well to press advantage too far4 ,he took the equivalent of five shillings for three brace1 which was somewhat less than the birds would have been worth when things were as he had known them4 ,moreover1 he consented to take a shilling's worth of ,musical ,bank money1 which 7as he has explained in his book7 has no appreciable value outside these banks4 ,he did this because he knew that it would be respectable to be seen carrying a little ,musical ,bank money1 and also because he wished to give some of it to the ,british ,museum1 where he knew that this curious coinage was unrepresented4 ,but the coins struck him as being much thinner and smaller than he had remembered them4 ,it was ,panky1 not ,hanky1 who had given him the ,musical ,bank money4 ,panky was the greater humbug of the two1 for he would humbug even himself--a thing1 by the way1 not very hard to do2 and yet he was the less successful humbug1 for he could humbug no one who was worth humbugging--not for long4 ,hanky's occasional frankness put people off their guard4 ,he was the mere common1 superficial1 perfunctory ,professor1 who1 being a ,professor1 would of course profess1 but would not lie more than was in the bond2 he was log-rolled and log-rolling1 but still1 in a robust wolfish fashion1 human4 ,panky1 on the other hand1 was hardly human2 he had thrown himself so earnestly into his work1 that he had become a living lie4 ,if he had had to play the part of ,othello he would have blacked himself all over1 and very likely smothered his ,desdemona in good earnest4 ,hanky would hardly have blacked himself behind the ears1 and his ,desdemona would have been quite safe4 ,philosophers are like quails in the respect that they can take two or three flights of imagination1 but rarely more without an interval of repose4 ,the ,professors had imagined my father to be a poacher and a ranger2 they had imagined the quails to be wanted for ,sunday's banquet2 they had imagined that they imagined 7at least ,panky had7 that they were about to eat landrails2 they were now exhausted1 and cowered down into the grass of their ordinary conversation1 paying no more attention to my father than if he had been a log4 ,he1 poor man1 drank in every word they said1 while seemingly intent on nothing but his quails1 each one of which he cut up with a knife borrowed from ,hanky4 ,two had been plucked already1 so he laid these at once upon the clear embers4 8,i do not know what we are to do with ourselves10 said ,hanky1 8till ,sunday4 ,to-day is ,thursday--it is the twenty-ninth1 is it not8 ,yes1 of course it is--,sunday is the first4 ,besides1 it is on our permit4 ,to-morrow we can rest2 what1 ,i wonder1 can we do on ,saturday8 ,but the others will be here then1 and we can tell them about the statues40 8,yes1 but mind you do not blurt out anything about the landrails40 8,i think we may tell ,dr4 ,downie40 8,tell nobody10 said ,panky4 ,they then talked about the statues1 concerning which it was plain that nothing was known4 ,but my father soon broke in upon their conversation with the first instalment of quails1 which a few minutes had sufficed to cook4 8,what a delicious bird a quail is10 said ,hanky4 8,landrail1 ,hanky1 landrail10 said the other reproachfully4 ,having finished the first birds in a very few minutes they returned to the statues4 8,old ,mrs4 ,nosnibor10 said ,panky1 8says the ,sunchild told her they were symbolic of ten tribes who had incurred the displeasure of the sun1 his father40 ,i make no comment on my father's feelings4 8,of the sun6 his fiddlesticks' ends10 retorted ,hanky4 8,he never called the sun his father4 ,besides1 from all ,i have heard about him1 ,i take it he was a precious idiot40 8,o ,hanky1 ,hanky6 you will wreck the whole thing if you ever allow yourself to talk in that way40 8,you are more likely to wreck it yourself1 ,panky1 by never doing so4 ,people like being deceived1 but they like also to have an inkling of their own deception1 and you never inkle them40 8,the ,queen10 said ,panky1 returning to the statues1 8sticks to it that 4 4 4 0 8,here comes another bird10 interrupted ,hanky2 8never mind about the ,queen40 ,the bird was soon eaten1 whereon ,panky again took up his parable about the ,queen4 8,the ,queen says they are connected with the cult of the ancient ,goddess ,kiss-me-quick40 8,what if they are8 ,but the ,queen sees ,kiss-me-quick in everything4 ,another quail1 if you please1 ,mr4 ,ranger40 ,my father brought up another bird almost directly4 ,silence while it was being eaten4 8,talking of the ,sunchild10 said ,panky2 8did you ever see him80 8,never set eyes on him1 and hope ,i never shall40 ,and so on till the last bird was eaten4 8,fellow10 said ,panky1 8fetch some more wood2 the fire is nearly dead40 8,i can find no more1 sir10 said my father1 who was afraid lest some genuine ranger might be attracted by the light1 and was determined to let it go out as soon as he had done cooking4 8,never mind10 said ,hanky1 8the moon will be up soon40 8,and now1 ,hanky10 said ,panky1 8tell me what you propose to say on ,sunday4 ,i suppose you have pretty well made up your mind about it by this time40 8,pretty nearly4 ,i shall keep it much on the usual lines4 ,i shall dwell upon the benighted state from which the ,sunchild rescued us1 and shall show how the ,musical ,banks1 by at once taking up the movement1 have been the blessed means of its now almost universal success4 ,i shall talk about the immortal glory shed upon ,sunch'ston by the ,sunchild's residence in the prison1 and wind up with the ,sunchild ,evidence ,society1 and an earnest appeal for funds to endow the canonries required for the due service of the temple40 8,temple6 what temple80 groaned my father inwardly4 8,and what are you going to do about the four black and white horses80 8,stick to them1 of course--unless ,i make them six40 8,i really do not see why they might not have been horses40 8,i dare say you do not10 returned the other drily1 8but they were black and white storks1 and you know that as well as ,i do4 ,still1 they have caught on1 and they are in the altar-piece1 prancing and curvetting magnificently1 so ,i shall trot them out40 8,altar-piece6 ,altar-piece60 again groaned my father inwardly4 ,he need not have groaned1 for when he came to see the so-called altar- piece he found that the table above which it was placed had nothing in common with the altar in a ,christian church4 ,it was a mere table1 on which were placed two bowls full of ,musical ,bank coins2 two cashiers1 who sat on either side of it1 dispensed a few of these to all comers1 while there was a box in front of it wherein people deposited coin of the realm according to their will or ability4 ,the idea of sacrifice was not contemplated1 and the position of the table1 as well as the name given to it1 was an instance of the way in which the ,erewhonians had caught names and practices from my father1 without understanding what they either were or meant4 ,so1 again1 when ,professor ,hanky had spoken of canonries1 he had none but the vaguest idea of what a canonry is4 ,i may add further that as a boy my father had had his ,bible well drilled into him1 and never forgot it4 ,hence biblical passages and expressions had been often in his mouth1 as the effect of mere unconscious cerebration4 ,the ,erewhonians had caught many of these1 sometimes corrupting them so that they were hardly recognizable4 ,things that he remembered having said were continually meeting him during the few days of his second visit1 and it shocked him deeply to meet some gross travesty of his own words1 or of words more sacred than his own1 and yet to be unable to correct it4 8,i wonder10 he said to me1 8that no one has ever hit on this as a punishment for the damned in ,hades40 ,let me now return to ,professor ,hanky1 whom ,i fear that ,i have left too long4 8,and of course10 he continued1 8,i shall say all sorts of pretty things about the ,mayoress--for ,i suppose we must not even think of her as ,yram now40 8,the ,mayoress10 replied ,panky1 8is a very dangerous woman2 see how she stood out about the way in which the ,sunchild had worn his clothes before they gave him the then ,erewhonian dress4 ,besides1 she is a sceptic at heart1 and so is that precious son of hers40 8,she was quite right10 said ,hanky1 with something of a snort4 8,she brought him his dinner while he was still wearing the clothes he came in1 and if men do not notice how a man wears his clothes1 women do4 ,besides1 there are many living who saw him wear them40 8,perhaps10 said ,panky1 8but we should never have talked the ,king over if we had not humoured him on this point4 ,yram nearly wrecked us by her obstinacy4 ,if we had not frightened her1 and if your study1 ,hanky1 had not happened to have been burned 4 4 4 0 8,come1 come1 ,panky1 no more of that40 8,of course ,i do not doubt that it was an accident2 nevertheless if your study had not been accidentally burned1 on the very night the clothes were entrusted to you for earnest1 patient1 careful1 scientific investigation--and ,yram very nearly burned too--we should never have carried it through4 ,see what work we had to get the ,king to allow the way in which the clothes were worn to be a matter of opinion1 not dogma4 ,what a pity it is that the clothes were not burned before the ,king's tailor had copied them40 ,hanky laughed heartily enough4 8,yes10 he said1 8it was touch and go4 ,why1 ,i wonder1 could not the ,queen have put the clothes on a dummy that would show back from front8 ,as soon as it was brought into the council chamber the ,king jumped to a conclusion1 and we had to bundle both dummy and ,yram out of the royal presence1 for neither she nor the ,king would budge an inch40 ,even ,panky smiled4 8,what could we do8 ,the common people almost worship ,yram2 and so does her husband1 though her fair-haired eldest son was born barely seven months after marriage4 ,the people in these parts like to think that the ,sunchild's blood is in the country1 and yet they swear through thick and thin that he is the ,mayor's duly begotten offspring--,faugh6 ,do you think they would have stood his being jobbed into the rangership by any one else but ,yram80 ,my father's feelings may be imagined1 but ,i will not here interrupt the ,professors4 8,well1 well10 said ,hanky2 8for men must rob and women must job so long as the world goes on4 ,i did the best ,i could4 ,the ,king would never have embraced ,sunchildism if ,i had not told him he was right2 then1 when satisfied that we agreed with him1 he yielded to popular prejudice and allowed the question to remain open4 ,one of his ,royal ,professors was to wear the clothes one way1 and the other the other40 8,my way of wearing them10 said ,panky1 8is much the most convenient40 8,not a bit of it10 said ,hanky warmly4 ,on this the two ,professors fell out1 and the discussion grew so hot that my father interfered by advising them not to talk so loud lest another ranger should hear them4 8,you know10 he said1 8there are a good many landrail bones lying about1 and it might be awkward40 ,the ,professors hushed at once4 8,by the way10 said ,panky1 after a pause1 8it is very strange about those footprints in the snow4 ,the man had evidently walked round the statues two or three times1 as though they were strange to him1 and he had certainly come from the other side40 8,it was one of the rangers10 said ,hanky impatiently1 8who had gone a little beyond the statues1 and come back again40 8,then we should have seen his footprints as he went4 ,i am glad ,i measured them40 8,there is nothing in it2 but what were your measurements80 8,eleven inches by four and a half2 nails on the soles2 one nail missing on the right foot and two on the left40 ,then1 turning to my father quickly1 he said1 8,my man1 allow me to have a look at your boots40 8,nonsense1 ,panky1 nonsense60 ,now my father by this time was wondering whether he should not set upon these two men1 kill them if he could1 and make the best of his way back1 but he had still a card to play4 8,certainly1 sir10 said he1 8but ,i should tell you that they are not my boots40 ,he took off his right boot and handed it to ,panky4 8,exactly so6 ,eleven inches by four and a half1 and one nail missing4 ,and now1 ,mr4 ,ranger1 will you be good enough to explain how you became possessed of that boot4 ,you need not show me the other40 ,and he spoke like an examiner who was confident that he could floor his examinee in viv voce4 8,you know our orders10 answered my father1 8you have seen them on your permit4 ,i met one of those foreign devils from the other side1 of whom we have had more than one lately2 he came from out of the clouds that hang higher up1 and as he had no permit and could not speak a word of our language1 ,i gripped him1 flung him1 and strangled him4 ,thus far ,i was only obeying orders1 but seeing how much better his boots were than mine1 and finding that they would fit me1 ,i resolved to keep them4 ,you may be sure ,i should not have done so if ,i had known there was snow on the top of the pass40 8,he could not invent that10 said ,hanky2 8it is plain he has not been up to the statues40 ,panky was staggered4 8,and of course10 said he ironically1 8you took nothing from this poor wretch except his boots40 8,sir10 said my father1 8,i will make a clean breast of everything4 ,i flung his body1 his clothes1 and my own old boots into the pool2 but ,i kept his blanket1 some things he used for cooking1 and some strange stuff that looks like dried leaves1 as well as a small bag of something which ,i believe is gold4 ,i thought ,i could sell the lot to some dealer in curiosities who would ask no questions40 8,and what1 pray1 have you done with all these things80 8,they are here1 sir40 ,and as he spoke he dived into the wood1 returning with the blanket1 billy1 pannikin1 tea1 and the little bag of nuggets1 which he had kept accessible4 8,this is very strange10 said ,hanky1 who was beginning to be afraid of my father when he learned that he sometimes killed people4 ,here the ,professors talked hurriedly to one another in a tongue which my father could not understand1 but which he felt sure was the hypothetical language of which he has spoken in his book4 ,presently ,hanky said to my father quite civilly1 8,and what1 my good man1 do you propose to do with all these things8 ,i should tell you at once that what you take to be gold is nothing of the kind2 it is a base metal1 hardly1 if at all1 worth more than copper40 8,i have had enough of them2 to-morrow morning ,i shall take them with me to the ,blue ,pool1 and drop them into it40 8,it is a pity you should do that10 said ,hanky musingly3 8the things are interesting as curiosities1 and--and--and--what will you take for them80 8,i could not do it1 sir10 answered my father4 8,i would not do it1 no1 not for--0 and he named a sum equivalent to about five pounds of our money4 ,for he wanted ,erewhonian money1 and thought it worth his while to sacrifice his ten pounds' worth of nuggets in order to get a supply of current coin4 ,hanky tried to beat him down1 assuring him that no curiosity dealer would give half as much1 and my father so far yielded as to take #d1 #ajs4 in silver1 which1 as ,i have already explained1 would not be worth more than half a sovereign in gold4 ,at this figure a bargain was struck1 and the ,professors paid up without offering him a single ,musical ,bank coin4 ,they wanted to include the boots in the purchase1 but here my father stood out4 ,but he could not stand out as regards another matter1 which caused him some anxiety4 ,panky insisted that my father should give them a receipt for the money1 and there was an altercation between the ,professors on this point1 much longer than ,i can here find space to give4 ,hanky argued that a receipt was useless1 inasmuch as it would be ruin to my father ever to refer to the subject again4 ,panky1 however1 was anxious1 not lest my father should again claim the money1 but 7though he did not say so outright7 lest ,hanky should claim the whole purchase as his own4 ,in so the end ,panky1 for a wonder1 carried the day1 and a receipt was drawn up to the effect that the undersigned acknowledged to have received from ,professors ,hanky and ,panky the sum of #d1 #ajs4 7,i translate the amount71 as joint purchasers of certain pieces of yellow ore1 a blanket1 and sundry articles found without an owner in the ,king's preserves4 ,this paper was dated1 as the permit had been1 ,,xix4 xii4 #bi4 ,my father1 generally so ready1 was at his wits' end for a name1 and could think of none but ,mr4 ,nosnibor's4 ,happily1 remembering that this gentleman had also been called ,senoj--a name common enough in ,erewhon--he signed himself 8,senoj1 ,under-ranger40 ,panky was now satisfied4 8,we will put it in the bag10 he said1 8with the pieces of yellow ore40 8,put it where you like10 said ,hanky contemptuously2 and into the bag it was put4 ,when all was now concluded1 my father laughingly said1 8,if you have dealt unfairly by me1 ,i forgive you4 ,my motto is1 #8,forgive us our trespasses1 as we forgive them that trespass against us4'0 8,repeat those last words10 said ,panky eagerly4 ,my father was alarmed at his manner1 but thought it safer to repeat them4 8,you hear that1 ,hanky8 ,i am convinced2 ,i have not another word to say4 ,the man is a true ,erewhonian2 he has our corrupt reading of the ,sunchild's prayer40 8,please explain40 8,why1 can you not see80 said ,panky1 who was by way of being great at conjectural emendations4 8,can you not see how impossible it is for the ,sunchild1 or any of the people to whom he declared 7as we now know provisionally7 that he belonged1 could have made the forgiveness of his own sins depend on the readiness with which he forgave other people8 ,no man in his senses would dream of such a thing4 ,it would be asking a supposed all-powerful being not to forgive his sins at all1 or at best to forgive them imperfectly4 ,no2 ,yram got it wrong4 ,she mistook #8but do not' for #8as we4' ,the sound of the words is very much alike2 the correct reading should obviously be1 #8,forgive us our trespasses1 but do not forgive them that trespass against us4' ,this makes sense1 and turns an impossible prayer into one that goes straight to the heart of every one of us40 ,then1 turning to my father1 he said1 8,you can see this1 my man1 can you not1 as soon as it is pointed out to you80 ,my father said that he saw it now1 but had always heard the words as he had himself spoken them4 8,of course you have1 my good fellow1 and it is because of this that ,i know they never can have reached you except from an ,erewhonian source40 ,hanky smiled1--snorted1 and muttered in an undertone1 8,i shall begin to think that this fellow is a foreign devil after all40 8,and now1 gentlemen10 said my father1 8the moon is risen4 ,i must be after the quails at daybreak2 ,i will therefore go to the ranger's shelter0 7a shelter1 by the way1 which existed only in my father's invention71 8and get a couple of hours' sleep1 so as to be both close to the quail-ground2 and fresh for running4 ,you are so near the boundary of the preserves that you will not want your permit further2 no one will meet you1 and should any one do so1 you need only give your names and say that you have made a mistake4 ,you will have to give it up to-morrow at the ,ranger's office2 it will save you trouble if ,i collect it now1 and give it up when ,i deliver my quails4 8,as regards the curiosities1 hide them as you best can outside the limits4 ,i recommend you to carry them at once out of the forest1 and rest beyond the limits rather than here4 ,you can then recover them whenever1 and in whatever way1 you may find convenient4 ,but ,i hope you will say nothing about any foreign devil's having come over on to this side4 ,any whisper to this effect unsettles people's minds1 and they are too much unsettled already2 hence our orders to kill any one from over there at once1 and to tell no one but the ,head ,ranger4 ,i was forced by you1 gentlemen1 to disobey these orders in self-defence2 ,i must trust your generosity to keep what ,i have told you secret4 ,i shall1 of course1 report it to the ,head ,ranger4 ,and now1 if you think proper1 you can give me up your permit40 ,all this was so plausible that the ,professors gave up their permit without a word but thanks4 ,they bundled their curiosities hurriedly into 8the poor foreign devil's0 blanket1 reserving a more careful packing till they were out of the preserves4 ,they wished my father a very good night1 and all success with his quails in the morning2 they thanked him again for the care he had taken of them in the matter of the landrails1 and ,panky even went so far as to give him a few ,musical ,bank coins1 which he gratefully accepted4 ,they then started off in the direction of ,sunch'ston4 ,my father gathered up the remaining quails1 some of which he meant to eat in the morning1 while the others he would throw away as soon as he could find a safe place4 ,he turned towards the mountains1 but before he had gone a dozen yards he heard a voice1 which he recognised as ,panky's1 shouting after him1 and saying-- 8,mind you do not forget the true reading of the ,sunchild's prayer40 8,you are an old fool10 shouted my father in ,english1 knowing that he could hardly be heard1 still less understood1 and thankful to relieve his feelings4 ,,chapter ,v3 ,,my ,,father ,,meets ,a ,,son1 ,,of ,,whose ,,existence ,,he ,,was ,,ignorant2 ,,and ,,strikes ,a ,,bargain ,,with ,,him ,the incidents recorded in the two last chapters had occupied about two hours1 so that it was nearly midnight before my father could begin to retrace his steps and make towards the camp that he had left that morning4 ,this was necessary1 for he could not go any further in a costume that he now knew to be forbidden4 ,at this hour no ranger was likely to meet him before he reached the statues1 and by making a push for it he could return in time to cross the limits of the preserves before the ,professors' permit had expired4 ,if challenged1 he must brazen it out that he was one or other of the persons therein named4 ,fatigued though he was1 he reached the statues as near as he could guess1 at about three in the morning4 ,what little wind there had been was warm1 so that the tracks1 which the ,professors must have seen shortly after he had made them1 had disappeared4 ,the statues looked very weird in the moonlight but they were not chanting4 ,while ascending1 he pieced together the information he had picked up from the ,professors4 ,plainly1 the ,sunchild1 or child of the sun1 was none other than himself1 and the new name of ,coldharbour was doubtless intended to commemorate the fact that this was the first town he had reached in ,erewhon4 ,plainly1 also1 he was supposed to be of superhuman origin--his flight in the balloon having been not unnaturally believed to be miraculous4 ,the ,erewhonians had for centuries been effacing all knowledge of their former culture2 archaeologists1 indeed1 could still glean a little from museums1 and from volumes hard to come by1 and still harder to understand2 but archaeologists were few1 and even though they had made researches 7which they may or may not have done71 their labours had never reached the masses4 ,what wonder1 then1 that the mushroom spawn of myth1 ever present in an atmosphere highly charged with ignorance1 had germinated in a soil so favourably prepared for its reception8 ,he saw it all now4 ,it was twenty years next ,sunday since he and my mother had eloped4 ,that was the meaning of ,,xix4 xii4 #bi4 ,they had made a new era1 dating from the day of his return to the palace of the sun with a bride who was doubtless to unite the ,erewhonian nature with that of the sun4 ,the ,new ,year1 then1 would date from ,sunday1 ,december #g1 which would therefore become ,,xx4 i4 #a4 ,the ,thursday1 now nearly if not quite over1 being only two days distant from the end of a month of thirty- one days1 which was also the last of the year1 would be ,,xix4 xii4 #bi1 as on the ,professors' permit4 ,i should like to explain here what will appear more clearly on a later page--,i mean1 that the ,erewhonians1 according to their new system1 do not believe the sun to be a god except as regards this world and his other planets4 ,my father had told them a little about astronomy1 and had assured them that all the fixed stars were suns like our own1 with planets revolving round them1 which were probably tenanted by intelligent living beings1 however unlike they might be to ourselves4 ,from this they evolved the theory that the sun was the ruler of this planetary system1 and that he must be personified1 as they had personified the air-god1 the gods of time and space1 hope1 justice1 and the other deities mentioned in my father's book4 ,they retain their old belief in the actual existence of these gods1 but they now make them all subordinate to the sun4 ,the nearest approach they make to our own conception of ,god is to say that ,he is the ruler over all the suns throughout the universe--the suns being to ,him much as our planets and their denizens are to our own sun4 ,they deny that ,he takes more interest in one sun and its system than in another4 ,all the suns with their attendant planets are supposed to be equally ,his children1 and ,he deputes to each sun the supervision and protection of its own system4 ,hence they say that though we may pray to the air-god1 c41 and even to the sun1 we must not pray to ,god4 ,we may be thankful to ,him for watching over the suns1 but we must not go further4 ,going back to my father's reflections1 he perceived that the ,erewhonians had not only adopted our calendar1 as he had repeatedly explained it to the ,nosnibors1 but had taken our week as well1 and were making ,sunday a high day1 just as we do4 ,next ,sunday1 in commemoration of the twentieth year after his ascent1 they were about to dedicate a temple to him2 in this there was to be a picture showing himself and his earthly bride on their heavenward journey1 in a chariot drawn by four black and white horses--which1 however1 ,professor ,hanky had positively affirmed to have been only storks4 ,here ,i interrupted my father4 8,but were there10 ,i said1 8any storks80 8,yes10 he answered4 8,as soon as ,i heard ,hanky's words ,i remembered that a flight of some four or five of the large storks so common in ,erewhon during the summer months had been wheeling high aloft in one of those arial dances that so much delight them4 ,i had quite forgotten it1 but it came back to me at once that these creatures1 attracted doubtless by what they took to be an unknown kind of bird1 swooped down towards the balloon and circled round it like so many satellites to a heavenly body4 ,i was fearful lest they should strike at it with their long and formidable beaks1 in which case all would have been soon over2 either they were afraid1 or they had satisfied their curiosity--at any rate1 they let us alone2 but they kept with us till we were well away from the capital4 ,strange1 how completely this incident had escaped me40 ,i return to my father's thoughts as he made his way back to his old camp4 ,as for the reversed position of ,professor ,panky's clothes1 he remembered having given his own old ones to the ,queen1 and having thought that she might have got a better dummy on which to display them than the headless scarecrow1 which1 however1 he supposed was all her ladies-in-waiting could lay their hands on at the moment4 ,if that dummy had never been replaced1 it was perhaps not very strange that the ,king could not at the first glance tell back from front1 and if he did not guess right at first1 there was little chance of his changing1 for his first ideas were apt to be his last4 ,but he must find out more about this4 ,then how about the watch8 ,had their views about machinery also changed8 ,or was there an exception made about any machine that he had himself carried8 ,yram too4 ,she must have been married not long after she and he had parted4 ,so she was now wife to the ,mayor1 and was evidently able to have things pretty much her own way in ,sunch'ston1 as he supposed he must now call it4 ,thank heaven she was prosperous6 ,it was interesting to know that she was at heart a sceptic1 as was also her light-haired son1 now ,head ,ranger4 ,and that son8 ,just twenty years of age6 ,born seven months after marriage6 ,then the ,mayor doubtless had light hair too2 but why did not those wretches say in which month ,yram was married8 ,if she had married soon after he had left1 this was why he had not been sent for or written to4 ,pray heaven it was so4 ,as for current gossip1 people would talk1 and if the lad was well begotten1 what could it matter to them whose son he was8 8,but10 thought my father1 8,i am glad ,i did not meet him on my way down4 ,i had rather have been killed by some one else40 ,hanky and ,panky again4 ,he remembered ,bridgeford as the town where the ,colleges of ,unreason had been most rife2 he had visited it1 but he had forgotten that it was called 8,the city of the people who are above suspicion40 ,its ,professors were evidently going to muster in great force on ,sunday2 if two of them had robbed him1 he could forgive them1 for the information he had gleaned from them had furnished him with a pied terre4 ,moreover1 he had got as much ,erewhonian money as he should want1 for he had resolved to retrace his steps immediately after seeing the temple dedicated to himself4 ,he knew the danger he should run in returning over the preserves without a permit1 but his curiosity was so great that he resolved to risk it4 ,soon after he had passed the statues he began to descend1 and it being now broad day1 he did so by leaps and bounds1 for the ground was not precipitous4 ,he reached his old camp soon after five--this1 at any rate1 was the hour at which he set his watch on finding that it had run down during his absence4 ,there was now no reason why he should not take it with him1 so he put it in his pocket4 ,the parrots had attacked his saddle-bags1 saddle1 and bridle1 as they were sure to do1 but they had not got inside the bags4 ,he took out his ,english clothes and put them on--stowing his bags of gold in various pockets1 but keeping his ,erewhonian money in the one that was most accessible4 ,he put his ,erewhonian dress back into the saddle-bags1 intending to keep it as a curiosity2 he also refreshed the dye upon his hands1 face1 and hair2 he lit himself a fire1 made tea1 cooked and ate two brace of quails1 which he had plucked while walking so as to save time1 and then flung himself on to the ground to snatch an hour's very necessary rest4 ,when he woke he found he had slept two hours1 not one1 which was perhaps as well1 and by eight he began to reascend the pass4 ,he reached the statues about noon1 for he allowed himself not a moment's rest4 ,this time there was a stiffish wind1 and they were chanting lustily4 ,he passed them with all speed1 and had nearly reached the place where he had caught the quails1 when he saw a man in a dress which he guessed at once to be a ranger's1 but which1 strangely enough1 seeing that he was in the ,king's employ1 was not reversed4 ,my father's heart beat fast2 he got out his permit and held it open in his hand1 then with a smiling face he went towards the ,ranger1 who was standing his ground4 8,i believe you are the ,head ,ranger10 said my father1 who saw that he was still smooth-faced and had light hair4 8,i am ,professor ,panky1 and here is my permit4 ,my brother ,professor has been prevented from coming with me1 and1 as you see1 ,i am alone40 ,my father had professed to pass himself off as ,panky1 for he had rather gathered that ,hanky was the better known man of the two4 ,while the youth was scrutinising the permit1 evidently with suspicion1 my father took stock of him1 and saw his own past self in him too plainly--knowing all he knew--to doubt whose son he was4 ,he had the greatest difficulty in hiding his emotion1 for the lad was indeed one of whom any father might be proud4 ,he longed to be able to embrace him and claim him for what he was1 but this1 as he well knew1 might not be4 ,the tears again welled into his eyes when he told me of the struggle with himself that he had then had4 8,don't be jealous1 my dearest boy10 he said to me4 8,i love you quite as dearly as ,i love him1 or better1 but he was sprung upon me so suddenly1 and dazzled me with his comely debonair face1 so full of youth1 and health1 and frankness4 ,did you see him1 he would go straight to your heart1 for he is wonderfully like you in spite of your taking so much after your poor mother40 ,i was not jealous2 on the contrary1 ,i longed to see this youth1 and find in him such a brother as ,i had often wished to have4 ,but let me return to my father's story4 ,the young man1 after examining the permit1 declared it to be in form1 and returned it to my father1 but he eyed him with polite disfavour4 8,i suppose10 he said1 8you have come up1 as so many are doing1 from ,bridgeford and all over the country1 to the dedication on ,sunday40 8,yes10 said my father4 8,bless me60 he added1 8what a wind you have up here6 ,how it makes one's eyes water1 to be sure20 but he spoke with a cluck in his throat which no wind that blows can cause4 8,have you met any suspicious characters between here and the statues80 asked the youth4 8,i came across the ashes of a fire lower down2 there had been three men sitting for some time round it1 and they had all been eating quails4 ,here are some of the bones and feathers1 which ,i shall keep4 ,they had not been gone more than a couple of hours1 for the ashes were still warm2 they are getting bolder and bolder--who would have thought they would dare to light a fire8 ,i suppose you have not met any one2 but if you have seen a single person1 let me know40 ,my father said quite truly that he had met no one4 ,he then laughingly asked how the youth had been able to discover as much as he had4 8,there were three well-marked forms1 and three separate lots of quail bones hidden in the ashes4 ,one man had done all the plucking4 ,this is strange1 but ,i dare say ,i shall get at it later40 ,after a little further conversation the ,ranger said he was now going down to ,sunch'ston1 and1 though somewhat curtly1 proposed that he and my father should walk together4 8,by all means10 answered my father4 ,before they had gone more than a few hundred yards his companion said1 8,if you will come with me a little to the left1 ,i can show you the ,blue ,pool40 ,to avoid the precipitous ground over which the stream here fell1 they had diverged to the right1 where they had found a smoother descent2 returning now to the stream1 which was about to enter on a level stretch for some distance1 they found themselves on the brink of a rocky basin1 of no great size1 but very blue1 and evidently deep4 8,this10 said the ,ranger1 8is where our orders tell us to fling any foreign devil who comes over from the other side4 ,i have only been ,head ,ranger about nine months1 and have not yet had to face this horrid duty2 but10 and here he smiled1 8when ,i first caught sight of you ,i thought ,i should have to make a beginning4 ,i was very glad when ,i saw you had a permit40 8,and how many skeletons do you suppose are lying at the bottom of this pool80 8,i believe not more than seven or eight in all4 ,there were three or four about eighteen years ago1 and about the same number of late years2 one man was flung here only about three months before ,i was appointed4 ,i have the full list1 with dates1 down in my office1 but the rangers never let people in ,sunch'ston know when they have ,blue-,pooled any one2 it would unsettle men's minds1 and some of them would be coming up here in the dark to drag the pool1 and see whether they could find anything on the body40 ,my father was glad to turn away from this most repulsive place4 ,after a time he said1 8,and what do you good people hereabouts think of next ,sunday's grand doings80 ,bearing in mind what he had gleaned from the ,professors about the ,ranger's opinions1 my father gave a slightly ironical turn to his pronunciation of the words 8grand doings40 ,the youth glanced at him with a quick penetrative look1 and laughed as he said1 8,the doings will be grand enough40 8,what a fine temple they have built10 said my father4 8,i have not yet seen the picture1 but they say the four black and white horses are magnificently painted4 ,i saw the ,sunchild ascend1 but ,i saw no horses in the sky1 nor anything like horses40 ,the youth was much interested4 8,did you really see him ascend80 he asked2 8and what1 pray1 do you think it all was80 8,whatever it was1 there were no horses40 8,but there must have been1 for1 as you of course know1 they have lately found some droppings from one of them1 which have been miraculously preserved1 and they are going to show them next ,sunday in a gold reliquary40 8,i know10 said my father1 who1 however1 was learning the fact for the first time4 8,i have not yet seen this precious relic1 but ,i think they might have found something less unpleasant40 8,perhaps they would if they could10 replied the youth1 laughing1 8but there was nothing else that the horses could leave4 ,it is only a number of curiously rounded stones1 and not at all like what they say it is40 8,well1 well10 continued my father1 8but relic or no relic1 there are many who1 while they fully recognise the value of the ,sunchild's teaching1 dislike these cock and bull stories as blasphemy against ,god's most blessed gift of reason4 ,there are many in ,bridgeford who hate this story of the horses40 ,the youth was now quite reassured4 8,so there are here1 sir10 he said warmly1 8and who hate the ,sunchild too4 ,if there is such a hell as he used to talk about to my mother1 we doubt not but that he will be cast into its deepest fires4 ,see how he has turned us all upside down4 ,but we dare not say what we think4 ,there is no courage left in ,erewhon40 ,then waxing calmer he said1 8,it is you ,bridgeford people and your ,musical ,banks that have done it all4 ,the ,musical ,bank ,managers saw that the people were falling away from them4 ,finding that the vulgar believed this foreign devil ,higgs--for he gave this name to my mother when he was in prison--finding that--,but you know all this as well as ,i do4 ,how can you ,bridgeford ,professors pretend to believe about these horses1 and about the ,sunchild's being son to the sun1 when all the time you know there is no truth in it80 8,my son--for considering the difference in our ages ,i may be allowed to call you so--we at ,bridgeford are much like you at ,sunch'ston2 we dare not always say what we think4 ,nor would it be wise to do so1 when we should not be listened to4 ,this fire must burn itself out1 for it has got such hold that nothing can either stay or turn it4 ,even though ,higgs himself were to return and tell it from the house-tops that he was a mortal--ay1 and a very common one--he would be killed1 but not believed40 8,let him come2 let him show himself1 speak out and die1 if the people choose to kill him4 ,in that case ,i would forgive him1 accept him for my father1 as silly people sometimes say he is1 and honour him to my dying day40 8,would that be a bargain80 said my father1 smiling in spite of emotion so strong that he could hardly bring the words out of his mouth4 8,yes1 it would10 said the youth doggedly4 8,then let me shake hands with you on his behalf1 and let us change the conversation40 ,he took my father's hand1 doubtfully and somewhat disdainfully1 but he did not refuse it4 ,,chapter ,,vi3 ,,further ,,conversation ,,between ,,father ,,and ,,son--,,the ,,professors' ,,hoard ,it is one thing to desire a conversation to be changed1 and another to change it4 ,after some little silence my father said1 8,and may ,i ask what name your mother gave you80 8,my name10 he answered1 laughing1 8is ,george1 and ,i wish it were some other1 for it is the first name of that arch-impostor ,higgs4 ,i hate it as ,i hate the man who owned it40 ,my father said nothing1 but he hid his face in his hands4 8,sir10 said the other1 8,i fear you are in some distress40 8,you remind me10 replied my father1 8of a son who was stolen from me when he was a child4 ,i searched for him1 during many years1 and at last fell in with him by accident1 to find him all the heart of father could wish4 ,but alas6 he did not take kindly to me as ,i to him1 and after two days he left me2 nor shall ,i ever again see him40 8,then1 sir1 had ,i not better leave you80 8,no1 stay with me till your road takes you elsewhere2 for though ,i cannot see my son1 you are so like him that ,i could almost fancy he is with me4 ,and now--for ,i shall show no more weakness--you say your mother knew the ,sunchild1 as ,i am used to call him4 ,tell me what kind of a man she found him40 8,she liked him well enough in spite of his being a little silly4 ,she does not believe he ever called himself child of the sun4 ,he used to say he had a father in heaven to whom he prayed1 and who could hear him2 but he said that all of us1 my mother as much as he1 have this unseen father4 ,my mother does not believe he meant doing us any harm1 but only that he wanted to get himself and ,mrs4 ,nosnibor's younger daughter out of the country4 ,as for there having been anything supernatural about the balloon1 she will have none of it2 she says that it was some machine which he knew how to make1 but which we have lost the art of making1 as we have of many another4 8,this is what she says amongst ourselves1 but in public she confirms all that the ,musical ,bank ,managers say about him4 ,she is afraid of them4 ,you know1 perhaps1 that ,professor ,hanky1 whose name ,i see on your permit1 tried to burn her alive80 8,thank heaven60 thought my father1 8that ,i am ,panky20 but aloud he said1 8,oh1 horrible6 horrible6 ,i cannot believe this even of ,hanky40 8,he denies it1 and we say we believe him2 he was most kind and attentive to my mother during all the rest of her stay in ,bridgeford4 ,he and she parted excellent friends1 but ,i know what she thinks4 ,i shall be sure to see him while he is in ,sunch'ston1 ,i shall have to be civil to him but it makes me sick to think of it40 8,when shall you see him80 said my father1 who was alarmed at learning that ,hanky and the ,ranger were likely to meet4 ,who could tell but that he might see ,panky too8 8,i have been away from home a fortnight1 and shall not be back till late on ,saturday night4 ,i do not suppose ,i shall see him before ,sunday40 8,that will do10 thought my father1 who at that moment deemed that nothing would matter to him much when ,sunday was over4 ,then1 turning to the ,ranger1 he said1 8,i gather1 then1 that your mother does not think so badly of the ,sunchild after all80 8,she laughs at him sometimes1 but if any of us boys and girls say a word against him we get snapped up directly4 ,my mother turns every one round her finger4 ,her word is law in ,sunch'ston2 every one obeys her2 she has faced more than one mob1 and quelled them when my father could not do so40 8,i can believe all you say of her4 ,what other children has she besides yourself80 8,we are four sons1 of whom the youngest is now fourteen1 and three daughters40 8,may all health and happiness attend her and you1 and all of you1 henceforth and for ever10 and my father involuntarily bared his head as he spoke4 8,sir10 said the youth1 impressed by the fervency of my father's manner1 8,i thank you1 but you do not talk as ,bridgeford ,professors generally do1 so far as ,i have seen or heard them4 ,why do you wish us all well so very heartily8 ,is it because you think ,i am like your son1 or is there some other reason80 8,it is not my son alone that you resemble10 said my father tremulously1 for he knew he was going too far4 ,he carried it off by adding1 8,you resemble all who love truth and hate lies1 as ,i do40 8,then1 sir10 said the youth gravely1 8you much belie your reputation4 ,and now ,i must leave you for another part of the preserves1 where ,i think it likely that last night's poachers may now be1 and where ,i shall pass the night in watching for them4 ,you may want your permit for a few miles further1 so ,i will not take it4 ,neither need you give it up at ,sunch'ston4 ,it is dated1 and will be useless after this evening40 ,with this he strode off into the forest1 bowing politely but somewhat coldly1 and without encouraging my father's half proffered hand4 ,my father turned sad and unsatisfied away4 8,it serves me right10 he said to himself2 8he ought never to have been my son2 and yet1 if such men can be brought by hook or by crook into the world1 surely the world should not ask questions about the bringing4 ,how cheerless everything looks now that he has left me40 99 99 99 99 99 ,by this time it was three o'clock1 and in another few minutes my father came upon the ashes of the fire beside which he and the ,professors had supped on the preceding evening4 ,it was only some eighteen hours since they had come upon him1 and yet what an age it seemed6 ,it was well the ,ranger had left him1 for though my father1 of course1 would have known nothing about either fire or poachers1 it might have led to further falsehood1 and by this time he had become exhausted--not to say1 for the time being1 sick of lies altogether4 ,he trudged slowly on1 without meeting a soul1 until he came upon some stones that evidently marked the limits of the preserves4 ,when he had got a mile or so beyond these1 he struck a narrow and not much frequented path1 which he was sure would lead him towards ,sunch'ston1 and soon afterwards1 seeing a huge old chestnut tree some thirty or forty yards from the path itself1 he made towards it and flung himself on the ground beneath its branches4 ,there were abundant signs that he was nearing farm lands and homesteads1 but there was no one about1 and if any one saw him there was nothing in his appearance to arouse suspicion4 ,he determined1 therefore1 to rest here till hunger should wake him1 and drive him into ,sunch'ston1 which1 however1 he did not wish to reach till dusk if he could help it4 ,he meant to buy a valise and a few toilette necessaries before the shops should close1 and then engage a bedroom at the least frequented inn he could find that looked fairly clean and comfortable4 ,he slept till nearly six1 and on waking gathered his thoughts together4 ,he could not shake his newly found son from out of them1 but there was no good in dwelling upon him now1 and he turned his thoughts to the ,professors4 ,how1 he wondered1 were they getting on1 and what had they done with the things they had bought from him8 8,how delightful it would be10 he said to himself1 8if ,i could find where they have hidden their hoard1 and hide it somewhere else40 ,he tried to project his mind into those of the ,professors1 as though they were a team of straying bullocks whose probable action he must determine before he set out to look for them4 ,on reflection1 he concluded that the hidden property was not likely to be far from the spot on which he now was4 ,the ,professors would wait till they had got some way down towards ,sunch'ston1 so as to have readier access to their property when they wanted to remove it2 but when they came upon a path and other signs that inhabited dwellings could not be far distant1 they would begin to look out for a hiding-place4 ,and they would take pretty well the first that came4 8,why1 bless my heart10 he exclaimed1 8this tree is hollow2 ,i wonder whether--0 and on looking up he saw an innocent little strip of the very tough fibrous leaf commonly used while green as string1 or even rope1 by the ,erewhonians4 ,the plant that makes this leaf is so like the ubiquitous ,new ,zealand ,phormium tenax1 or flax1 as it is there called1 that ,i shall speak of it as flax in future1 as indeed ,i have already done without explanation on an earlier page2 for this plant grows on both sides of the great range4 ,the piece of flax1 then1 which my father caught sight of was fastened1 at no great height from the ground1 round the branch of a strong sucker that had grown from the roots of the chestnut tree1 and going thence for a couple of feet or so towards the place where the parent tree became hollow1 it disappeared into the cavity below4 ,my father had little difficulty in swarming the sucker till he reached the bough on to which the flax was tied1 and soon found himself hauling up something from the bottom of the tree4 ,in less time than it takes to tell the tale he saw his own familiar red blanket begin to show above the broken edge of the hollow1 and in another second there was a clinkum-clankum as the bundle fell upon the ground4 ,this was caused by the billy and the pannikin1 which were wrapped inside the blanket4 ,as for the blanket1 it had been tied tightly at both ends1 as well as at several points between1 and my father inwardly complimented the ,professors on the neatness with which they had packed and hidden their purchase4 8,but10 he said to himself with a laugh1 8,i think one of them must have got on the other's back to reach that bough40 8,of course10 thought he1 8they will have taken the nuggets with them40 ,and yet he had seemed to hear a dumping as well as a clinkum-clankum4 ,he undid the blanket1 carefully untying every knot and keeping the flax4 ,when he had unrolled it1 he found to his very pleasurable surprise that the pannikin was inside the billy1 and the nuggets with the receipt inside the pannikin4 ,the paper containing the tea having been torn1 was wrapped up in a handkerchief marked with ,hanky's name4 8,down1 conscience1 down60 he exclaimed as he transferred the nuggets1 receipt1 and handkerchief to his own pocket4 8,eye of my soul that you are6 if you offend me ,i must pluck you out40 ,his conscience feared him and said nothing4 ,as for the tea1 he left it in its torn paper4 ,he then put the billy1 pannikin1 and tea1 back again inside the blanket1 which he tied neatly up1 tie for tie with the ,professor's own flax1 leaving no sign of any disturbance4 ,he again swarmed the sucker1 till he reached the bough to which the blanket and its contents had been made fast1 and having attached the bundle1 he dropped it back into the hollow of the tree4 ,he did everything quite leisurely1 for the ,professors would be sure to wait till nightfall before coming to fetch their property away4 8,if ,i take nothing but the nuggets10 he argued1 8each of the ,professors will suspect the other of having conjured them into his own pocket while the bundle was being made up4 ,as for the handkerchief1 they must think what they like2 but it will puzzle ,hanky to know why ,panky should have been so anxious for a receipt1 if he meant stealing the nuggets4 ,let them muddle it out their own way40 ,reflecting further1 he concluded1 perhaps rightly1 that they had left the nuggets where he had found them1 because neither could trust the other not to filch a few1 if he had them in his own possession1 and they could not make a nice division without a pair of scales4 8,at any rate10 he said to himself1 8there will be a pretty quarrel when they find them gone40 ,thus charitably did he brood over things that were not to happen4 ,the discovery of the ,professors' hoard had refreshed him almost as much as his sleep had done1 and it being now past seven1 he lit his pipe--which1 however1 he smoked as furtively as he had done when he was a boy at school1 for he knew not whether smoking had yet become an ,erewhonian virtue or no--and walked briskly on towards ,sunch'ston4 ,,chapter ,,vii3 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,order ,,of ,,things ,,catch ,,my ,,father',s ,,eye ,,on ,,every ,,side ,he had not gone far before a turn in the path--now rapidly widening--showed him two high towers1 seemingly some two miles off2 these he felt sure must be at ,sunch'ston1 he therefore stepped out1 lest he should find the shops shut before he got there4 ,on his former visit he had seen little of the town1 for he was in prison during his whole stay4 ,he had had a glimpse of it on being brought there by the people of the village where he had spent his first night in ,erewhon--a village which he had seen at some little distance on his right hand1 but which it would have been out of his way to visit1 even if he had wished to do so2 and he had seen the ,museum of old machines1 but on leaving the prison he had been blindfolded4 ,nevertheless he felt sure that if the towers had been there he should have seen them1 and rightly guessed that they must belong to the temple which was to be dedicated to himself on ,sunday4 ,when he had passed through the suburbs he found himself in the main street4 ,space will not allow me to dwell on more than a few of the things which caught his eye1 and assured him that the change in ,erewhonian habits and opinions had been even more cataclysmic than he had already divined4 ,the first important building that he came to proclaimed itself as the ,college of ,spiritual ,athletics1 and in the window of a shop that was evidently affiliated to the college he saw an announcement that moral try-your-strengths1 suitable for every kind of ordinary temptation1 would be provided on the shortest notice4 ,some of those that aimed at the more common kinds of temptation were kept in stock1 but these consisted chiefly of trials to the temper4 ,on dropping1 for example1 a penny into a slot1 you could have a jet of fine pepper1 flour1 or brickdust1 whichever you might prefer1 thrown on to your face1 and thus discover whether your composure stood in need of further development or no4 ,my father gathered this from the writing that was pasted on to the try-your-strength1 but he had no time to go inside the shop and test either the machine or his own temper4 ,other temptations to irritability required the agency of living people1 or at any rate living beings4 ,crying children1 screaming parrots1 a spiteful monkey1 might be hired on ridiculously easy terms4 ,he saw one advertisement1 nicely framed1 which ran as follows3- 8,mrs4 ,tantrums1 ,nagger1 certificated by the ,college of ,spiritual ,athletics4 ,terms for ordinary nagging1 two shillings and sixpence per hour4 ,hysterics extra40 ,then followed a series of testimonials--for example3- 8,dear ,mrs4 ,tantrums1--,i have for years been tortured with a husband of unusually peevish1 irritable temper1 who made my life so intolerable that ,i sometimes answered him in a way that led to his using personal violence towards me4 ,after taking a course of twelve sittings from you1 ,i found my husband's temper comparatively angelic1 and we have ever since lived together in complete harmony40 ,another was from a husband3- 8,mr4 --- presents his compliments to ,mrs4 ,tantrums1 and begs to assure her that her extra special hysterics have so far surpassed anything his wife can do1 as to render him callous to those attacks which he had formerly found so distressing40 ,there were many others of a like purport1 but time did not permit my father to do more than glance at them4 ,he contented himself with the two following1 of which the first ran3- 8,he did try it at last4 ,a little correction of the right kind taken at the right moment is invaluable4 ,no more swearing4 ,no more bad language of any kind4 ,a lamb-like temper ensured in about twenty minutes1 by a single dose of one of our spiritual indigestion tabloids4 ,in cases of all the more ordinary moral ailments1 from simple lying1 to homicidal mania1 in cases again of tendency to hatred1 malice1 and uncharitableness2 of atrophy or hypertrophy of the conscience1 of costiveness or diarrhoea of the sympathetic instincts1 c41 c41 our spiritual indigestion tabloids will afford unfailing and immediate relief4 8,n4,b4--,a bottle or two of our ,sunchild ,cordial will assist the operation of the tabloids40 ,the second and last that ,i can give was as follows3- 8,all else is useless4 ,if you wish to be a social success1 make yourself a good listener4 ,there is no short cut to this4 ,a would-be listener must learn the rudiments of his art and go through the mill like other people4 ,if he would develop a power of suffering fools gladly1 he must begin by suffering them without the gladness4 ,professor ,proser1 ex-straightener1 certificated bore1 pragmatic or coruscating1 with or without anecdotes1 attends pupils at their own houses4 ,terms moderate4 8,mrs4 ,proser1 whose success as a professional mind-dresser is so well- known that lengthened advertisement is unnecessary1 prepares ladies or gentlemen with appropriate remarks to be made at dinner-parties or at- homes4 ,mrs4 ,p4 keeps herself well up to date with all the latest scandals40 8,poor1 poor1 straighteners60 said my father to himself4 8,alas6 that it should have been my fate to ruin you--for ,i suppose your occupation is gone40 ,tearing himself away from the ,college of ,spiritual ,athletics and its affiliated shop1 he passed on a few doors1 only to find himself looking in at what was neither more nor less than a chemist's shop4 ,in the window there were advertisements which showed that the practice of medicine was now legal1 but my father could not stay to copy a single one of the fantastic announcements that a hurried glance revealed to him4 ,it was also plain here1 as from the shop already more fully described1 that the edicts against machines had been repealed1 for there were physical try-your-strengths1 as in the other shop there had been moral ones1 and such machines under the old law would not have been tolerated for a moment4 ,my father made his purchases just as the last shops were closing4 ,he noticed that almost all of them were full of articles labelled 8,dedication40 ,there was ,dedication gingerbread1 stamped with a moulded representation of the new temple2 there were ,dedication syrups1 ,dedication pocket-handkerchiefs1 also shewing the temple1 and in one corner giving a highly idealised portrait of my father himself4 ,the chariot and the horses figured largely1 and in the confectioners' shops there were models of the newly discovered relic--made1 so my father thought1 with a little heap of cherries or strawberries1 smothered in chocolate4 ,outside one tailor's shop he saw a flaring advertisement which can only be translated1 8,try our ,dedication trousers1 price ten shillings and sixpence40 ,presently he passed the new temple1 but it was too dark for him to do more than see that it was a vast fane1 and must have cost an untold amount of money4 ,at every turn he found himself more and more shocked1 as he realised more and more fully the mischief he had already occasioned1 and the certainty that this was small as compared with that which would grow up hereafter4 8,what10 he said to me1 very coherently and quietly1 8was ,i to do8 ,i had struck a bargain with that dear fellow1 though he knew not what ,i meant1 to the effect that ,i should try to undo the harm ,i had done1 by standing up before the people on ,sunday and saying who ,i was4 ,true1 they would not believe me4 ,they would look at my hair and see it black1 whereas it should be very light4 ,on this they would look no further1 but very likely tear me in pieces then and there4 ,suppose that the authorities held a post-mortem examination1 and that many who knew me 7let alone that all my measurements and marks were recorded twenty years ago7 identified the body as mine3 would those in power admit that ,i was the ,sunchild8 ,not they4 ,the interests vested in my being now in the palace of the sun are too great to allow of my having been torn to pieces in ,sunch'ston1 no matter how truly ,i had been torn2 the whole thing would be hushed up1 and the utmost that could come of it would be a heresy which would in time be crushed4 8,on the other hand1 what business have ,i with #8would be' or #8would not be8' ,should ,i not speak out1 come what may1 when ,i see a whole people being led astray by those who are merely exploiting them for their own ends8 ,though ,i could do but little1 ought ,i not to do that little8 ,what did that good fellow's instinct--so straight from heaven1 so true1 so healthy--tell him8 ,what did my own instinct answer8 ,what would the conscience of any honourable man answer8 ,who can doubt8 8,and yet1 is there not reason8 and is it not ,god-given as much as instinct8 ,i remember having heard an anthem in my young days1 #8,o where shall wisdom be found8 the deep saith it is not in me4' ,as the singers kept on repeating the question1 ,i kept on saying sorrowfully to myself--#8,ah1 where1 where1 where8' and when the triumphant answer came1 #8,the fear of the ,lord1 that is wisdom1 and to depart from evil is understanding1' ,i shrunk ashamed into myself for not having foreseen it4 ,in later life1 when ,i have tried to use this answer as a light by which ,i could walk1 ,i found it served but to the raising of another question1 #8,what is the fear of the ,lord1 and what is evil in this particular case8' ,and my easy method with spiritual dilemmas proved to be but a case of ignotum per ignotius4 8,if ,satan himself is at times transformed into an angel of light1 are not angels of light sometimes transformed into the likeness of ,satan8 ,if the devil is not so black as he is painted1 is ,god always so white8 ,and is there not another place in which it is said1 #8,the fear of the ,lord is the beginning of wisdom1' as though it were not the last word upon the subject8 ,if a man should not do evil that good may come1 so neither should he do good that evil may come2 and though it were good for me to speak out1 should ,i not do better by refraining8 8,such were the lawless and uncertain thoughts that tortured me very cruelly1 so that ,i did what ,i had not done for many a long year--,i prayed for guidance4 #8,shew me ,thy will1 ,o ,lord1' ,i cried in great distress1 #8and strengthen me to do it when ,thou hast shewn it me4' ,but there was no answer4 ,instinct tore me one way and reason another4 ,whereon ,i settled that ,i would obey the reason with which ,god had endowed me1 unless the instinct ,he had also given me should thrash it out of me4 ,i could get no further than this1 that the ,lord hath mercy on whom ,he will have mercy1 and whom ,he willeth ,he hardeneth2 and again ,i prayed that ,i might be among those on whom ,he would shew ,his mercy4 8,this was the strongest internal conflict that ,i ever remember to have felt1 and it was at the end of it that ,i perceived the first1 but as yet very faint1 symptoms of that sickness from which ,i shall not recover4 ,whether this be a token of mercy or no1 my ,father which is in heaven knows1 but ,i know not40 ,from what my father afterwards told me1 ,i do not think the above reflections had engrossed him for more than three or four minutes2 the giddiness which had for some seconds compelled him to lay hold of the first thing he could catch at in order to avoid falling1 passed away without leaving a trace behind it1 and his path seemed to become comfortably clear before him4 ,he settled it that the proper thing to do would be to buy some food1 start back at once while his permit was still valid1 help himself to the property which he had sold the ,professors1 leaving the ,erewhonians to wrestle as they best might with the lot that it had pleased ,heaven to send them4 ,this1 however1 was too heroic a course4 ,he was tired1 and wanted a night's rest in a bed2 he was hungry1 and wanted a substantial meal2 he was curious1 moreover1 to see the temple dedicated to himself1 and hear ,hanky's sermon2 there was also this further difficulty1 he should have to take what he had sold the ,professors without returning them their #d1 #ajs41 for he could not do without his blanket1 c42 and even if he left a bag of nuggets made fast to the sucker1 he must either place it where it could be seen so easily that it would very likely get stolen1 or hide it so cleverly that the ,professors would never find it4 ,he therefore compromised by concluding that he would sup and sleep in ,sunch'ston1 get through the morrow as he best could without attracting attention1 deepen the stain on his face and hair1 and rely on the change so made in his appearance to prevent his being recognised at the dedication of the temple4 ,he would do nothing to disillusion the people--to do this would only be making bad worse4 ,as soon as the service was over1 he would set out towards the preserves1 and1 when it was well dark1 make for the statues4 ,he hoped that on such a great day the rangers might be many of them in ,sunch'ston2 if there were any about1 he must trust the moonless night and his own quick eyes and ears to get him through the preserves safely4 ,the shops were by this time closed1 but the keepers of a few stalls were trying by lamplight to sell the wares they had not yet got rid of4 ,one of these was a bookstall1 and1 running his eye over some of the volumes1 my father saw one entitled-- 8,the ,sayings of the ,sunchild during his stay in ,erewhon1 to which is added a true account of his return to the palace of the sun with his ,erewhonian bride4 ,this is the only version authorised by the ,presidents and ,vice-,presidents of the ,musical ,banks2 all other versions being imperfect and inaccurate4--,bridgeford1 ,,xviii41 #aej pp4 #hvo4 ,price #cs4 ,the reader will understand that ,i am giving the prices as nearly as ,i can in their ,english equivalents4 ,another title was-- 8,the ,sacrament of ,divorce3 an ,occasional ,sermon preached by ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 ,president of the ,musical ,banks for the ,province of ,sunch'ston4 #hvo1 #af pp4 #f;d4 ,other titles ran-- 8,counsels of ,imperfection40 #hvo1 #bj pp4 #f;d4 8,hygiene2 or1 ,how to ,diagnose your ,doctor4 #hvo1 #aj pp4 #c;d4 8,the ,physics of ,vicarious ,existence10 by ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 ,president of the ,musical ,banks for the ,province of ,sunch'ston4 #hvo1 #bj pp4 #f;d4 ,there were many other books whose titles would probably have attracted my father as much as those that ,i have given1 but he was too tired and hungry to look at more4 ,finding that he could buy all the foregoing for #ds4 #i;d41 he bought them and stuffed them into the valise that he had just bought4 ,his purchases in all had now amounted to a little over #a1 #ajs4 7silver71 leaving him about #c 7silver71 including the money for which he had sold the quails1 to carry him on till ,sunday afternoon4 ,he intended to spend say #b 7silver71 and keep the rest of the money in order to give it to the ,british ,museum4 ,he now began to search for an inn1 and walked about the less fashionable parts of the town till he found an unpretending tavern1 which he thought would suit him4 ,here1 on importunity1 he was given a servant's room at the top of the house1 all others being engaged by visitors who had come for the dedication4 ,he ordered a meal1 of which he stood in great need1 and having eaten it1 he retired early for the night4 ,but he smoked a pipe surreptitiously up the chimney before he got into bed4 ,meanwhile other things were happening1 of which1 happily for his repose1 he was still ignorant1 and which he did not learn till a few days later4 ,not to depart from chronological order ,i will deal with them in my next chapter4 ,,chapter ,,viii3 ,,yram1 ,,now ,,mayoress1 ,,gives ,a ,,dinner-,,party1 ,,in ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,which ,,she ,,is ,,disquieted ,,by ,,what ,,she ,,learns ,,from ,,professor ,,hanky3 ,,she ,,sends ,,for ,,her ,,son ,,george ,,and ,,questions ,,him ,the ,professors1 returning to their hotel early on the ,friday morning1 found a note from the ,mayoress urging them to be her guests during the remainder of their visit1 and to meet other friends at dinner on this same evening4 ,they accepted1 and then went to bed2 for they had passed the night under the tree in which they had hidden their purchase1 and1 as may be imagined1 had slept but little4 ,they rested all day1 and transferred themselves and their belongings to the ,mayor's house in time to dress for dinner4 ,when they came down into the drawing-room they found a brilliant company assembled1 chiefly ,musical-,bankical like themselves4 ,there was ,dr4 ,downie1 ,professor of ,logomachy1 and perhaps the most subtle dialectician in ,erewhon4 ,he could say nothing in more words than any man of his generation4 ,his text-book on the 8,art of ,obscuring ,issues0 had passed through ten or twelve editions1 and was in the hands of all aspirants for academic distinction4 ,he had earned a high reputation for sobriety of judgement by resolutely refusing to have definite views on any subject2 so safe a man was he considered1 that while still quite young he had been appointed to the lucrative post of ,thinker in ,ordinary to the ,royal ,family4 ,there was ,mr4 ,principal ,crank1 with his sister ,mrs4 ,quack2 ,professors ,gabb and ,bawl1 with their wives and two or three erudite daughters4 ,old ,mrs4 ,humdrum 7of whom more anon7 was there of course1 with her venerable white hair and rich black satin dress1 looking the very ideal of all that a stately old dowager ought to be4 ,in society she was commonly known as ,ydgrun1 so perfectly did she correspond with the conception of this strange goddess formed by the ,erewhonians4 ,she was one of those who had visited my father when he was in prison twenty years earlier4 ,when he told me that she was now called ,ydgrun1 he said1 8,i am sure that the ,erinyes were only ,mrs4 ,humdrums1 and that they were delightful people when you came to know them4 ,i do not believe they did the awful things we say they did4 ,i think1 but am not quite sure1 that they let ,orestes off2 but even though they had not pardoned him1 ,i doubt whether they would have done anything more dreadful to him than issue a mot d'ordre that he was not to be asked to any more afternoon teas4 ,this1 however1 would be down-right torture to some people4 ,at any rate10 he continued1 8be it the ,erinyes1 or ,mrs4 ,grundy1 or ,ydgrun1 in all times and places it is woman who decides whether society is to condone an offence or no40 ,among the most attractive ladies present was one for whose ,erewhonian name ,i can find no ,english equivalent1 and whom ,i must therefore call ,miss ,la ,frime4 ,she was ,lady ,president of the principal establishment for the higher education of young ladies1 and so celebrated was she1 that pupils flocked to her from all parts of the surrounding country4 ,her primer 7written for the ,erewhonian ,arts and ,science ,series7 on the ,art of ,man-killing1 was the most complete thing of the kind that had yet been done2 but ill-natured people had been heard to say that she had killed all her own admirers so effectually that not one of them had ever lived to marry her4 ,according to ,erewhonian custom the successful marriages of the pupils are inscribed yearly on the oak paneling of the college refectory1 and a reprint from these in pamphlet form accompanies all the prospectuses that are sent out to parents4 ,it was alleged that no other ladies' seminary in ,erewhon could show such a brilliant record during all the years of ,miss ,la ,frime's presidency4 ,many other guests of less note were there1 but the lions of the evening were the two ,professors whom we have already met with1 and more particularly ,hanky1 who took the ,mayoress in to dinner4 ,panky1 of course1 wore his clothes reversed1 as did ,principal ,crank and ,professor ,gabb2 the others were dressed ,english fashion4 ,everything hung upon the hostess1 for the host was little more than a still handsome figure-head4 ,he had been remarkable for his good looks as a young man1 and ,strong is the nearest approach ,i can get to a translation of his ,erewhonian name4 ,his face inspired confidence at once1 but he was a man of few words1 and had little of that grace which in his wife set every one instantly at his or her ease4 ,he knew that all would go well so long as he left everything to her1 and kept himself as far as might be in the background4 ,before dinner was announced there was the usual buzz of conversation1 chiefly occupied with salutations1 good wishes for ,sunday's weather1 and admiration for the extreme beauty of the ,mayoress's three daughters1 the two elder of whom were already out2 while the third1 though only thirteen1 might have passed for a year or two older4 ,their mother was so much engrossed with receiving her guests that it was not till they were all at table that she was able to ask ,hanky what he thought of the statues1 which she had heard that he and ,professor ,panky had been to see4 ,she was told how much interested he had been with them1 and how unable he had been to form any theory as to their date or object4 ,he then added1 appealing to ,panky1 who was on the ,mayoress's left hand1 8but we had rather a strange adventure on our way down1 had we not1 ,panky8 ,we got lost1 and were benighted in the forest4 ,happily we fell in with one of the rangers who had lit a fire40 8,do ,i understand1 then10 said ,yram1 as ,i suppose we may as well call her1 8that you were out all last night8 ,how tired you must be6 ,but ,i hope you had enough provisions with you80 8,indeed we were out all night4 ,we staid by the ranger's fire till midnight1 and then tried to find our way down1 but we gave it up soon after we had got out of the forest1 and then waited under a large chestnut tree till four or five this morning4 ,as for food1 we had not so much as a mouthful from about three in the afternoon till we got to our inn early this morning40 8,oh1 you poor1 poor people6 how tired you must be40 8,no2 we made a good breakfast as soon as we got in1 and then went to bed1 where we staid till it was time for us to come to your house40 ,here ,panky gave his friend a significant look1 as much as to say that he had said enough4 ,this set ,hanky on at once4 8,strange to say1 the ranger was wearing the old ,erewhonian dress4 ,it did me good to see it again after all these years4 ,it seems your son lets his men wear what few of the old clothes they may still have1 so long as they keep well away from the town4 ,but fancy how carefully these poor fellows husband them2 why1 it must be seventeen years since the dress was forbidden60 ,we all of us have skeletons1 large or small1 in some cupboard of our lives1 but a well regulated skeleton that will stay in its cupboard quietly does not much matter4 ,there are skeletons1 however1 which can never be quite trusted not to open the cupboard door at some awkward moment1 go down stairs1 ring the hall-door bell1 with grinning face announce themselves as the skeleton1 and ask whether the master or mistress is at home4 ,this kind of skeleton1 though no bigger than a rabbit1 will sometimes loom large as that of a dinotherium4 ,my father was ,yram's skeleton4 ,true1 he was a mere skeleton of a skeleton1 for the chances were thousands to one that he and my mother had perished long years ago2 and even though he rang at the bell1 there was no harm that he either could or would now do to her or hers2 still1 so long as she did not certainly know that he was dead1 or otherwise precluded from returning1 she could not be sure that he would not one day come back by the way that he would alone know1 and she had rather he should not do so4 ,hence1 on hearing from ,professor ,hanky that a man had been seen between the statues and ,sunch'ston wearing the old ,erewhonian dress1 she was disquieted and perplexed4 ,the excuse he had evidently made to the ,professors aggravated her uneasiness1 for it was an obvious attempt to escape from an unexpected difficulty4 ,there could be no truth in it4 ,her son would as soon think of wearing the old dress himself as of letting his men do so2 and as for having old clothes still to wear out after seventeen years1 no one but a ,bridgeford ,professor would accept this4 ,she saw1 therefore1 that she must keep her wits about her1 and lead her guests on to tell her as much as they could be induced to do4 8,my son10 she said innocently1 8is always considerate to his men1 and that is why they are so devoted to him4 ,i wonder which of them it was8 ,in what part of the preserves did you fall in with him80 ,hanky described the place1 and gave the best idea he could of my father's appearance4 8,of course he was swarthy like the rest of us80 8,i saw nothing remarkable about him1 except that his eyes were blue and his eyelashes nearly white1 which1 as you know1 is rare in ,erewhon4 ,indeed1 ,i do not remember ever before to have seen a man with dark hair and complexion but light eyelashes4 ,nature is always doing something unusual40 8,i have no doubt10 said ,yram1 8that he was the man they call ,blacksheep1 but ,i never noticed this peculiarity in him4 ,if he was ,blacksheep1 ,i am afraid you must have found him none too civil2 he is a rough diamond1 and you would hardly be able to understand his uncouth ,sunch'ston dialect40 8,on the contrary1 he was most kind and thoughtful--even so far as to take our permit from us1 and thus save us the trouble of giving it up at your son's office4 ,as for his dialect1 his grammar was often at fault1 but we could quite understand him40 8,i am glad to hear he behaved better than ,i could have expected4 ,did he say in what part of the preserves he had been80 8,he had been catching quails between the place where we saw him and the statues2 he was to deliver three dozen to your son this afternoon for the ,mayor's banquet on ,sunday40 ,this was worse and worse4 ,she had urged her son to provide her with a supply of quails for ,sunday's banquet1 but he had begged her not to insist on having them4 ,there was no close time for them in ,erewhon1 but he set his face against their being seen at table in spring and summer4 ,during the winter1 when any great occasion arose1 he had allowed a few brace to be provided4 8,i asked my son to let me have some10 said ,yram1 who was now on full scent4 ,she laughed genially as she added1 8,can you throw any light upon the question whether ,i am likely to get my three dozen8 ,i have had no news as yet40 8,the man had taken a good many2 we saw them but did not count them4 ,he started about midnight for the ranger's shelter1 where he said he should sleep till daybreak1 so as to make up his full tale betimes40 ,yram had heard her son complain that there were no shelters on the preserves1 and state his intention of having some built before the winter4 ,here too1 then1 the man's story must be false4 ,she changed the conversation for the moment1 but quietly told a servant to send high and low in search of her son1 and if he could be found1 to bid him come to her at once4 ,she then returned to her previous subject4 8,and did not this heartless wretch1 knowing how hungry you must both be1 let you have a quail or two as an act of pardonable charity80 8,my dear ,mayoress1 how can you ask such a question8 ,we knew you would want all you could get2 moreover1 our permit threatened us with all sorts of horrors if we so much as ate a single quail4 ,i assure you we never even allowed a thought of eating one of them to cross our minds40 8,then10 said ,yram to herself1 8they gorged upon them40 ,what could she think8 ,a man who wore the old dress1 and therefore who had almost certainly been in ,erewhon1 but had been many years away from it2 who spoke the language well1 but whose grammar was defective--hence1 again1 one who had spent some time in ,erewhon2 who knew nothing of the afforesting law now long since enacted1 for how else would he have dared to light a fire and be seen with quails in his possession2 an adroit liar1 who on gleaning information from the ,professors had hazarded an excuse for immediately retracing his steps2 a man1 too1 with blue eyes and light eyelashes4 ,what did it matter about his hair being dark and his complexion swarthy--,higgs was far too clever to attempt a second visit to ,erewhon without dyeing his hair and staining his face and hands4 ,and he had got their permit out of the ,professors before he left them2 clearly1 then1 he meant coming back1 and coming back at once before the permit had expired4 ,how could she doubt8 ,my father1 she felt sure1 must by this time be in ,sunch'ston4 ,he would go back to change his clothes1 which would not be very far down on the other side the pass1 for he would not put on his old ,erewhonian dress till he was on the point of entering ,erewhon2 and he would hide his ,english dress rather than throw it away1 for he would want it when he went back again4 ,it would be quite possible1 then1 for him to get through the forest before the permit was void1 and he would be sure to go on to ,sunch'ston for the night4 ,she chatted unconcernedly1 now with one guest now with another1 while they in their turn chatted unconcernedly with one another4 ,miss ,la ,frime to ,mrs4 ,humdrum3 8,you know how he got his professorship8 ,no8 ,i thought every one knew that4 ,the question the candidates had to answer was1 whether it was wiser during a long stay at a hotel to tip the servants pretty early1 or to wait till the stay was ended4 ,all the other candidates took one side or the other1 and argued their case in full4 ,hanky sent in three lines to the effect that the proper thing to do would be to promise at the beginning1 and go away without giving4 ,the ,king1 with whom the appointment rested1 was so much pleased with this answer that he gave ,hanky the professorship without so much as looking 4 4 4 0 ,professor ,gabb to ,mrs4 ,humdrum3 8,oh no1 ,i can assure you there is no truth in it4 ,what happened was this4 ,there was the usual crowd1 and the people cheered ,professor after ,professor1 as he stood before them in the great ,bridgeford theatre and satisfied them that a lump of butter which had been put into his mouth would not melt in it4 ,when ,hanky's turn came he was taken suddenly unwell1 and had to leave the theatre1 on which there was a report in the house that the butter had melted2 this was at once stopped by the return of the ,professor4 ,another piece of butter was put into his mouth1 and on being taken out after the usual time1 was found to shew no signs of having 4 4 4 0 ,miss ,bawl to ,mr4 ,principal ,crank3 4 4 4 8,the ,manager was so tall1 you know1 and then there was that little mite of an assistant manager--it was so funny4 ,for the assistant manager's voice was ever so much louder than the 4 4 4 0 ,mrs4 ,bawl to ,professor ,gabb3 4 4 4 8,live for art6 ,if ,i had to choose whether ,i would lose either art or science1 ,i have not the smallest hesitation in saying that ,i would lose 4 4 4 0 ,the ,mayor and ,dr4 ,downie3 4 4 4 8,that you are to be canonised at the close of the year along with ,professors ,hanky and ,panky80 8,i believe it is his ,majesty's intention that the ,professors and myself are to head the list of the ,sunchild's ,saints1 but we have all of us got to 4 4 4 0 ,and so on1 and so on1 buzz1 buzz1 buzz1 over the whole table4 ,presently ,yram turned to ,hanky and said-- 8,by the way1 ,professor1 you must have found it very cold up at the statues1 did you not8 ,but ,i suppose the snow is all gone by this time80 8,yes1 it was cold1 and though the winter's snow is melted1 there had been a recent fall4 ,strange to say1 we saw fresh footprints in it1 as of some one who had come up from the other side4 ,but thereon hangs a tale1 about which ,i believe ,i should say nothing40 8,then say nothing1 my dear ,professor10 said ,yram with a frank smile4 8,above all10 she added quietly and gravely1 8say nothing to the ,mayor1 nor to my son1 till after ,sunday4 ,even a whisper of some one coming over from the other side disquiets them1 and they have enough on hand for the moment40 ,panky1 who had been growing more and more restive at his friend's outspokenness1 but who had encouraged it more than once by vainly trying to check it1 was relieved at hearing his hostess do for him what he could not do for himself4 ,as for ,yram1 she had got enough out of the ,professor to be now fully dissatisfied1 and mentally informed them that they might leave the witness-box4 ,during the rest of dinner she let the subject of their adventure severely alone4 ,it seemed to her as though dinner was never going to end2 but in the course of time it did so1 and presently the ladies withdrew4 ,as they were entering the drawing-room a servant told her that her son had been found more easily than was expected1 and was now in his own room dressing4 8,tell him10 she said1 8to stay there till ,i come1 which ,i will do directly40 ,she remained for a few minutes with her guests1 and then1 excusing herself quietly to ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 she stepped out and hastened to her son's room4 ,she told him that ,professors ,hanky and ,panky were staying in the house1 and that during dinner they had told her something he ought to know1 but which there was no time to tell him until her guests were gone4 8,i had rather10 she said1 8tell you about it before you see the ,professors1 for if you see them the whole thing will be reopened1 and you are sure to let them see how much more there is in it than they suspect4 ,i want everything hushed up for the moment2 do not1 therefore1 join us4 ,have dinner sent to you in your father's study4 ,i will come to you about midnight40 8,but1 my dear mother10 said ,george1 8,i have seen ,panky already4 ,i walked down with him a good long way this afternoon40 ,yram had not expected this1 but she kept her countenance4 8,how did you know10 said she1 8that he was ,professor ,panky8 ,did he tell you so80 8,certainly he did4 ,he showed me his permit1 which was made out in favour of ,professors ,hanky and ,panky1 or either of them4 ,he said ,hanky had been unable to come with him1 and that he was himself ,professor ,panky40 ,yram again smiled very sweetly4 8,then1 my dear boy10 she said1 8,i am all the more anxious that you should not see him now4 ,see nobody but the servants and your brothers1 and wait till ,i can enlighten you4 ,i must not stay another moment2 but tell me this much1 have you seen any signs of poachers lately80 8,yes2 there were three last night40 8,in what part of the preserves80 ,her son described the place4 8,you are sure they had been killing quails80 8,yes1 and eating them--two on one side of a fire they had lit1 and one on the other2 this last man had done all the plucking40 8,good60 ,she kissed him with more than even her usual tenderness1 and returned to the drawing-room4 ,during the rest of the evening she was engaged in earnest conversation with ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 leaving her other guests to her daughters and to themselves4 ,mrs4 ,humdrum had been her closest friend for many years1 and carried more weight than any one else in ,sunch'ston1 except1 perhaps1 ,yram herself4 8,tell him everything10 she said to ,yram at the close of their conversation2 8we all dote upon him2 trust him frankly1 as you trusted your husband before you let him marry you4 ,no lies1 no reserve1 no tears1 and all will come right4 ,as for me1 command me10 and the good old lady rose to take her leave with as kind a look on her face as ever irradiated saint or angel4 8,i go early10 she added1 8for the others will go when they see me do so1 and the sooner you are alone the better40 ,by half an hour before midnight her guests had gone4 ,hanky and ,panky were given to understand that they must still be tired1 and had better go to bed4 ,so was the ,mayor2 so were her sons and daughters1 except of course ,george1 who was waiting for her with some anxiety1 for he had seen that she had something serious to tell him4 ,then she went down into the study4 ,her son embraced her as she entered1 and moved an easy chair for her1 but she would not have it4 8,no2 ,i will have an upright one40 ,then1 sitting composedly down on the one her son placed for her1 she said-- 8,and now to business4 ,but let me first tell you that the ,mayor was told1 twenty years ago1 all the more important part of what you will now hear4 ,he does not yet know what has happened within the last few hours1 but either you or ,i will tell him to-morrow40 ,,chapter ,,ix3 ,,interview ,,between ,,yram ,,and ,,her ,,son 8,what did you think of ,panky80 8,i could not make him out4 ,if he had not been a ,bridgeford ,professor ,i might have liked him2 but you know how we all of us distrust those people40 8,where did you meet him80 8,about two hours lower down than the statues40 8,at what o'clock80 8,it might be between two and half-past40 8,i suppose he did not say that at that hour he was in bed at his hotel in ,sunch'ston4 ,hardly6 ,tell me what passed between you40 8,he had his permit open before we were within speaking distance4 ,i think he feared ,i should attack him without making sure whether he was a foreign devil or no4 ,i have told you he said he was ,professor ,panky40 8,i suppose he had a dark complexion and black hair like the rest of us80 8,dark complexion and hair purplish rather than black4 ,i was surprised to see that his eyelashes were as light as my own1 and his eyes were blue like mine--but you will have noticed this at dinner40 8,no1 my dear1 ,i did not1 and ,i think ,i should have done so if it had been there to notice40 8,oh1 but it was so indeed40 8,perhaps4 ,was there anything strange about his way of talking80 8,a little about his grammar1 but these ,bridgeford ,professors have often risen from the ranks4 ,his pronunciation was nearly like yours and mine40 8,was his manner friendly80 8,very2 more so than ,i could understand at first4 ,i had not1 however1 been with him long before ,i saw tears in his eyes1 and when ,i asked him whether he was in distress1 he said ,i reminded him of a son whom he had lost and had found after many years1 only to lose him almost immediately for ever4 ,hence his cordiality towards me40 8,then10 said ,yram half hysterically to herself1 8he knew who you were4 ,now1 how1 ,i wonder1 did he find that out80 ,all vestige of doubt as to who the man might be had now left her4 8,certainly he knew who ,i was4 ,he spoke about you more than once1 and wished us every kind of prosperity1 baring his head reverently as he spoke40 8,poor fellow6 ,did he say anything about ,higgs80 8,a good deal1 and ,i was surprised to find he thought about it all much as we do4 ,but when ,i said that if ,i could go down into the hell of which ,higgs used to talk to you while he was in prison1 ,i should expect to find him in its hottest fires1 he did not like it40 8,possibly not1 my dear4 ,did you tell him how the other boys1 when you were at school1 used sometimes to say you were son to this man ,higgs1 and that the people of ,sunch'ston used to say so also1 till the ,mayor trounced two or three people so roundly that they held their tongues for the future80 8,not all that1 but ,i said that silly people had believed me to be the ,sunchild's son1 and what a disgrace ,i should hold it to be son to such an impostor40 8,what did he say to this80 8,he asked whether ,i should feel the disgrace less if ,higgs were to undo the mischief he had caused by coming back and shewing himself to the people for what he was4 ,but he said it would be no use for him to do so1 inasmuch as people would kill him but would not believe him40 8,and you said80 8,let him come back1 speak out1 and chance what might befall him4 ,in that case1 ,i should honour him1 father or no father40 8,and he80 8,he asked if that would be a bargain2 and when ,i said it would1 he grasped me warmly by the hand on ,higgs's behalf--though what it could matter to him passes my comprehension40 8,but he saw that even though ,higgs were to shew himself and say who he was1 it would mean death to himself and no good to any one else80 8,perfectly40 8,then he can have meant nothing by shaking hands with you4 ,it was an idle jest4 ,and now for your poachers4 ,you do not know who they were8 ,i will tell you4 ,the two who sat on the one side the fire were ,professors ,hanky and ,panky from the ,city of the ,people who are above ,suspicion40 8,no10 said ,george vehemently4 8,impossible40 8,yes1 my dear boy1 quite possible1 and whether possible or impossible1 assuredly true40 8,and the third man80 8,the third man was dressed in the old costume4 ,he was in possession of several brace of birds4 ,the ,professors vowed they had not eaten any--0 8,oh yes1 but they had10 blurted out ,george4 8,of course they had1 my dear2 and a good thing too4 ,let us return to the man in the old costume40 8,that is puzzling4 ,who did he say he was80 8,he said he was one of your men2 that you had instructed him to provide you with three dozen quails for ,sunday2 and that you let your men wear the old costume if they had any of it left1 provided--0 ,this was too much for ,george2 he started to his feet4 8,what1 my dearest mother1 does all this mean8 ,you have been playing with me all through4 ,what is coming80 8,a very little more1 and you shall hear4 ,this man staid with the ,professors till nearly midnight1 and then left them on the plea that he would finish the night in the ,ranger's shelter--0 8,ranger's shelter1 indeed6 ,why--0 8,hush1 my darling boy1 be patient with me4 ,he said he must be up betimes1 to run down the rest of the quails you had ordered him to bring you4 ,but before leaving the ,professors he beguiled them into giving him up their permit40 8,then10 said ,george1 striding about the room with his face flushed and his eyes flashing1 8he was the man with whom ,i walked down this afternoon40 8,exactly so40 8,and he must have changed his dress80 8,exactly so40 8,but where and how80 8,at some place not very far down on the other side the range1 where he had hidden his old clothes40 8,and who1 in the name of all that we hold most sacred1 do you take him to have been--for ,i see you know more than you have yet told me80 8,my son1 he was ,higgs the ,sunchild1 father to that boy whom ,i love next to my husband more dearly than any one in the whole world40 ,she folded her arms about him for a second1 without kissing him1 and left him4 8,and now10 she said1 the moment she had closed the door--8and now ,i may cry40 99 99 99 99 99 ,she did not cry for long1 and having removed all trace of tears as far as might be1 she returned to her son outwardly composed and cheerful4 8,shall ,i say more now10 she said1 seeing how grave he looked1 8or shall ,i leave you1 and talk further with you to-morrow80 8,now--now--now60 8,good6 ,a little before ,higgs came here1 the ,mayor1 as he now is1 poor1 handsome1 generous to a fault so far as he had the wherewithal1 was adored by all the women of his own rank in ,sunch'ston4 ,report said that he had adored many of them in return1 but after having known me for a very few days1 he asked me to marry him1 protesting that he was a changed man4 ,i liked him1 as every one else did1 but ,i was not in love with him1 and said so2 he said he would give me as much time as ,i chose1 if ,i would not point-blank refuse him2 and so the matter was left4 8,within a week or so ,higgs was brought to the prison1 and he had not been there long before ,i found1 or thought ,i found1 that ,i liked him better than ,i liked ,strong4 ,i was a fool--but there6 ,as for ,higgs1 he liked1 but did not love me4 ,if ,i had let him alone he would have done the like by me2 and let each other alone we did1 till the day before he was taken down to the capital4 ,on that day1 whether through his fault or mine ,i know not--we neither of us meant it--it was as though ,nature1 my dear1 was determined that you should not slip through her fingers--well1 on that day we took it into our heads that we were broken-hearted lovers--the rest followed4 ,and how1 my dearest boy1 as ,i look upon you1 can ,i feign repentance8 8,my husband1 who never saw ,higgs1 and knew nothing about him except the too little that ,i told him1 pressed his suit1 and about a month after ,higgs had gone1 having recovered my passing infatuation for him1 ,i took kindly to the ,mayor and accepted him1 without telling him what ,i ought to have told him--but the words stuck in my throat4 ,i had not been engaged to him many days before ,i found that there was something which ,i should not be able to hide much longer4 8,you know1 my dear1 that my mother had been long dead1 and ,i never had a sister or any near kinswoman4 ,at my wits' end who ,i should consult1 instinct drew me to ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 then a woman of about five-and-forty4 ,she was a grand lady1 while ,i was about the rank of one of my own housemaids4 ,i had no claim on her2 ,i went to her as a lost dog looks into the faces of people on a road1 and singles out the one who will most surely help him4 ,i had had a good look at her once as she was putting on her gloves1 and ,i liked the way she did it4 ,i marvel at my own boldness4 ,at any rate1 ,i asked to see her1 and told her my story exactly as ,i have now told it to you4 8#8,you have no mother8' she said1 when she had heard all4 8#8,no4' 8#8,then1 my dear1 ,i will mother you myself4 ,higgs is out of the question1 so ,strong must marry you at once4 ,we will tell him everything1 and ,i1 on your behalf1 will insist upon it that the engagement is at an end4 ,i hear good reports of him1 and if we are fair towards him he will be generous towards us4 ,besides1 ,i believe he is so much in love with you that he would sell his soul to get you4 ,send him to me4 ,i can deal with him better than you can4'0 8,and what10 said ,george1 8did my father1 as ,i shall always call him1 say to all this8 8,truth bred chivalry in him at once4 #8,i will marry her1' he said1 with hardly a moment's hesitation1 #8but it will be better that ,i should not be put on any lower footing than ,higgs was4 ,i ought not to be denied anything that has been allowed to him4 ,if ,i am trusted1 ,i can trust myself to trust and think no evil either of ,higgs or her4 ,they were pestered beyond endurance1 as ,i have been ere now4 ,if ,i am held at arm's length till ,i am fast bound1 ,i shall marry ,yram just the same1 but ,i doubt whether she and ,i shall ever be quite happy4' 8#8,come to my house this evening1' said ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 #8and you will find ,yram there4' ,he came1 he found me1 and within a fortnight we were man and wife40 8,how much does not all this explain10 said ,george1 smiling but very gravely4 8,and you are going to ask me to forgive you for robbing me of such a father40 8,he has forgiven me1 my dear1 for robbing him of such a son4 ,he never reproached me4 ,from that day to this he has never given me a harsh word or even syllable4 ,when you were born he took to you at once1 as1 indeed1 who could help doing8 for you were the sweetest child both in looks and temper that it is possible to conceive4 ,your having light hair and eyes made things more difficult2 for this1 and your being born1 almost to the day1 nine months after ,higgs had left us1 made people talk--but your father kept their tongues within bounds4 ,they talk still1 but they liked what little they saw of ,higgs1 they like the ,mayor and me1 and they like you the best of all2 so they please themselves by having the thing both ways4 ,though1 therefore1 you are son to the ,mayor1 ,higgs cast some miraculous spell upon me before he left1 whereby my son should be in some measure his as well as the ,mayor's4 ,it was this miraculous spell that caused you to be born two months too soon1 and we called you by ,higgs's first name as though to show that we took that view of the matter ourselves4 8,mrs4 ,humdrum1 however1 was very positive that there was no spell at all4 ,she had repeatedly heard her father say that the ,mayor's grandfather was light-haired and blue-eyed1 and that every third generation in that family a light-haired son was born4 ,the people believe this too4 ,nobody disbelieves ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 but they like the miracle best1 so that is how it has been settled4 8,i never knew whether ,mrs4 ,humdrum told her husband1 but ,i think she must2 for a place was found almost immediately for my husband in ,mr4 ,humdrum's business4 ,he made himself useful2 after a few years he was taken into partnership1 and on ,mr4 ,humdrum's death became head of the firm4 ,between ourselves1 he says laughingly that all his success in life was due to ,higgs and me40 8,i shall give ,mrs4 ,humdrum a double dose of kissing10 said ,george thoughtfully1 8next time ,i see her40 8,oh1 do1 do2 she will so like it4 ,and now1 my darling boy1 tell your poor mother whether or no you can forgive her40 ,he clasped her in his arms1 and kissed her again and again1 but for a time he could find no utterance4 ,presently he smiled1 and said1 8,of course ,i do1 but it is you who should forgive me1 for was it not all my fault80 ,when ,yram1 too1 had become more calm1 she said1 8,it is late1 and we have no time to lose4 ,higgs's coming at this time is mere accident2 if he had had news from ,erewhon he would have known much that he did not know4 ,i cannot guess why he has come--probably through mere curiosity1 but he will hear or have heard--yes1 you and he talked about it--of the temple2 being here1 he will want to see the dedication4 ,from what you have told me ,i feel sure that he will not make a fool of himself by saying who he is1 but in spite of his disguise he may be recognised4 ,i do not doubt that he is now in ,sunch'ston2 therefore1 to-morrow morning scour the town to find him4 ,tell him he is discovered1 tell him you know from me that he is your father1 and that ,i wish to see him with all good-will towards him4 ,he will come4 ,we will then talk to him1 and show him that he must go back at once4 ,you can escort him to the statues2 after passing them he will be safe4 ,he will give you no trouble1 but if he does1 arrest him on a charge of poaching1 and take him to the gaol1 where we must do the best we can with him--but he will give you none4 ,we need say nothing to the ,professors4 ,no one but ourselves will know of his having been here40 ,on this she again embraced her son and left him4 ,if two photographs could have been taken of her1 one as she opened the door and looked fondly back on ,george1 and the other as she closed it behind her1 the second portrait would have seemed taken ten years later than the first4 ,as for ,george1 he went gravely but not unhappily to his own room4 8,so that ready1 plausible fellow10 he muttered to himself1 8was my own father4 ,at any rate1 ,i am not son to a fool--and he liked me40 ,,chapter ,x3 ,,my ,,father1 ,,fearing ,,recognition ,,at ,,sunch',,ston1 ,,betakes ,,himself ,,to ,,the ,,neighbouring ,,town ,,of ,,fairmead ,i will now return to my father4 ,whether from fatigue or over-excitement1 he slept only by fits and starts1 and when awake he could not rid himself of the idea that1 in spite of his disguise1 he might be recognised1 either at his inn or in the town1 by some one of the many who had seen him when he was in prison4 ,in this case there was no knowing what might happen1 but at best1 discovery would probably prevent his seeing the temple dedicated to himself1 and hearing ,professor ,hanky's sermon1 which he was particularly anxious to do4 ,so strongly did he feel the real or fancied danger he should incur by spending ,saturday in ,sunch'ston1 that he rose as soon as he heard any one stirring1 and having paid his bill1 walked quietly out of the house1 without saying where he was going4 ,there was a town about ten miles off1 not so important as ,sunch'ston1 but having some #aj1jjj inhabitants2 he resolved to find accommodation there for the day and night1 and to walk over to ,sunch'ston in time for the dedication ceremony1 which he had found on inquiry1 would begin at eleven o'clock4 ,the country between ,sunch'ston and ,fairmead1 as the town just referred to was named1 was still mountainous1 and being well wooded as well as well watered1 abounded in views of singular beauty2 but ,i have no time to dwell on the enthusiasm with which my father described them to me4 ,the road took him at right angles to the main road down the valley from ,sunch'ston to the capital1 and this was one reason why he had chosen ,fairmead rather than ,clearwater1 which was the next town lower down on the main road4 ,he did not1 indeed1 anticipate that any one would want to find him1 but whoever might so want would be more likely to go straight down the valley than to turn aside towards ,fairmead4 ,on reaching this place1 he found it pretty full of people1 for ,saturday was market-day4 ,there was a considerable open space in the middle of the town1 with an arcade running round three sides of it1 while the fourth was completely taken up by the venerable ,musical ,bank of the city1 a building which had weathered the storms of more than five centuries4 ,on the outside of the wall1 abutting on the market-place1 were three wooden sedilia1 in which the ,mayor and two coadjutors sate weekly on market- days to give advice1 redress grievances1 and1 if necessary 7which it very seldom was7 to administer correction4 ,my father was much interested in watching the proceedings in a case which he found on inquiry to be not infrequent4 ,a man was complaining to the ,mayor that his daughter1 a lovely child of eight years old1 had none of the faults common to children of her age1 and1 in fact1 seemed absolutely deficient in immoral sense4 ,she never told lies1 had never stolen so much as a lollipop1 never showed any recalcitrancy about saying her prayers1 and by her incessant obedience had filled her poor father and mother with the gravest anxiety as regards her future well-being4 ,he feared it would be necessary to send her to a deformatory4 8,i have generally found10 said the ,mayor1 gravely but kindly1 8that the fault in these distressing cases lies rather with the parent than the children4 ,does the child never break anything by accident80 8,yes10 said the father4 8,and you have duly punished her for it80 8,alas6 sir1 ,i fear ,i only told her she was a naughty girl1 and must not do it again40 8,then how can you expect your child to learn those petty arts of deception without which she must fall an easy prey to any one who wishes to deceive her8 ,how can she detect lying in other people unless she has had some experience of it in her own practice8 ,how1 again1 can she learn when it will be well for her to lie1 and when to refrain from doing so1 unless she has made many a mistake on a small scale while at an age when mistakes do not greatly matter8 ,the ,sunchild 7and here he reverently raised his hat71 as you may read in chapter thirty-one of his ,sayings1 has left us a touching tale of a little boy1 who1 having cut down an apple tree in his father's garden1 lamented his inability to tell a lie4 ,some commentators1 indeed1 have held that the evidence was so strongly against the boy that no lie would have been of any use to him1 and that his perception of this fact was all that he intended to convey2 but the best authorities take his simple words1 #8,i cannot tell a lie1' in their most natural sense1 as being his expression of regret at the way in which his education had been neglected4 ,if that case had come before me1 ,i should have punished the boy's father1 unless he could show that the best authorities are mistaken 7as indeed they too generally are71 and that under more favourable circumstances the boy would have been able to lie1 and would have lied accordingly4 8,there is no occasion for you to send your child to a deformatory4 ,i am always averse to extreme measures when ,i can avoid them4 ,moreover1 in a deformatory she would be almost certain to fall in with characters as intractable as her own4 ,take her home and whip her next time she so much as pulls about the salt4 ,if you will do this whenever you get a chance1 ,i have every hope that you will have no occasion to come to me again40 8,very well1 sir10 said the father1 8,i will do my best1 but the child is so instinctively truthful that ,i am afraid whipping will be of little use40 ,there were other cases1 none of them serious1 which in the old days would have been treated by a straightener4 ,my father had already surmised that the straightener had become extinct as a class1 having been superseded by the ,managers and ,cashiers of the ,musical ,banks1 but this became more apparent as he listened to the cases that next came on4 ,these were dealt with quite reasonably1 except that the magistrate always ordered an emetic and a strong purge in addition to the rest of his sentence1 as holding that all diseases of the moral sense spring from impurities within the body1 which must be cleansed before there could be any hope of spiritual improvement4 ,if any devils were found in what passed from the prisoner's body1 he was to be brought up again2 for in this case the rest of the sentence might very possibly be remitted4 ,when the ,mayor and his coadjutors had done sitting1 my father strolled round the ,musical ,bank and entered it by the main entrance1 which was on the top of a flight of steps that went down on to the principal street of the town4 ,how strange it is that1 no matter how gross a superstition may have polluted it1 a holy place1 if hallowed by long veneration1 remains always holy4 ,look at ,delphi4 ,what a fraud it was1 and yet how hallowed it must ever remain4 ,but letting this pass1 ,musical ,banks1 especially when of great age1 always fascinated my father1 and being now tired with his walk1 he sat down on one of the many rush-bottomed seats1 and 7for there was no service at this hour7 gave free rein to meditation4 ,how peaceful it all was with its droning old-world smell of ancestor1 dry rot1 and stale incense4 ,as the clouds came and went1 the grey-green1 cobweb-chastened1 light ebbed and flowed over the walls and ceiling2 to watch the fitfulness of its streams was a sufficient occupation4 ,a hen laid an egg outside and began to cackle--it was an event of magnitude2 a peasant sharpening his scythe1 a blacksmith hammering at his anvil1 the clack of a wooden shoe upon the pavement1 the boom of a bumble-bee1 the dripping of the fountain1 all these things1 with such concert as they kept1 invited the dewy-feathered sleep that visited him1 and held him for the best part of an hour4 ,my father has said that the ,erewhonians never put up monuments or write epitaphs for their dead1 and this he believed to be still true2 but it was not so always1 and on waking his eye was caught by a monument of great beauty1 which bore a date of about #aeej of our era4 ,it was to an old lady1 who must have been very loveable if the sweet smiling face of her recumbent figure was as faithful to the original as its strongly marked individuality suggested4 ,i need not give the earlier part of her epitaph1 which was conventional enough1 but my father was so struck with the concluding lines1 that he copied them into the note-book which he always carried in his pocket4 ,they ran3- ,i fall asleep in the full and certain hope ,that my slumber shall not be broken2 ,and that though ,i be all-forgetting1 ,yet shall ,i not be all-forgotten1 ,but continue that life in the thoughts and deeds ,of those ,i loved1 ,into which1 while the power to strive was yet vouchsafed me1 ,i fondly strove to enter4 ,my father deplored his inability to do justice to the subtle tenderness of the original1 but the above was the nearest he could get to it4 ,how different this from the opinions concerning a future state which he had tried to set before the ,erewhonians some twenty years earlier4 ,it all came back to him1 as the storks had done1 now that he was again in an ,erewhonian environment1 and he particularly remembered how one youth had inveighed against our ,european notions of heaven and hell with a contemptuous flippancy that nothing but youth and ignorance could even palliate4 8,sir10 he had said to my father1 8your heaven will not attract me unless ,i can take my clothes and my luggage4 ,yes2 and ,i must lose my luggage and find it again4 ,on arriving1 ,i must be told that it has unfortunately been taken to a wrong circle1 and that there may be some difficulty in recovering it--or it shall have been sent up to mansion number five hundred thousand millions nine hundred thousand forty six thousand eight hundred and eleven1 whereas it should have gone to four hundred thousand millions1 c41 c42 and am ,i sure that ,i addressed it rightly8 ,then1 when ,i am just getting cross enough to run some risk of being turned out1 the luggage shall make its appearance1 hat-box1 umbrella1 rug1 golf-sticks1 bicycle1 and everything else all quite correct1 and in my delight ,i shall tip the angel double and realise that ,i am enjoying myself4 8,or ,i must have asked what ,i could have for breakfast1 and be told ,i could have boiled eggs1 or eggs and bacon1 or filleted plaice4 #8,filleted plaice1' ,i shall exclaim1 #8no6 not that4 ,have you any red mullets8' ,and the angel will say1 #8,why no1 sir1 the gulf has been so rough that there has hardly any fish come in this three days1 and there has been such a run on it that we have nothing left but plaice4' 8#8,well1 well1' ,i shall say1 #8have you any kidneys8' 8#8,you can have one kidney1 sir'1 will be the answer4 8#8,one kidney1 indeed1 and you call this heaven6 ,at any rate you will have sausages8' 8,then the angel will say1 #8,we shall have some after ,sunday1 sir1 but we are quite out of them at present4' 8,and ,i shall say1 somewhat sulkily1 #8,then ,i suppose ,i must have eggs and bacon4' 8,but in the morning there will come up a red mullet1 beautifully cooked1 a couple of kidneys and three sausages browned to a turn1 and seasoned with just so much sage and thyme as will savour without overwhelming them2 and ,i shall eat everything4 ,it shall then transpire that the angel knew about the luggage1 and what ,i was to have for breakfast1 all the time1 but wanted to give me the pleasure of finding things turn out better than ,i had expected4 ,heaven would be a dull place without such occasional petty false alarms as these40 ,i have no business to leave my father's story1 but the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn should not be so closely muzzled that he cannot sometimes filch a mouthful for himself2 and when ,i had copied out the foregoing somewhat irreverent paragraphs1 which ,i took down 7with no important addition or alteration7 from my father's lips1 ,i could not refrain from making a few reflections of my own1 which ,i will ask the reader's forbearance if ,i lay before him4 ,let heaven and hell alone1 but think of ,hades1 with ,tantalus1 ,sisyphus1 ,tityus1 and all the rest of them4 ,how futile were the attempts of the old ,greeks and ,romans to lay before us any plausible conception of eternal torture4 ,what were the ,danaids doing but that which each one of us has to do during his or her whole life8 ,what are our bodies if not sieves that we are for ever trying to fill1 but which we must refill continually without hope of being able to keep them full for long together8 ,do we mind this8 ,not so long as we can get the wherewithal to fill them2 and the ,danaids never seem to have run short of water4 ,they would probably ere long take to clearing out any obstruction in their sieves if they found them getting choked4 ,what could it matter to them whether the sieves got full or no8 ,they were not paid for filling them4 ,sisyphus1 again6 ,can any one believe that he would go on rolling that stone year after year and seeing it roll down again unless he liked seeing it8 ,we are not told that there was a dragon which attacked him whenever he tried to shirk4 ,if he had greatly cared about getting his load over the last pinch1 experience would have shown him some way of doing so4 ,the probability is that he got to enjoy the downward rush of his stone1 and very likely amused himself by so timing it as to cause the greatest scare to the greatest number of the shades that were below4 ,what though ,tantalus found the water shun him and the fruits fly from him when he tried to seize them8 ,the writer of the 8,odyssey0 gives us no hint that he was dying of thirst or hunger4 ,the pores of his skin would absorb enough water to prevent the first1 and we may be sure that he got fruit enough1 one way or another1 to keep him going4 ,tityus1 as an effort after the conception of an eternity of torture1 is not successful4 ,what could an eagle matter on the liver of a man whose body covered nine acres8 ,before long he would find it an agreeable stimulant4 ,if1 then1 the greatest minds of antiquity could invent nothing that should carry better conviction of eternal torture1 is it likely that the conviction can be carried at all8 ,methought ,i saw ,jove sitting on the topmost ridges of ,olympus and confessing failure to ,minerva4 8,i see1 my dear10 he said1 8that there is no use in trying to make people very happy or very miserable for long together4 ,pain1 if it does not soon kill1 consists not so much in present suffering as in the still recent memory of a time when there was less1 and in the fear that there will soon be more2 and so happiness lies less in immediate pleasure than in lively recollection of a worse time and lively hope of better40 ,as for the young gentleman above referred to1 my father met him with the assurance that there had been several cases in which living people had been caught up into heaven or carried down into hell1 and been allowed to return to earth and report what they had seen2 while to others visions had been vouchsafed so clearly that thousands of authentic pictures had been painted of both states4 ,all incentive to good conduct1 he had then alleged1 was found to be at once removed from those who doubted the fidelity of these pictures4 ,this at least was what he had then said1 but ,i hardly think he would have said it at the time of which ,i am now writing4 ,as he continued to sit in the ,musical ,bank1 he took from his valise the pamphlet on 8,the ,physics of ,vicarious ,existence10 by ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 which he had bought on the preceding evening1 doubtless being led to choose this particular work by the tenor of the old lady's epitaph4 ,the second title he found to run1 8,being ,strictures on ,certain ,heresies concerning a ,future ,state that have been ,engrafted on the ,sunchild's ,teaching40 ,my father shuddered as he read this title4 8,how long10 he said to himself1 8will it be before they are at one another's throats80 ,on reading the pamphlet1 he found it added little to what the epitaph had already conveyed2 but it interested him1 as showing that1 however cataclysmic a change of national opinions may appear to be1 people will find means of bringing the new into more or less conformity with the old4 ,here it is a mere truism to say that many continue to live a vicarious life long after they have ceased to be aware of living4 ,this view is as old as the non omnis moriar of ,horace1 and we may be sure some thousands of years older4 ,it is only1 therefore1 with much diffidence that ,i have decided to give a rsum of opinions many of which those whom ,i alone wish to please will have laid to heart from their youth upwards4 ,in brief1 ,dr4 ,gurgoyle's contention comes to little more than saying that the quick are more dead1 and the dead more quick1 than we commonly think4 ,to be alive1 according to him1 is only to be unable to understand how dead one is1 and to be dead is only to be invincibly ignorant concerning our own livingness--for the dead would be as living as the living if we could only get them to believe it4 ,,chapter ,,xi3 ,,president ,,gurgoyle',s ,,pamphlet 8,,on ,,the ,,physics ,,of ,,vicarious ,,existence0 ,belief1 like any other moving body1 follows the path of least resistance1 and this path had led ,dr4 ,gurgoyle to the conviction1 real or feigned1 that my father was son to the sun1 probably by the moon1 and that his ascent into the sky with an earthly bride was due to the sun's interference with the laws of nature4 ,nevertheless he was looked upon as more or less of a survival1 and was deemed lukewarm1 if not heretical1 by those who seemed to be the pillars of the new system4 ,my father soon found that not even ,panky could manipulate his teaching more freely than the ,doctor had done4 ,my father had taught that when a man was dead there was an end of him1 until he should rise again in the flesh at the last day1 to enter into eternity either of happiness or misery4 ,he had1 indeed1 often talked of the immortality which some achieve even in this world2 but he had cheapened this1 declaring it to be an unsubstantial mockery1 that could give no such comfort in the hour of death as was unquestionably given by belief in heaven and hell4 ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 however1 had an equal horror1 on the one hand1 of anything involving resumption of life by the body when it was once dead1 and on the other1 of the view that life ended with the change which we call death4 ,he did not1 indeed1 pretend that he could do much to take away the sting from death1 nor would he do this if he could1 for if men did not fear death unduly1 they would often court it unduly4 ,death can only be belauded at the cost of belittling life2 but he held that a reasonable assurance of fair fame after death is a truer consolation to the dying1 a truer comfort to surviving friends1 and a more real incentive to good conduct in this life1 than any of the consolations or incentives falsely fathered upon the ,sunchild4 ,he began by setting aside every saying ascribed1 however truly1 to my father1 if it made against his views1 and by putting his own glosses on all that he could gloze into an appearance of being in his favour4 ,i will pass over his attempt to combat the rapidly spreading belief in a heaven and hell such as we accept1 and will only summarise his contention that1 of our two lives--namely1 the one we live in our own persons1 and that other life which we live in other people both before our reputed death and after it--the second is as essential a factor of our complete life as the first is1 and sometimes more so4 ,life1 he urged1 lies not in bodily organs1 but in the power to use them1 and in the use that is made of them--that is to say1 in the work they do4 ,as the essence of a factory is not in the building wherein the work is done1 nor yet in the implements used in turning it out1 but in the will- power of the master and in the goods he makes2 so the true life of a man is in his will and work1 not in his body4 8,those10 he argued1 8who make the life of a man reside within his body1 are like one who should mistake the carpenter's tool-box for the carpenter40 ,he maintained that this had been my father's teaching1 for which my father heartily trusts that he may be forgiven4 ,he went on to say that our will-power is not wholly limited to the working of its own special system of organs1 but under certain conditions can work and be worked upon by other will-powers like itself3 so that if1 for example1 ,a's will-power has got such hold on ,b's as to be able1 through ,b1 to work ,b's mechanism1 what seems to have been ,b's action will in reality have been more ,a's than ,b's1 and this in the same real sense as though the physical action had been effected through ,a's own mechanical system--,a1 in fact1 will have been living in ,b4 ,the universally admitted maxim that he who does this or that by the hand of an agent does it himself1 shews that the foregoing view is only a roundabout way of stating what common sense treats as a matter of course4 ,hence1 though ,a's individual will-power must be held to cease when the tools it works with are destroyed or out of gear1 yet1 so long as any survivors were so possessed by it while it was still efficient1 or1 again1 become so impressed by its operation on them through work that he has left1 as to act in obedience to his will-power rather than their own1 ,a has a certain amount of bon fide life still remaining4 ,his vicarious life is not affected by the dissolution of his body2 and in many cases the sum total of a man's vicarious action and of its outcome exceeds to an almost infinite extent the sum total of those actions and works that were effected through the mechanism of his own physical organs4 ,in these cases his vicarious life is more truly his life than any that he lived in his own person4 8,true10 continued the ,doctor1 8while living in his own person1 a man knows1 or thinks he knows1 what he is doing1 whereas we have no reason to suppose such knowledge on the part of one whose body is already dust2 but the consciousness of the doer has less to do with the livingness of the deed than people generally admit4 ,we know nothing of the power that sets our heart beating1 nor yet of the beating itself so long as it is normal4 ,we know nothing of our breathing or of our digestion1 of the all-important work we achieved as embryos1 nor of our growth from infancy to manhood4 ,no one will say that these were not actions of a living agent1 but the more normal1 the healthier1 and thus the more truly living1 the agent is1 the less he will know or have known of his own action4 ,the part of our bodily life that enters into our consciousness is very small as compared with that of which we have no consciousness4 ,what completer proof can we have that livingness consists in deed rather than in consciousness of deed8 8,the foregoing remarks are not intended to apply so much to vicarious action in virtue1 we will say1 of a settlement1 or testamentary disposition that cannot be set aside4 ,such action is apt to be too unintelligent1 too far from variation and quick change to rank as true vicarious action2 indeed it is not rarely found to effect the very opposite of what the person who made the settlement or will desired4 ,they are meant to apply to that more intelligent and versatile action engendered by affectionate remembrance4 ,nevertheless1 even the compulsory vicarious action taken in consequence of a will1 and indeed the very name 8will0 itself1 shews that though we cannot take either flesh or money with us1 we can leave our will-power behind us in very efficient operation4 8,this vicarious life 7on which ,i have insisted1 ,i fear at unnecessary length1 for it is so obvious that none can have failed to realise it7 is lived by every one of us before death as well as after it1 and is little less important to us than that of which we are to some extent conscious in our own persons4 ,a man1 we will say1 has written a book which delights or displeases thousands of whom he knows nothing1 and who know nothing of him4 ,the book1 we will suppose1 has considerable1 or at any rate some influence on the action of these people4 ,let us suppose the writer fast asleep while others are enjoying his work1 and acting in consequence of it1 perhaps at long distances from him4 ,which is his truest life--the one he is leading in them1 or that equally unconscious life residing in his own sleeping body8 ,can there be a doubt that the vicarious life is the more efficient8 8,or when we are waking1 how powerfully does not the life we are living in others pain or delight us1 according as others think ill or well of us8 ,how truly do we not recognise it as part of our own existence1 and how great an influence does not the fear of a present hell in men's bad thoughts1 and the hope of a present heaven in their good ones1 influence our own conduct8 ,have we not here a true heaven and a true hell1 as compared with the efficiency of which these gross material ones so falsely engrafted on to the ,sunchild's teaching are but as the flint implements of a prehistoric race8 #8,if a man1' said the ,sunchild1 #8fear not man1 whom he hath seen1 neither will he fear ,god1 whom he hath not seen4'0 ,my father again assures me that he never said this4 ,returning to ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 he continued3--8,it may be urged that on a man's death one of the great factors of his life is so annihilated that no kind of true life can be any further conceded to him4 ,for to live is to be influenced1 as well as to influence2 and when a man is dead how can he be influenced8 ,he can haunt1 but he cannot any more be haunted4 ,he can come to us1 but we cannot go to him4 ,on ceasing1 therefore1 to be impressionable1 so great a part of that wherein his life consisted is removed1 that no true life can be conceded to him4 8,i do not pretend that a man is as fully alive after his so-called death as before it4 ,he is not4 ,all ,i contend for is1 that a considerable amount of efficient life still remains to some of us1 and that a little life remains to all of us1 after what we commonly regard as the complete cessation of life4 ,in answer1 then1 to those who have just urged that the destruction of one of the two great factors of life destroys life altogether1 ,i reply that the same must hold good as regards death4 8,if to live is to be influenced and to influence1 and if a man cannot be held as living when he can no longer be influenced1 surely to die is to be no longer able either to influence or be influenced1 and a man cannot be held dead until both these two factors of death are present4 ,if failure of the power to be influenced vitiates life1 presence of the power to influence vitiates death4 ,and no one will deny that a man can influence for many a long year after he is vulgarly reputed as dead4 8,it seems1 then1 that there is no such thing as either absolute life without any alloy of death1 nor absolute death without any alloy of life1 until1 that is to say1 all posthumous power to influence has faded away4 ,and this1 perhaps1 is what the ,sunchild meant by saying that in the midst of life we are in death1 and so also that in the midst of death we are in life4 8,and there is this1 too4 ,no man can influence fully until he can no more be influenced--that is to say1 till after his so-called death4 ,till then1 his #8he' is still unsettled4 ,we know not what other influences may not be brought to bear upon him that may change the character of the influence he will exert on ourselves4 ,therefore1 he is not fully living till he is no longer living4 ,he is an incomplete work1 which cannot have full effect till finished4 ,and as for his vicarious life--which we have seen to be very real--this can be1 and is1 influenced by just appreciation1 undue praise or calumny1 and is subject1 it may be1 to secular vicissitudes of good and evil fortune4 8,if this is not true1 let us have no more talk about the immortality of great men and women4 ,the ,sunchild was never weary of talking to us 7as we then sometimes thought1 a little tediously7 about a great poet of that nation to which it pleased him to feign that he belonged4 ,how plainly can we not now see that his words were spoken for our learning--for the enforcement of that true view of heaven and hell on which ,i am feebly trying to insist8 ,the poet's name1 he said1 was ,shakespeare4 ,whilst he was alive1 very few people understood his greatness2 whereas now1 after some three hundred years1 he is deemed the greatest poet that the world has ever known4 #8,can this man1' he asked1 #8be said to have been truly born till many a long year after he had been reputed as truly dead8 ,while he was in the flesh1 was he more than a mere embryo growing towards birth into that life of the world to come in which he now shines so gloriously8 ,what a small thing was that flesh and blood life1 of which he was alone conscious1 as compared with that fleshless life which he lives but knows not in the lives of millions1 and which1 had it ever been fully revealed even to his imagination1 we may be sure that he could not have reached8' 8,these were the ,sunchild's words1 as repeated to me by one of his chosen friends while he was yet amongst us4 ,which1 then1 of this man's two lives should we deem best worth having1 if we could choose one or other1 but not both8 ,the felt or the unfelt8 ,who would not go cheerfully to block or stake if he knew that by doing so he could win such life as this poet lives1 though he also knew that on having won it he could know no more about it8 ,does not this prove that in our heart of hearts we deem an unfelt life1 in the heaven of men's loving thoughts1 to be better worth having than any we can reasonably hope for and still feel8 8,and the converse of this is true2 many a man has unhesitatingly laid down his felt life to escape unfelt infamy in the hell of men's hatred and contempt4 ,as body is the sacrament1 or outward and visible sign1 of mind2 so is posterity the sacrament of those who live after death4 ,each is the mechanism through which the other becomes effective4 8,i grant that many live but a short time when the breath is out of them4 ,few seeds germinate as compared with those that rot or are eaten1 and most of this world's denizens are little more than still-born as regards the larger life1 while none are immortal to the end of time4 ,but the end of time is not worth considering2 not a few live as many centuries as either they or we need think about1 and surely the world1 so far as we can guess its object1 was made rather to be enjoyed than to last4 #8,come and go' pervades all things of which we have knowledge1 and if there was any provision made1 it seems to have been for a short life and a merry one1 with enough chance of extension beyond the grave to be worth trying for1 rather than for the perpetuity even of the best and noblest4 8,granted1 again1 that few live after death as long or as fully as they had hoped to do1 while many1 when quick1 can have had none but the faintest idea of the immortality that awaited them2 it is nevertheless true that none are so still-born on death as not to enter into a life of some sort1 however short and humble4 ,a short life or a long one can no more be bargained for in the unseen world than in the seen2 as1 however1 care on the part of parents can do much for the longer life and greater well-being of their offspring in this world1 so the conduct of that offspring in this world does much both to secure for itself longer tenure of life in the next1 and to determine whether that life shall be one of reward or punishment4 8#8,reward or punishment1' some reader will perhaps exclaim2 #8what mockery1 when the essence of reward and punishment lies in their being felt by those who have earned them4' ,i can do nothing with those who either cry for the moon1 or deny that it has two sides1 on the ground that we can see but one4 ,here comes in faith1 of which the ,sunchild said1 that though we can do little with it1 we can do nothing without it4 ,faith does not consist1 as some have falsely urged1 in believing things on insufficient evidence2 this is not faith1 but faithlessness to all that we should hold most faithfully4 ,faith consists in holding that the instincts of the best men and women are in themselves an evidence which may not be set aside lightly2 and the best men and women have ever held that death is better than dishonour1 and desirable if honour is to be won thereby4 8,it follows1 then1 that though our conscious flesh and blood life is the only one that we can fully apprehend1 yet we do also indeed move1 even here1 in an unseen world1 wherein1 when our palpable life is ended1 we shall continue to live for a shorter or longer time--reaping roughly1 though not infallibly1 much as we have sown4 ,of this unseen world the best men and women will be almost as heedless while in the flesh as they will be when their life in flesh is over2 for1 as the ,sunchild often said1 #8,the ,kingdom of ,heaven cometh not by observation4' ,it will be all in all to them1 and at the same time nothing1 for the better people they are1 the less they will think of anything but this present life4 8,what an ineffable contradiction in terms have we not here4 ,what a reversal1 is it not1 of all this world's canons1 that we should hold even the best of all that we can know or feel in this life to be a poor thing as compared with hopes the fulfilment of which we can never either feel or know4 ,yet we all hold this1 however little we may admit it to ourselves4 ,for the world at heart despises its own canons40 ,i cannot quote further from ,dr4 ,gurgoyle's pamphlet2 suffice it that he presently dealt with those who say that it is not right of any man to aim at thrusting himself in among the living when he has had his day4 8,let him die10 say they1 8and let die as his fathers before him40 ,he argued that as we had a right to pester people till we got ourselves born1 so also we have a right to pester them for extension of life beyond the grave4 ,life1 whether before the grave or afterwards1 is like love--all reason is against it1 and all healthy instinct for it4 ,instinct on such matters is the older and safer guide2 no one1 therefore1 should seek to efface himself as regards the next world more than as regards this4 ,if he is to be effaced1 let others efface him2 do not let him commit suicide4 ,freely we have received2 freely1 therefore1 let us take as much more as we can get1 and let it be a stand-up fight between ourselves and posterity to see whether it can get rid of us or no4 ,if it can1 let it2 if it cannot1 it must put up with us4 ,it can better care for itself than we can for ourselves when the breath is out of us4 ,not the least important duty1 he continued1 of posterity towards itself lies in passing righteous judgement on the forbears who stand up before it4 ,they should be allowed the benefit of a doubt1 and peccadilloes should be ignored2 but when no doubt exists that a man was engrainedly mean and cowardly1 his reputation must remain in the ,purgatory of ,time for a term varying from1 say1 a hundred to two thousand years4 ,after a hundred years it may generally come down1 though it will still be under a cloud4 ,after two thousand years it may be mentioned in any society without holding up of hands in horror4 ,our sense of moral guilt varies inversely as the squares of its distance in time and space from ourselves4 ,not so with heroism2 this loses no lustre through time and distance4 ,good is gold2 it is rare1 but it will not tarnish4 ,evil is like dirty water--plentiful and foul1 but it will run itself clear of taint4 ,the ,doctor having thus expatiated on his own opinions concerning heaven and hell1 concluded by tilting at those which all right-minded people hold among ourselves4 ,i shall adhere to my determination not to reproduce his arguments2 suffice it that though less flippant than those of the young student whom ,i have already referred to1 they were more plausible2 and though ,i could easily demolish them1 the reader will probably prefer that ,i should not set them up for the mere pleasure of knocking them down4 ,here1 then1 ,i take my leave of good ,dr4 ,gurgoyle and his pamphlet2 neither can ,i interrupt my story further by saying anything about the other two pamphlets purchased by my father4 ,,chapter ,,xii3 ,,george ,,fails ,,to ,,find ,,my ,,father1 ,,whereon ,,yram ,,cautions ,,the ,,professors ,on the morning after the interview with her son described in a foregoing chapter1 ,yram told her husband what she had gathered from the ,professors1 and said that she was expecting ,higgs every moment1 inasmuch as she was confident that ,george would soon find him4 8,do what you like1 my dear10 said the ,mayor4 8,i shall keep out of the way1 for you will manage him better without me4 ,you know what ,i think of you40 ,he then went unconcernedly to his breakfast1 at which the ,professors found him somewhat taciturn4 ,indeed they set him down as one of the dullest and most uninteresting people they had ever met4 ,when ,george returned and told his mother that though he had at last found the inn at which my father had slept1 my father had left and could not be traced1 she was disconcerted1 but after a few minutes she said-- 8,he will come back here for the dedication1 but there will be such crowds that we may not see him till he is inside the temple1 and it will save trouble if we can lay hold on him sooner4 ,therefore1 ride either to ,clearwater or ,fairmead1 and see if you can find him4 ,try ,fairmead first2 it is more out of the way4 ,if you cannot hear of him there1 come back1 get another horse1 and try ,clearwater4 ,if you fail here too1 we must give him up1 and look out for him in the temple to-morrow morning40 8,are you going to say anything to the ,professors80 8,not if you can bring ,higgs here before night-fall4 ,if you cannot do this ,i must talk it over with my husband2 ,i shall have some hours in which to make up my mind4 ,now go--the sooner the better40 ,it was nearly eleven1 and in a few minutes ,george was on his way4 ,by noon he was at ,fairmead1 where he tried all the inns in vain for news of a person answering the description of my father--for not knowing what name my father might choose to give1 he could trust only to description4 ,he concluded that since my father could not be heard of in ,fairmead by one o'clock 7as it nearly was by the time he had been round all the inns7 he must have gone somewhere else2 he therefore rode back to ,sunch'ston1 made a hasty lunch1 got a fresh horse1 and rode to ,clearwater1 where he met with no better success4 ,at all the inns both at ,fairmead and ,clearwater he left word that if the person he had described came later in the day1 he was to be told that the ,mayoress particularly begged him to return at once to ,sunch'ston1 and come to the ,mayor's house4 ,now all the time that ,george was at ,fairmead my father was inside the ,musical ,bank1 which he had entered before going to any inn4 ,here he had been sitting for nearly a couple of hours1 resting1 dreaming1 and reading ,bishop ,gurgoyle's pamphlet4 ,if he had left the ,bank five minutes earlier1 he would probably have been seen by ,george in the main street of ,fairmead--as he found out on reaching the inn which he selected and ordering dinner4 ,he had hardly got inside the house before the waiter told him that young ,mr4 ,strong1 the ,ranger from ,sunch'ston1 had been enquiring for him and had left a message for him1 which was duly delivered4 ,my father1 though in reality somewhat disquieted1 showed no uneasiness1 and said how sorry he was to have missed seeing ,mr4 ,strong4 8,but10 he added1 8it does not much matter2 ,i need not go back this afternoon1 for ,i shall be at ,sunch'ston to-morrow morning and will go straight to the ,mayor's40 ,he had no suspicion that he was discovered1 but he was a good deal puzzled4 ,presently he inclined to the opinion that ,george1 still believing him to be ,professor ,panky1 had wanted to invite him to the banquet on the following day--for he had no idea that ,hanky and ,panky were staying with the ,mayor and ,mayoress4 ,or perhaps the ,mayor and his wife did not like so distinguished a man's having been unable to find a lodging in ,sunch'ston1 and wanted him to stay with them4 ,ill satisfied as he was with any theory he could form1 he nevertheless reflected that he could not do better than stay where he was for the night1 inasmuch as no one would be likely to look for him a second time at ,fairmead4 ,he therefore ordered his room at once4 ,it was nearly seven before ,george got back to ,sunch'ston4 ,in the meantime ,yram and the ,mayor had considered the question whether anything was to be said to the ,professors or no4 ,they were confident that my father would not commit himself--why1 indeed1 should he have dyed his hair and otherwise disguised himself1 if he had not intended to remain undiscovered8 ,oh no2 the probability was that if nothing was said to the ,professors now1 nothing need ever be said1 for my father might be escorted back to the statues by ,george on the ,sunday evening and be told that he was not to return4 ,moreover1 even though something untoward were to happen after all1 the ,professors would have no reason for thinking that their hostess had known of the ,sunchild's being in ,sunch'ston4 ,on the other hand1 they were her guests1 and it would not be handsome to keep ,hanky1 at any rate1 in the dark1 when the knowledge that the ,sunchild was listening to every word he said might make him modify his sermon not a little4 ,it might or it might not1 but that was a matter for him1 not her4 ,the only question for her was whether or no it would be sharp practice to know what she knew and say nothing about it4 ,her husband hated finesse as much as she did1 and they settled it that though the question was a nice one1 the more proper thing to do would be to tell the ,professors what it might so possibly concern one or both of them to know4 ,on ,george's return without news of my father1 they found he thought just as they did2 so it was arranged that they should let the ,professors dine in peace1 but tell them about the ,sunchild's being again in ,erewhon as soon as dinner was over4 8,happily10 said ,george1 8they will do no harm4 ,they will wish ,higgs's presence to remain unknown as much as we do1 and they will be glad that he should be got out of the country immediately40 8,not so1 my dear10 said ,yram4 8#8,out of the country' will not do for those people4 ,nothing short of #8out of the world' will satisfy them40 8,that10 said ,george promptly1 8must not be40 8,certainly not1 my dear1 but that is what they will want4 ,i do not like having to tell them1 but ,i am afraid we must40 8,never mind10 said the ,mayor1 laughing4 8,tell them1 and let us see what happens40 ,they then dressed for dinner1 where ,hanky and ,panky were the only guests4 ,when dinner was over ,yram sent away her other children1 ,george alone remaining4 ,he sat opposite the ,professors1 while the ,mayor and ,yram were at the two ends of the table4 8,i am afraid1 dear ,professor ,hanky10 said ,yram1 8that ,i was not quite open with you last night1 but ,i wanted time to think things over1 and ,i know you will forgive me when you remember what a number of guests ,i had to attend to40 ,she then referred to what ,hanky had told her about the supposed ranger1 and shewed him how obvious it was that this man was a foreigner1 who had been for some time in ,erewhon more than seventeen years ago1 but had had no communication with it since then4 ,having pointed sufficiently1 as she thought1 to the ,sunchild1 she said1 8,you see who ,i believe this man to have been4 ,have ,i said enough1 or shall ,i say more80 8,i understand you10 said ,hanky1 8and ,i agree with you that the ,sunchild will be in the temple to-morrow4 ,it is a serious business1 but ,i shall not alter my sermon4 ,he must listen to what ,i may choose to say1 and ,i wish ,i could tell him what a fool he was for coming here4 ,if he behaves himself1 well and good3 your son will arrest him quietly after service1 and by night he will be in the ,blue ,pool4 ,your son is bound to throw him there as a foreign devil1 without the formality of a trial4 ,it would be a most painful duty to me1 but unless ,i am satisfied that that man has been thrown into the ,blue ,pool1 ,i shall have no option but to report the matter at headquarters4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the poor wretch makes a disturbance1 ,i can set the crowd on to tear him in pieces40 ,george was furious1 but he remained quite calm1 and left everything to his mother4 8,i have nothing to do with the ,blue ,pool10 said ,yram drily4 8,my son1 ,i doubt not1 will know how to do his duty2 but if you let the people kill this man1 his body will remain1 and an inquest must be held1 for the matter will have been too notorious to be hushed up4 ,all ,higgs's measurements and all marks on his body were recorded1 and these alone would identify him4 ,my father1 too1 who is still master of the gaol1 and many another1 could swear to him4 ,should the body prove1 as no doubt it would1 to be that of the ,sunchild1 what is to become of ,sunchildism80 ,hanky smiled4 8,it would not be proved4 ,the measurements of a man of twenty or thereabouts would not correspond with this man's4 ,all we ,professors should attend the inquest1 and half ,bridgeford is now in ,sunch'ston4 ,no matter though nine-tenths of the marks and measurements corresponded1 so long as there is a tenth that does not do so1 we should not be flesh and blood if we did not ignore the nine points and insist only on the tenth4 ,after twenty years we shall find enough to serve our turn4 ,think of what all the learning of the country is committed to2 think of the change in all our ideas and institutions2 think of the ,king and of ,court influence4 ,i need not enlarge4 ,we shall not permit the body to be the ,sunchild's4 ,no matter what evidence you may produce1 we shall sneer it down1 and say we must have more before you can expect us to take you seriously2 if you bring more1 we shall pay no attention2 and the more you bring the more we shall laugh at you4 ,no doubt those among us who are by way of being candid will admit that your arguments ought to be considered1 but you must not expect that it will be any part of their duty to consider them4 8,and even though we admitted that the body had been proved up to the hilt to be the ,sunchild's1 do you think that such a trifle as that could affect ,sunchildism8 ,hardly4 ,sunch'ston is no match for ,bridgeford and the ,king2 our only difficulty would lie in settling which was the most plausible way of the many plausible ways in which the death could be explained4 ,we should hatch up twenty theories in less than twenty hours1 and the last state of ,sunchildism would be stronger than the first4 ,for the people want it1 and so long as they want it they will have it4 ,at the same time the supposed identification of the body1 even by some few ignorant people here1 might lead to a local heresy that is as well avoided1 and it will be better that your son should arrest the man before the dedication1 if he can be found1 and throw him into the ,blue ,pool without any one but ourselves knowing that he has been here at all40 ,i need not dwell on the deep disgust with which this speech was listened to1 but the ,mayor1 and ,yram1 and ,george said not a word4 8,but1 ,mayoress10 said ,panky1 who had not opened his lips so far1 8are you sure that you are not too hasty in believing this stranger to be the ,sunchild8 ,people are continually thinking that such and such another is the ,sunchild come down again from the sun's palace and going to and fro among us4 ,how many such stories1 sometimes very plausibly told1 have we not had during the last twenty years8 ,they never take root1 and die out of themselves as suddenly as they spring up4 ,that the man is a poacher can hardly be doubted2 ,i thought so the moment ,i saw him2 but ,i think ,i can also prove to you that he is not a foreigner1 and1 therefore1 that he is not the ,sunchild4 ,he quoted the ,sunchild's prayer with a corruption that can have only reached him from an ,erewhonian source--0 ,here ,hanky interrupted him somewhat brusquely4 8,the man1 ,panky10 said he1 8was the ,sunchild2 and he was not a poacher1 for he had no idea that he was breaking the law2 nevertheless1 as you say1 ,sunchildism on the brain has been a common form of mania for several years4 ,several persons have even believed themselves to be the ,sunchild4 ,we must not forget this1 if it should get about that ,higgs has been here40 ,then1 turning to ,yram1 he said sternly1 8,but come what may1 your son must take him to the ,blue ,pool at nightfall40 8,sir10 said ,george1 with perfect suavity1 8you have spoken as though you doubted my readiness to do my duty4 ,let me assure you very solemnly that when the time comes for me to act1 ,i shall act as duty may direct40 8,i will answer for him10 said ,yram1 with even more than her usual quick1 frank smile1 8that he will fulfil his instructions to the letter1 unless10 she added1 8some black and white horses come down from heaven and snatch poor ,higgs out of his grasp4 ,such things have happened before now40 8,i should advise your son to shoot them if they do10 said ,hanky drily and sub-defiantly4 ,here the conversation closed2 but it was useless trying to talk of anything else1 so the ,professors asked ,yram to excuse them if they retired early1 in view of the fact that they had a fatiguing day before them4 ,this excuse their hostess readily accepted4 8,do not let us talk any more now10 said ,yram as soon as they had left the room4 8,it will be quite time enough when the dedication is over4 ,but ,i rather think the black and white horses will come40 8,i think so too1 my dear10 said the ,mayor laughing4 8,they shall come10 said ,george gravely2 8but we have not yet got enough to make sure of bringing them4 ,higgs will perhaps be able to help me to- morrow40 99 99 99 99 99 8,now what10 said ,panky as they went upstairs1 8does that woman mean--for she means something8 ,black and white horses indeed60 8,i do not know what she means to do10 said the other1 8but ,i know that she thinks she can best us40 8,i wish we had not eaten those quails40 8,nonsense1 ,panky2 no one saw us but ,higgs1 and the evidence of a foreign devil1 in such straits as his1 could not stand for a moment4 ,we did not eat them4 ,no1 no2 she has something that she thinks better than that4 ,besides1 it is absolutely impossible that she should have heard what happened4 ,what ,i do not understand is1 why she should have told us about the ,sunchild's being here at all4 ,why not have left us to find it out or to know nothing about it8 ,i do not understand it40 ,so true is it1 as ,euclid long since observed1 that the less cannot comprehend that which is the greater4 ,true1 however1 as this is1 it is also sometimes true that the greater cannot comprehend the less4 ,hanky went musing to his own room and threw himself into an easy chair to think the position over4 ,after a few minutes he went to a table on which he saw pen1 ink1 and paper1 and wrote a short letter2 then he rang the bell4 ,when the servant came he said1 8,i want to send this note to the manager of the new temple1 and it is important that he should have it to-night4 ,be pleased1 therefore1 to take it to him and deliver it into his own hands2 but ,i had rather you said nothing about it to the ,mayor or ,mayoress1 nor to any of your fellow-servants4 ,slip out unperceived if you can4 ,when you have delivered the note1 ask for an answer at once1 and bring it to me40 ,so saying1 he slipped a sum equal to about five shillings into the man's hand4 ,the servant returned in about twenty minutes1 for the temple was quite near1 and gave a note to ,hanky1 which ran1 8,your wishes shall be attended to without fail40 8,good60 said ,hanky to the man4 8,no one in the house knows of your having run this errand for me80 8,no one1 sir40 8,thank you6 ,i wish you a very good night40 ,,chapter ,,xiii3 ,a ,,visit ,,to ,,the ,,provincial ,,deformatory ,,at ,,fairmead ,having finished his early dinner1 and not fearing that he should be either recognised at ,fairmead or again enquired after from ,sunch'ston1 my father went out for a stroll round the town1 to see what else he could find that should be new and strange to him4 ,he had not gone far before he saw a large building with an inscription saying that it was the ,provincial ,deformatory for ,boys4 ,underneath the larger inscription there was a smaller one--one of those corrupt versions of my father's sayings1 which1 on dipping into the ,sayings of the ,sunchild1 he had found to be so vexatiously common4 ,the inscription ran3- 8,when the righteous man turneth away from the righteousness that he hath committed1 and doeth that which is a little naughty and wrong1 he will generally be found to have gained in amiability what he has lost in righteousness40 ,sunchild ,sayings1 chap4 xxii4 v4 #ae4 ,the case of the little girl that he had watched earlier in the day had filled him with a great desire to see the working of one of these curious institutions2 he therefore resolved to call on the headmaster 7whose name he found to be ,turvey71 and enquire about terms1 alleging that he had a boy whose incorrigible rectitude was giving him much anxiety4 ,the information he had gained in the forenoon would be enough to save him from appearing to know nothing of the system4 ,on having rung the bell1 he announced himself to the servant as a ,mr4 ,senoj1 and asked if he could see the ,principal4 ,almost immediately he was ushered into the presence of a beaming1 dapper- looking1 little old gentleman1 quick of speech and movement1 in spite of some little portliness4 8,ts1 ts1 ts10 he said1 when my father had enquired about terms and asked whether he might see the system at work4 8,how unfortunate that you should have called on a ,saturday afternoon4 ,we always have a half-holiday4 ,but stay--yes--that will do very nicely2 ,i will send for them into school as a means of stimulating their refractory system40 ,he called his servant and told him to ring the boys into school4 ,then1 turning to my father he said1 8,stand here1 sir1 by the window2 you will see them all come trooping in4 ,h'm1 h'm1 ,i am sorry to see them still come back as soon as they hear the bell4 ,i suppose ,i shall ding some recalcitrancy into them some day1 but it is uphill work4 ,do you see the head-boy--the third of those that are coming up the path8 ,i shall have to get rid of him4 ,do you see him8 he is going back to whip up the laggers--and now he has boxed a boy's ears3 that boy is one of the most hopeful under my care4 ,i feel sure he has been using improper language1 and my head-boy has checked him instead of encouraging him40 ,and so on till the boys were all in school4 8,you see1 my dear sir10 he said to my father1 8we are in an impossible position4 ,we have to obey instructions from the ,grand ,council of ,education at ,bridgeford1 and they have established these institutions in consequence of the ,sunchild's having said that we should aim at promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number4 ,this1 no doubt1 is a sound principle1 and the greatest number are by nature somewhat dull1 conceited1 and unscrupulous4 ,they do not like those who are quick1 unassuming1 and sincere2 how1 then1 consistently with the first principles either of morality or political economy as revealed to us by the ,sunchild1 can we encourage such people if we can bring sincerity and modesty fairly home to them8 ,we cannot do so4 ,and we must correct the young as far as possible from forming habits which1 unless indulged in with the greatest moderation1 are sure to ruin them4 8,i cannot pretend to consider myself very successful4 ,i do my best1 but ,i can only aim at making my school a reflection of the outside world4 ,in the outside world we have to tolerate much that is prejudicial to the greatest happiness of the greatest number1 partly because we cannot always discover in time who may be let alone as being genuinely insincere1 and who are in reality masking sincerity under a garb of flippancy1 and partly also because we wish to err on the side of letting the guilty escape1 rather than of punishing the innocent4 ,thus many people who are perfectly well known to belong to the straightforward classes are allowed to remain at large1 and may be even seen hobnobbing with the guardians of public immorality4 ,indeed it is not in the public interest that straightforwardness should be extirpated root and branch1 for the presence of a small modicum of sincerity acts as a wholesome irritant to the academicism of the greatest number1 stimulating it to consciousness of its own happy state1 and giving it something to look down upon4 ,moreover1 we hold it useful to have a certain number of melancholy examples1 whose notorious failure shall serve as a warning to those who neglect cultivating that power of immoral self-control which shall prevent them from saying1 or even thinking1 anything that shall not immediately and palpably minister to the happiness1 and hence meet the approval1 of the greatest number40 ,by this time the boys were all in school4 8,there is not one prig in the whole lot10 said the headmaster sadly4 8,i wish there was1 but only those boys come here who are notoriously too good to become current coin in the world unless they are hardened with an alloy of vice4 ,i should have liked to show you our gambling1 book-making1 and speculation class1 but the assistant-master who attends to this branch of our curriculum is gone to ,sunch'ston this afternoon4 ,he has friends who have asked him to see the dedication of the new temple1 and he will not be back till ,monday4 ,i really do not know what ,i can do better for you than examine the boys in ,counsels of ,imperfection40 ,so saying1 he went into the schoolroom1 over the fireplace of which my father's eye caught an inscription1 8,resist good1 and it will fly from you4 ,sunchild's ,sayings1 xvii4 #b40 ,then1 taking down a copy of the work just named from a shelf above his desk1 he ran his eye over a few of its pages4 ,he called up a class of about twenty boys4 8,now1 my boys10 he said1 8,why is it so necessary to avoid extremes of truthfulness80 8,it is not necessary1 sir10 said one youngster1 8and the man who says that it is so is a scoundrel40 8,come here1 my boy1 and hold out your hand40 ,when he had done so1 ,mr4 ,turvey gave him two sharp cuts with a cane4 8,there now1 go down to the bottom of the class and try not to be so extremely truthful in future40 ,then1 turning to my father1 he said1 8,i hate caning them1 but it is the only way to teach them4 ,i really do believe that boy will know better than to say what he thinks another time40 ,he repeated his question to the class1 and the head-boy answered1 8,because1 sir1 extremes meet1 and extreme truth will be mixed with extreme falsehood40 8,quite right1 my boy4 ,truth is like religion2 it has only two enemies--the too much and the too little4 ,your answer is more satisfactory than some of your recent conduct had led me to expect40 8,but1 sir1 you punished me only three weeks ago for telling you a lie40 8,oh yes2 why1 so ,i did2 ,i had forgotten4 ,but then you overdid it4 ,still it was a step in the right direction40 8,and now1 my boy10 he said to a very frank and ingenuous youth about half way up the class1 8and how is truth best reached80 8,through the falling out of thieves1 sir40 8,quite so4 ,then it will be necessary that the more earnest1 careful1 patient1 self-sacrificing1 enquirers after truth should have a good deal of the thief about them1 though they are very honest people at the same time4 ,now what does the man0 7who on enquiry my father found to be none other than ,mr4 ,turvey himself7 8say about honesty80 8,he says1 sir1 that honesty does not consist in never stealing1 but in knowing how and where it will be safe to do so40 8,remember10 said ,mr4 ,turvey to my father1 8how necessary it is that we should have a plentiful supply of thieves1 if honest men are ever to come by their own40 ,he spoke with the utmost gravity1 evidently quite easy in his mind that his scheme was the only one by which truth could be successfully attained4 8,but pray let me have any criticism you may feel inclined to make40 8,i have none10 said my father4 8,your system commends itself to common sense2 it is the one adopted in the law courts1 and it lies at the very foundation of party government4 ,if your academic bodies can supply the country with a sufficient number of thieves--which ,i have no doubt they can--there seems no limit to the amount of truth that may be attained4 ,if1 however1 ,i may suggest the only difficulty that occurs to me1 it is that academic thieves shew no great alacrity in falling out1 but incline rather to back each other up through thick and thin40 8,ah1 yes10 said ,mr4 ,turvey1 8there is that difficulty2 nevertheless circumstances from time to time arise to get them by the ears in spite of themselves4 ,but from whatever point of view you may look at the question1 it is obviously better to aim at imperfection than perfection2 for if we aim steadily at imperfection1 we shall probably get it within a reasonable time1 whereas to the end of our days we should never reach perfection4 ,moreover1 from a worldly point of view1 there is no mistake so great as that of being always right40 ,he then turned to his class and said-- 8,and now tell me what did the ,sunchild tell us about ,god and ,mammon80 ,the head-boy answered3 8,he said that we must serve both1 for no man can serve ,god well and truly who does not serve ,mammon a little also2 and no man can serve ,mammon effectually unless he serve ,god largely at the same time40 8,what were his words80 8,he said1 #8,cursed be they that say1 8,thou shalt not serve ,god and ,mammon1 for it is the whole duty of man to know how to adjust the conflicting claims of these two deities40'0 ,here my father interposed4 8,i knew the ,sunchild2 and ,i more than once heard him speak of ,god and ,mammon4 ,he never varied the form of the words he used1 which were to the effect that a man must serve either ,god or ,mammon1 but that he could not serve both40 8,ah60 said ,mr4 ,turvey1 8that no doubt was his exoteric teaching1 but ,professors ,hanky and ,panky have assured me most solemnly that his esoteric teaching was as ,i have given it4 ,by the way1 these gentlemen are both1 ,i understand1 at ,sunch'ston1 and ,i think it quite likely that ,i shall have a visit from them this afternoon4 ,if you do not know them ,i should have great pleasure in introducing you to them2 ,i was at ,bridgeford with both of them40 8,i have had the pleasure of meeting them already10 said my father1 8and as you are by no means certain that they will come1 ,i will ask you to let me thank you for all that you have been good enough to shew me1 and bid you good-afternoon4 ,i have a rather pressing engagement--0 8,my dear sir1 you must please give me five minutes more4 ,i shall examine the boys in the ,musical ,bank ,catechism40 ,he pointed to one of them and said1 8,repeat your duty towards your neighbour40 8,my duty towards my neighbour10 said the boy1 8is to be quite sure that he is not likely to borrow money of me before ,i let him speak to me at all1 and then to have as little to do with him as--0 ,at this point there was a loud ring at the door bell4 8,hanky and ,panky come to see me1 no doubt10 said ,mr4 ,turvey4 8,i do hope it is so4 ,you must stay and see them40 8,my dear sir10 said my father1 putting his handkerchief up to his face1 8,i am taken suddenly unwell and must positively leave you40 ,he said this in so peremptory a tone that ,mr4 ,turvey had to yield4 ,my father held his handkerchief to his face as he went through the passage and hall1 but when the servant opened the door he took it down1 for there was no ,hanky or ,panky--no one1 in fact1 but a poor1 wizened old man who had come1 as he did every other ,saturday afternoon1 to wind up the ,deformatory clocks4 ,nevertheless1 he had been scared1 and was in a very wicked-fleeth-when-no- man-pursueth frame of mind4 ,he went to his inn1 and shut himself up in his room for some time1 taking notes of all that had happened to him in the last three days4 ,but even at his inn he no longer felt safe4 ,how did he know but that ,hanky and ,panky might have driven over from ,sunch'ston to see ,mr4 ,turvey1 and might put up at this very house8 or they might even be going to spend the night here4 ,he did not venture out of his room till after seven by which time he had made rough notes of as much of the foregoing chapters as had come to his knowledge so far4 ,much of what ,i have told as nearly as ,i could in the order in which it happened1 he did not learn till later4 ,after giving the merest outline of his interview with ,mr4 ,turvey1 he wrote a note as follows3--8,i suppose ,i must have held forth about the greatest happiness of the greatest number1 but ,i had quite forgotten it1 though ,i remember repeatedly quoting my favourite proverb1 #8,every man for himself1 and the devil take the hindmost4' ,to this they have paid no attention40 ,by seven his panic about ,hanky and ,panky ended1 for if they had not come by this time1 they were not likely to do so4 ,not knowing that they were staying at the ,mayor's1 he had rather settled it that they would now stroll up to the place where they had left their hoard and bring it down as soon as night had fallen4 ,and it is quite possible that they might have found some excuse for doing this1 when dinner was over1 if their hostess had not undesignedly hindered them by telling them about the ,sunchild4 ,when the conversation recorded in the preceding chapter was over1 it was too late for them to make any plausible excuse for leaving the house2 we may be sure1 therefore1 that much more had been said than ,yram and ,george were able to remember and report to my father4 ,after another stroll about ,fairmead1 during which he saw nothing but what on a larger scale he had already seen at ,sunch'ston1 he returned to his inn at about half-past eight1 and ordered supper in a public room that corresponded with the coffee-room of an ,english hotel4 ,,chapter ,,xiv3 ,,my ,,father ,,makes ,,the ,,acquaintance ,,of ,,mr4 ,,balmy1 ,,and ,,walks ,,with ,,him ,,next ,,day ,,to ,,sunch',,ston ,up to this point1 though he had seen enough to shew him the main drift of the great changes that had taken place in ,erewhonian opinions1 my father had not been able to glean much about the history of the transformation4 ,he could see that it had all grown out of the supposed miracle of his balloon ascent1 and he could understand that the ignorant masses had been so astounded by an event so contrary to all their experience1 that their faith in experience was utterly routed and demoralised4 ,if a man and a woman might rise from the earth and disappear into the sky1 what else might not happen8 ,if they had been wrong in thinking such a thing impossible1 in how much else might they not be mistaken also8 ,the ground was shaken under their very feet4 ,it was not as though the thing had been done in a corner4 ,hundreds of people had seen the ascent2 and even if only a small number had been present1 the disappearance of the balloon1 of my mother1 and of my father himself1 would have confirmed their story4 ,my father1 then1 could understand that a single incontrovertible miracle of the first magnitude should uproot the hedges of caution in the minds of the common people1 but he could not understand how such men as ,hanky and ,panky1 who evidently did not believe that there had been any miracle at all1 had been led to throw themselves so energetically into a movement so subversive of all their traditions1 when1 as it seemed to him1 if they had held out they might have pricked the balloon bubble easily enough1 and maintained everything in statu quo4 ,how1 again1 had they converted the ,king--if they had converted him8 ,the ,queen had had full knowledge of all the preparations for the ascent4 ,the ,king had had everything explained to him4 ,the workmen and workwomen who had made the balloon and the gas could testify that none but natural means had been made use of--means which1 if again employed any number of times1 would effect a like result4 ,how could it be that when the means of resistance were so ample and so easy1 the movement should nevertheless have been irresistible8 ,for had it not been irresistible1 was it to be believed that astute men like ,hanky and ,panky would have let themselves be drawn into it8 ,what then had been its inner history8 ,my father had so fully determined to make his way back on the following evening1 that he saw no chance of getting to know the facts--unless1 indeed1 he should be able to learn something from ,hanky's sermon2 he was therefore not sorry to find an elderly gentleman of grave but kindly aspect seated opposite to him when he sat down to supper4 ,the expression on this man's face was much like that of the early ,christians as shewn in the ,s4 ,giovanni ,laterano bas-reliefs at ,rome1 and again1 though less aggressively self-confident1 like that on the faces of those who have joined the ,salvation ,army4 ,if he had been in ,england1 my father would have set him down as a ,swedenborgian2 this being impossible1 he could only note that the stranger bowed his head1 evidently saying a short grace before he began to eat1 as my father had always done when he was in ,erewhon before4 ,i will not say that my father had never omitted to say grace during the whole of the last twenty years1 but he said it now1 and unfortunately forgetting himself1 he said it in the ,english language1 not loud1 but nevertheless audibly4 ,my father was alarmed at what he had done1 but there was no need1 for the stranger immediately said1 8,i hear1 sir1 that you have the gift of tongues4 ,the ,sunchild often mentioned it to us1 as having been vouchsafed long since to certain of the people1 to whom1 for our learning1 he saw fit to feign that he belonged4 ,he thus foreshadowed prophetically its manifestation also among ourselves4 ,all which1 however1 you must know as well as ,i do4 ,can you interpret80 ,my father was much shocked1 but he remembered having frequently spoken of the power of speaking in unknown tongues which was possessed by many of the early ,christians1 and he also remembered that in times of high religious enthusiasm this power had repeatedly been imparted1 or supposed to be imparted1 to devout believers in the middle ages4 ,it grated upon him to deceive one who was so obviously sincere1 but to avoid immediate discomfiture he fell in with what the stranger had said4 8,alas6 sir10 said he1 8that rarer and more precious gift has been withheld from me2 nor can ,i speak in an unknown tongue1 unless as it is borne in upon me at the moment4 ,i could not even repeat the words that have just fallen from me40 8,that10 replied the stranger1 8is almost invariably the case4 ,these illuminations of the spirit are beyond human control4 ,you spoke in so low a tone that ,i cannot interpret what you have just said1 but should you receive a second inspiration later1 ,i shall doubtless be able to interpret it for you4 ,i have been singularly gifted in this respect--more so1 perhaps1 than any other interpreter in ,erewhon40 ,my father mentally vowed that no second inspiration should be vouchsafed to him1 but presently remembering how anxious he was for information on the points touched upon at the beginning of this chapter1 and seeing that fortune had sent him the kind of man who would be able to enlighten him1 he changed his mind2 nothing1 he reflected1 would be more likely to make the stranger talk freely with him1 than the affording him an opportunity for showing off his skill as an interpreter4 ,something1 therefore1 he would say1 but what8 ,no one could talk more freely when the train of his thoughts1 or the conversation of others1 gave him his cue1 but when told to say an unattached 8something10 he could not even think of 8,how do you do this morning8 it is a very fine day20 and the more he cudgelled his brains for 8something10 the more they gave no response4 ,he could not even converse further with the stranger beyond plain 8yes0 and 8no02 so he went on with his supper1 and in thinking of what he was eating and drinking for the moment forgot to ransack his brain4 ,no sooner had he left off ransacking it1 than it suggested something--not1 indeed1 a very brilliant something1 but still something4 ,on having grasped it1 he laid down his knife and fork1 and with the air of one distraught he said-- 8,my name is ,norval1 on the ,grampian ,hills ,my father feeds his flock--a frugal swain40 8,i heard you10 exclaimed the stranger1 8and ,i can interpret every word of what you have said1 but it would not become me to do so1 for you have conveyed to me a message more comforting than ,i can bring myself to repeat even to him who has conveyed it40 ,having said this he bowed his head1 and remained for some time wrapped in meditation4 ,my father kept a respectful silence1 but after a little time he ventured to say in a low tone1 how glad he was to have been the medium through whom a comforting assurance had been conveyed4 ,presently1 on finding himself encouraged to renew the conversation1 he threw out a deferential feeler as to the causes that might have induced ,mr4 ,balmy to come to ,fairmead4 8,perhaps10 he said1 8you1 like myself1 have come to these parts in order to see the dedication of the new temple2 ,i could not get a lodging in ,sunch'ston1 so ,i walked down here this morning40 ,this1 it seemed1 had been ,mr4 ,balmy's own case1 except that he had not yet been to ,sunch'ston4 ,having heard that it was full to overflowing1 he had determined to pass the night at ,fairmead1 and walk over in the morning--starting soon after seven1 so as to arrive in good time for the dedication ceremony4 ,when my father heard this1 he proposed that they should walk together1 to which ,mr4 ,balmy gladly consented2 it was therefore arranged that they should go to bed early1 breakfast soon after six1 and then walk to ,sunch'ston4 ,my father then went to his own room1 where he again smoked a surreptitious pipe up the chimney4 ,next morning the two men breakfasted together1 and set out as the clock was striking seven4 ,the day was lovely beyond the power of words1 and still fresh--for ,fairmead was some #bejj feet above the sea1 and the sun did not get above the mountains that overhung it on the east side1 till after eight o'clock4 ,many persons were also starting for ,sunch'ston1 and there was a procession got up by the ,musical ,bank ,managers of the town1 who walked in it1 robed in rich dresses of scarlet and white embroidered with much gold thread4 ,there was a banner displaying an open chariot in which the ,sunchild and his bride were seated1 beaming with smiles1 and in attitudes suggesting that they were bowing to people who were below them4 ,the chariot was1 of course1 drawn by the four black and white horses of which the reader has already heard1 and the balloon had been ignored4 ,readers of my father's book will perhaps remember that my mother was not seen at all--she was smuggled into the car of the balloon along with sundry rugs1 under which she lay concealed till the balloon had left the earth4 ,all this went for nothing4 ,it has been said that though ,god cannot alter the past1 historians can2 it is perhaps because they can be useful to ,him in this respect that ,he tolerates their existence4 ,painters1 my father now realised1 can do all that historians can1 with even greater effect4 ,women headed the procession--the younger ones dressed in white1 with veils and chaplets of roses1 blue cornflower1 and pheasant's eye ,narcissus1 while the older women were more soberly attired4 ,the ,bank ,managers and the banner headed the men1 who were mostly peasants1 but among them were a few who seemed to be of higher rank1 and these1 for the most part1 though by no means all of them1 wore their clothes reversed--as ,i have forgotten to say was done also by ,mr4 ,balmy4 ,both men and women joined in singing a litany the words of which my father could not catch2 the tune was one he had been used to play on his apology for a flute when he was in prison1 being1 in fact1 none other than 8,home1 ,sweet ,home40 ,there was no harmony2 they never got beyond the first four bars1 but these they must have repeated1 my father thought1 at least a hundred times between ,fairmead and ,sunch'ston4 8,well10 said he to himself1 8however little else ,i may have taught them1 ,i at any rate gave them the diatonic scale40 ,he now set himself to exploit his fellow-traveller1 for they soon got past the procession4 8,the greatest miracle10 said he1 8in connection with this whole matter1 has been--so at least it seems to me--not the ascent of the ,sunchild with his bride1 but the readiness with which the people generally acknowledged its miraculous character4 ,i was one of those that witnessed the ascent1 but ,i saw no signs that the crowd appreciated its significance4 ,they were astounded1 but they did not fall down and worship40 8,ah10 said the other1 8but you forget the long drought and the rain that the ,sunchild immediately prevailed on the air-god to send us4 ,he had announced himself as about to procure it for us2 it was on this ground that the ,king assented to the preparation of those material means that were necessary before the horses of the sun could attach themselves to the chariot into which the balloon was immediately transformed4 ,those horses might not be defiled by contact with this gross earth4 ,i too witnessed the ascent2 at the moment1 ,i grant you1 ,i saw neither chariot nor horses1 and almost all those present shared my own temporary blindness2 the whole action from the moment when the balloon left the earth1 moved so rapidly1 that we were flustered1 and hardly knew what it was that we were really seeing4 ,it was not till two or three years later that ,i found the scene presenting itself to my soul's imaginary sight in the full splendour which was no doubt witnessed1 but not apprehended1 by my bodily vision40 8,there10 said my father1 8you confirm an opinion that ,i have long held4--,nothing is so misleading as the testimony of eye-witnesses40 8,a spiritual enlightenment from within10 returned ,mr4 ,balmy1 8is more to be relied on than any merely physical affluence from external objects4 ,now1 when ,i shut my eyes1 ,i see the balloon ascend a little way1 but almost immediately the heavens open1 the horses descend1 the balloon is transformed1 and the glorious pageant careers onward till it vanishes into the heaven of heavens4 ,hundreds with whom ,i have conversed assure me that their experience has been the same as mine4 ,has yours been different80 8,oh no1 not at all2 but ,i always see some storks circling round the balloon before ,i see any horses40 8,how strange6 ,i have heard others also say that they saw the storks you mention2 but let me do my utmost ,i cannot force them into my mental image of the scene4 ,this shows1 as you were saying just now1 how incomplete the testimony of an eye-witness often is4 ,it is quite possible that the storks were there1 but the horses and the chariot have impressed themselves more vividly on my mind than anything else has40 8,quite so2 and ,i am not without hope that even at this late hour some further details may yet be revealed to us40 8,it is possible1 but we should be as cautious in accepting any fresh details as in rejecting them4 ,should some heresy obtain wide acceptance1 visions will perhaps be granted to us that may be useful in refuting it1 but otherwise ,i expect nothing more40 8,neither do ,i1 but ,i have heard people say that inasmuch as the ,sunchild said he was going to interview the air-god in order to send us rain1 he was more probably son to the air-god than to the sun4 ,now here is a heresy which--0 8,but1 my dear sir10 said ,mr4 ,balmy1 interrupting him with great warmth1 8he spoke of his father in heaven as endowed with attributes far exceeding any that can be conceivably ascribed to the air-god4 ,the power of the air-god does not extend beyond our own atmosphere40 8,pray believe me10 said my father1 who saw by the ecstatic gleam in his companion's eye that there was nothing to be done but to agree with him1 8that ,i accept--0 8,hear me to the end10 replied ,mr4 ,balmy4 8,who ever heard the ,sunchild claim relationship with the air-god8 ,he could command the air-god1 and evidently did so1 halting no doubt for this beneficent purpose on his journey towards his ultimate destination4 ,can we suppose that the air- god1 who had evidently intended withholding the rain from us for an indefinite period1 should have so immediately relinquished his designs against us at the intervention of any less exalted personage than the sun's own offspring8 ,impossible60 8,i quite agree with you10 exclaimed my father1 8it is out of the--0 8,let me finish what ,i have to say4 ,when the rain came so copiously for days1 even those who had not seen the miraculous ascent found its consequences come so directly home to them1 that they had no difficulty in accepting the report of others4 ,there was not a farmer or cottager in the land but heaved a sigh of relief at rescue from impending ruin1 and they all knew it was the ,sunchild who had promised the ,king that he would make the air-god send it4 ,so abundantly1 you will remember1 did it come1 that we had to pray to him to stop it1 which in his own good time he was pleased to do40 8,i remember10 said my father1 who was at last able to edge in a word1 8that it nearly flooded me out of house and home4 ,and yet1 in spite of all this1 ,i hear that there are many at ,bridgeford who are still hardened unbelievers40 8,alas6 you speak too truly4 ,bridgeford and the ,musical ,banks for the first three years fought tooth and nail to blind those whom it was their first duty to enlighten4 ,i was a ,professor of the hypothetical language1 and you may perhaps remember how ,i was driven from my chair on account of the fearlessness with which ,i expounded the deeper mysteries of ,sunchildism40 8,yes1 ,i remember well how cruelly--0 but my father was not allowed to get beyond 8cruelly40 8,it was ,i who explained why the ,sunchild had represented himself as belonging to a people in many respects analogous to our own1 when no such people can have existed4 ,it was ,i who detected that the supposed nation spoken of by the ,sunchild was an invention designed in order to give us instruction by the light of which we might more easily remodel our institutions4 ,i have sometimes thought that my gift of interpretation was vouchsafed to me in recognition of the humble services that ,i was hereby allowed to render4 ,by the way1 you have received no illumination this morning1 have you80 8,i never do1 sir1 when ,i am in the company of one whose conversation ,i find supremely interesting4 ,but you were telling me about ,bridgeford3 ,i live hundreds of miles from ,bridgeford1 and have never understood the suddenness1 and completeness1 with which men like ,professors ,hanky and ,panky and ,dr4 ,downie changed front4 ,do they believe as you and ,i do1 or did they merely go with the times8 ,i spent a couple of hours with ,hanky and ,panky only two evenings ago1 and was not so much impressed as ,i could have wished with the depth of their religious fervour40 8,they are sincere now--more especially ,hanky--but ,i cannot think ,i am judging them harshly1 if ,i say that they were not so at first4 ,even now1 ,i fear1 that they are more carnally than spiritually minded4 ,see how they have fought for the aggrandisement of their own order4 ,it is mainly their doing that the ,musical ,banks have usurped the spiritual authority formerly exercised by the straighteners40 8,but the straighteners10 said my father1 8could not co-exist with ,sunchildism1 and it is hard to see how the claims of the ,banks can be reasonably gainsaid40 8,perhaps2 and after all the ,banks are our main bulwark against the evils that ,i fear will follow from the repeal of the laws against machinery4 ,this has already led to the development of a materialism which minimizes the miraculous element in the ,sunchild's ascent1 as our own people minimize the material means that were the necessary prologue to the miraculous40 ,thus did they converse2 but ,i will not pursue their conversation further4 ,it will be enough to say that in further floods of talk ,mr4 ,balmy confirmed what ,george had said about the ,banks having lost their hold upon the masses4 ,that hold was weak even in the time of my father's first visit2 but when the people saw the hostility of the ,banks to a movement which far the greater number of them accepted1 it seemed as though both ,bridgeford and the ,banks were doomed1 for ,bridgeford was heart and soul with the ,banks4 ,hanky1 it appeared1 though under thirty1 and not yet a ,professor1 grasped the situation1 and saw that ,bridgeford must either move with the times1 or go4 ,he consulted some of the most sagacious ,heads of ,houses and ,professors1 with the result that a committee of enquiry was appointed1 which in due course reported that the evidence for the ,sunchild's having been the only child of the sun was conclusive4 ,it was about this time--that is to say some three years after his ascent--that 8,higgsism10 as it had been hitherto called1 became 8,sunchildism10 and 8,higgs0 the 8,sunchild40 ,my father also learned the ,king's fury at his escape 7for he would call it nothing else7 with my mother4 ,this was so great that though he had hitherto been1 and had ever since proved himself to be1 a humane ruler1 he ordered the instant execution of all who had been concerned in making either the gas or the balloon2 and his cruel orders were carried out within a couple of hours4 ,at the same time he ordered the destruction by fire of the ,queen's workshops1 and of all remnants of any materials used in making the balloon4 ,it is said the ,queen was so much grieved and outraged 7for it was her doing that the material ground-work1 so to speak1 had been provided for the miracle7 that she wept night and day without ceasing three whole months1 and never again allowed her husband to embrace her1 till he had also embraced ,sunchildism4 ,when the rain came1 public indignation at the ,king's action was raised almost to revolution pitch1 and the ,king was frightened at once by the arrival of the promised downfall and the displeasure of his subjects4 ,but he still held out1 and it was only after concessions on the part of the ,bridgeford committee1 that he at last consented to the absorption of ,sunchildism into the ,musical ,bank system1 and to its establishment as the religion of the country4 ,the far-reaching changes in ,erewhonian institutions with which the reader is already acquainted followed as a matter of course4 8,i know the difficulty10 said my father presently1 8with which the ,king was persuaded to allow the way in which the ,sunchild's dress should be worn to be a matter of opinion1 not dogma4 ,i see we have adopted different fashions4 ,have you any decided opinions upon the subject80 8,i have2 but ,i will ask you not to press me for them4 ,let this matter remain as the ,king has left it40 ,my father thought that he might now venture on a shot4 ,so he said1 8,i have always understood1 too1 that the ,king forced the repeal of the laws against machinery on the ,bridgeford committee1 as another condition of his assent80 8,certainly4 ,he insisted on this1 partly to gratify the ,queen1 who had not yet forgiven him1 and who had set her heart on having a watch1 and partly because he expected that a development of the country's resources1 in consequence of a freer use of machinery1 would bring more money into his exchequer4 ,bridgeford fought hard and wisely here1 but they had gained so much by the ,musical ,bank ,managers being recognised as the authorised exponents of ,sunchildism1 that they thought it wise to yield--apparently with a good grace--and thus gild the pill which his ,majesty was about to swallow4 ,but even then they feared the consequences that are already beginning to appear1 all which1 if ,i mistake not1 will assume far more serious proportions in the future40 8,see10 said my father suddenly1 8we are coming to another procession1 and they have got some banners1 let us walk a little quicker and overtake it40 8,horrible60 replied ,mr4 ,balmy fiercely4 8,you must be short-sighted1 or you could never have called my attention to it4 ,let us get it behind us as fast as possible1 and not so much as look at it40 8,oh yes1 yes10 said my father1 8it is indeed horrible1 ,i had not seen what it was40 ,he had not the faintest idea what the matter was1 but he let ,mr4 ,balmy walk a little ahead of him1 so that he could see the banners1 the most important of which he found to display a balloon pure and simple1 with one figure in the car4 ,true1 at the top of the banner there was a smudge which might be taken for a little chariot1 and some very little horses1 but the balloon was the only thing insisted on4 ,as for the procession1 it consisted entirely of men1 whom a smaller banner announced to be workmen from the ,fairmead iron and steel works4 ,there was a third banner1 which said1 8,science as well as ,sunchildism40 ,,chapter ,,xv3 ,,the ,,temple ,,is ,,dedicated ,,to ,,my ,,father1 ,,and ,,certain ,,extracts ,,are ,,read ,,from ,,his ,,supposed ,,sayings 8,it is enough to break one's heart10 said ,mr4 ,balmy when he had outstripped the procession1 and my father was again beside him4 8#8,as well as1' indeed6 ,we know what that means4 ,wherever there is a factory there is a hot-bed of unbelief4 #8,as well as'6 ,why it is a defiance40 8,what1 ,i wonder10 said my father innocently1 8must the ,sunchild's feelings be1 as he looks down on this procession4 ,for there can be little doubt that he is doing so40 8,there can be no doubt at all10 replied ,mr4 ,balmy1 8that he is taking note of it1 and of all else that is happening this day in ,erewhon4 ,heaven grant that he be not so angered as to chastise the innocent as well as the guilty40 8,i doubt10 said my father1 8his being so angry even with this procession1 as you think he is40 ,here1 fearing an outburst of indignation1 he found an excuse for rapidly changing the conversation4 ,moreover he was angry with himself for playing upon this poor good creature4 ,he had not done so of malice prepense2 he had begun to deceive him1 because he believed himself to be in danger if he spoke the truth2 and though he knew the part to be an unworthy one1 he could not escape from continuing to play it1 if he was to discover things that he was not likely to discover otherwise4 ,often1 however1 he had checked himself4 ,it had been on the tip of his tongue to be illuminated with the words1 ,sukoh and ,sukop were two pretty men1 ,they lay in bed till the clock struck ten1 and to follow it up with1 ,now with the drops of this most ,yknarc time ,my love looks fresh1 in order to see how ,mr4 ,balmy would interpret the assertion here made about the ,professors1 and what statement he would connect with his own ,erewhonian name2 but he had restrained himself4 ,the more he saw1 and the more he heard1 the more shocked he was at the mischief he had done4 ,see how he had unsettled the little mind this poor1 dear1 good gentleman had ever had1 till he was now a mere slave to preconception4 ,and how many more had he not in like manner brought to the verge of idiocy8 ,how many again had he not made more corrupt than they were before1 even though he had not deceived them--as for example1 ,hanky and ,panky4 ,and the young8 how could such a lie as that a chariot and four horses came down out of the clouds enter seriously into the life of any one1 without distorting his mental vision1 if not ruining it8 ,and yet1 the more he reflected1 the more he also saw that he could do no good by saying who he was4 ,matters had gone so far that though he spoke with the tongues of men and angels he would not be listened to2 and even if he were1 it might easily prove that he had added harm to that which he had done already4 ,no4 ,as soon as he had heard ,hanky's sermon1 he would begin to work his way back1 and if the ,professors had not yet removed their purchase1 he would recover it2 but he would pin a bag containing about five pounds worth of nuggets on to the tree in which they had hidden it1 and1 if possible1 he would find some way of sending the rest to ,george4 ,he let ,mr4 ,balmy continue talking1 glad that this gentleman required little more than monosyllabic answers1 and still more glad1 in spite of some agitation1 to see that they were now nearing ,sunch'ston1 towards which a great concourse of people was hurrying from ,clearwater1 and more distant towns on the main road4 ,many whole families were coming1--the fathers and mothers carrying the smaller children1 and also their own shoes and stockings1 which they would put on when nearing the town4 ,most of the pilgrims brought provisions with them4 ,all wore ,european costumes1 but only a few of them wore it reversed1 and these were almost invariably of higher social status than the great body of the people1 who were mainly peasants4 ,when they reached the town1 my father was relieved at finding that ,mr4 ,balmy had friends on whom he wished to call before going to the temple4 ,he asked my father to come with him1 but my father said that he too had friends1 and would leave him for the present1 while hoping to meet him again later in the day4 ,the two1 therefore1 shook hands with great effusion1 and went their several ways4 ,my father's way took him first into a confectioner's shop1 where he bought a couple of ,sunchild buns1 which he put into his pocket1 and refreshed himself with a bottle of ,sunchild cordial and water4 ,all shops except those dealing in refreshments were closed1 and the town was gaily decorated with flags and flowers1 often festooned into words or emblems proper for the occasion4 ,my father1 it being now a quarter to eleven1 made his way towards the temple1 and his heart was clouded with care as he walked along4 ,not only was his heart clouded1 but his brain also was oppressed1 and he reeled so much on leaving the confectioner's shop1 that he had to catch hold of some railings till the faintness and giddiness left him4 ,he knew the feeling to be the same as what he had felt on the ,friday evening1 but he had no idea of the cause1 and as soon as the giddiness left him he thought there was nothing the matter with him4 ,turning down a side street that led into the main square of the town1 he found himself opposite the south end of the temple1 with its two lofty towers that flanked the richly decorated main entrance4 ,i will not attempt to describe the architecture1 for my father could give me little information on this point4 ,he only saw the south front for two or three minutes1 and was not impressed by it1 save in so far as it was richly ornamented--evidently at great expense--and very large4 ,even if he had had a longer look1 ,i doubt whether ,i should have got more out of him1 for he knew nothing of architecture1 and ,i fear his test whether a building was good or bad1 was whether it looked old and weather-beaten or no4 ,no matter what a building was1 if it was three or four hundred years old he liked it1 whereas1 if it was new1 he would look to nothing but whether it kept the rain out4 ,indeed ,i have heard him say that the mediaeval sculpture on some of our great cathedrals often only pleases us because time and weather have set their seals upon it1 and that if we could see it as it was when it left the mason's hands1 we should find it no better than much that is now turned out in the ,euston ,road4 ,the ground plan here given will help the reader to understand the few following pages more easily4 -------------------- ,n _/ a ,w,e _/ b ------------ ,s _/ ,g ,h ,c ,n ---------------------------------------- --------------- ------------------- ,i ------------------- ------------------- o' o' ,e ,f e ,a o' ,b ,c o' ,d f --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- o' --- --- o' --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- o' --- --- o' --- o' o' g h o' o' ---------------------------------------- ---------------- -------------------------------- -------------,m------------------ ,k -------------------------------- ,l -------------------------------- -------------------------------- ----------- ------------- a4 ,table with cashier's seat on either side1 and alms-box in front4 ,the picture is exhibited on a scaffolding behind it4 b4 ,the reliquary4 c4 ,the ,president's chair4 d4 ,pulpit and lectern4 e4 f4 ,side doors4 g4 h4 i4 ,yram's seat4 k4 ,seats of ,george and the ,sunchild4 o' ,pillars4 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d1 ,e1 ,f1 ,g1 ,h1 blocks of seats4 ,i4 ,steps leading from the apse to the nave4 ,k and ,l4 ,towers4 ,m4 ,steps and main entrance4 ,n4 ,robing-room4 ,the building was led up to by a flight of steps 7,m71 and on entering it my father found it to consist of a spacious nave1 with two aisles and an apse which was raised some three feet above the nave and aisles4 ,there were no transepts4 ,in the apse there was the table 7a71 with the two bowls of ,musical ,bank money mentioned on an earlier page1 as also the alms-box in front of it4 ,at some little distance in front of the table stood the ,president's chair 7c71 or ,i might almost call it throne4 ,it was so placed that his back would be turned towards the table1 which fact again shews that the table was not regarded as having any greater sanctity than the rest of the temple4 ,behind the table1 the picture already spoken of was raised aloft4 ,there was no balloon2 some clouds that hung about the lower part of the chariot served to conceal the fact that the painter was uncertain whether it ought to have wheels or no4 ,the horses were without driver1 and my father thought that some one ought to have had them in hand1 for they were in far too excited a state to be left safely to themselves4 ,they had hardly any harness1 but what little there was was enriched with gold bosses4 ,my mother was in ,erewhonian costume1 my father in ,european1 but he wore his clothes reversed4 ,both he and my mother seemed to be bowing graciously to an unseen crowd beneath them1 and in the distance1 near the bottom of the picture1 was a fairly accurate representation of the ,sunch'ston new temple4 ,high up1 on the right hand1 was a disc1 raised and gilt1 to represent the sun2 on it1 in low relief1 there was an indication of a gorgeous palace1 in which1 no doubt1 the sun was supposed to live2 though how they made it all out my father could not conceive4 ,on the right of the table there was a reliquary 7b7 of glass1 much adorned with gold1 or more probably gilding1 for gold was so scarce in ,erewhon that gilding would be as expensive as a thin plate of gold would be in ,europe3 but there is no knowing4 ,the reliquary was attached to a portable stand some five feet high1 and inside it was the relic already referred to4 ,the crowd was so great that my father could not get near enough to see what it contained1 but ,i may say here1 that when1 two days later1 circumstances compelled him to have a close look at it1 he saw that it consisted of about a dozen fine coprolites1 deposited by some antediluvian creature or creatures1 which1 whatever else they may have been1 were certainly not horses4 ,in the apse there were a few cross benches 7,g and ,h7 on either side1 with an open space between them1 which was partly occupied by the ,president's seat already mentioned4 ,those on the right1 as one looked towards the apse1 were for the ,managers and ,cashiers of the ,bank1 while those on the left were for their wives and daughters4 ,in the centre of the nave1 only a few feet in front of the steps leading to the apse1 was a handsome pulpit and lectern 7d74 ,the pulpit was raised some feet above the ground1 and was so roomy that the preacher could walk about in it4 ,on either side of it there were cross benches with backs 7,e and ,f72 those on the right were reserved for the ,mayor1 civic functionaries1 and distinguished visitors1 while those on the left were for their wives and daughters4 ,benches with backs 7,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d7 were placed about half-way down both nave and aisles--those in the nave being divided so as to allow a free passage between them4 ,the rest of the temple was open space1 about which people might walk at their will4 ,there were side doors 7e1 j1 and f1 h7 at the upper and lower end of each aisle4 ,over the main entrance was a gallery in which singers were placed4 ,as my father was worming his way among the crowd1 which was now very dense1 he was startled at finding himself tapped lightly on the shoulder1 and turning round in alarm was confronted by the beaming face of ,george4 8,how do you do1 ,professor ,panky80 said the youth--who had decided thus to address him4 8,what are you doing here among the common people8 ,why have you not taken your place in one of the seats reserved for our distinguished visitors8 ,i am afraid they must be all full by this time1 but ,i will see what ,i can do for you4 ,come with me40 8,thank you10 said my father4 ,his heart beat so fast that this was all he could say1 and he followed meek as a lamb4 ,with some difficulty the two made their way to the right-hand corner seats of block ,c1 for every seat in the reserved block was taken4 ,the places which ,george wanted for my father and for himself were already occupied by two young men of about eighteen and nineteen1 both of them well-grown1 and of prepossessing appearance4 ,my father saw by the truncheons they carried that they were special constables1 but he took no notice of this1 for there were many others scattered about the crowd4 ,george whispered a few words to one of them1 and to my father's surprise they both gave up their seats1 which appear on the plan as 7k74 ,it afterwards transpired that these two young men were ,george's brothers1 who by his desire had taken the seats some hours ago1 for it was here that ,george had determined to place himself and my father if he could find him4 ,he chose these places because they would be near enough to let his mother 7who was at i1 in the middle of the front row of block ,e1 to the left of the pulpit7 see my father without being so near as to embarrass him2 he could also see and be seen by ,hanky1 and hear every word of his sermon2 but perhaps his chief reason had been the fact that they were not far from the side-door at the upper end of the right-hand aisle1 while there was no barrier to interrupt rapid egress should this prove necessary4 ,it was now high time that they should sit down1 which they accordingly did4 ,george sat at the end of the bench1 and thus had my father on his left4 ,my father was rather uncomfortable at seeing the young men whom they had turned out1 standing against a column close by1 but ,george said that this was how it was to be1 and there was nothing to be done but to submit4 ,the young men seemed quite happy1 which puzzled my father1 who of course had no idea that their action was preconcerted4 ,panky was in the first row of block ,f1 so that my father could not see his face except sometimes when he turned round4 ,he was sitting on the ,mayor's right hand1 while ,dr4 ,downie was on his left2 he looked at my father once or twice in a puzzled way1 as though he ought to have known him1 but my father did not think he recognised him4 ,hanky was still with ,president ,gurgoyle and others in the robing-room1 ,n2 ,yram had already taken her seat3 my father knew her in a moment1 though he pretended not to do so when ,george pointed her out to him4 ,their eyes met for a second2 ,yram turned hers quickly away1 and my father could not see a trace of recognition in her face4 ,at no time during the whole ceremony did he catch her looking at him again4 8,why1 you stupid man10 she said to him later on in the day with a quick1 kindly smile1 8,i was looking at you all the time4 ,as soon as the ,president or ,hanky began to talk about you ,i knew you would stare at him1 and then ,i could look4 ,as soon as they left off talking about you ,i knew you would be looking at me1 unless you went to sleep--and as ,i did not know which you might be doing1 ,i waited till they began to talk about you again40 ,my father had hardly taken note of his surroundings when the choir began singing1 accompanied by a few feeble flutes and lutes1 or whatever the name of the instrument should be1 but with no violins1 for he knew nothing of the violin1 and had not been able to teach the ,erewhonians anything about it4 ,the voices were all in unison1 and the tune they sang was one which my father had taught ,yram to sing2 but he could not catch the words4 ,as soon as the singing began1 a procession1 headed by the venerable ,dr4 ,gurgoyle1 ,president of the ,musical ,banks of the province1 began to issue from the robing-room1 and move towards the middle of the apse4 ,the ,president was sumptuously dressed1 but he wore no mitre1 nor anything to suggest an ,english or ,european ,bishop4 ,the ,vice-,president1 ,head ,manager1 ,vice-,manager1 and some ,cashiers of the ,bank1 now ranged themselves on either side of him1 and formed an impressive group as they stood1 gorgeously arrayed1 at the top of the steps leading from the apse to the nave4 ,here they waited till the singers left off singing4 ,when the litany1 or hymn1 or whatever it should be called1 was over1 the ,head ,manager left the ,president's side and came down to the lectern in the nave1 where he announced himself as about to read some passages from the ,sunchild's ,sayings4 ,perhaps because it was the first day of the year according to their new calendar1 the reading began with the first chapter1 the whole of which was read4 ,my father told me that he quite well remembered having said the last verse1 which he still held as true2 hardly a word of the rest was ever spoken by him1 though he recognised his own influence in almost all of it4 ,the reader paused1 with good effect1 for about five seconds between each paragraph1 and read slowly and very clearly4 ,the chapter was as follows3- ,these are the words of the ,sunchild about ,god and man4 ,he said-- #a4 ,god is the baseless basis of all thoughts1 things1 and deeds4 #b4 ,so that those who say that there is a ,god1 lie1 unless they also mean that there is no ,god2 and those who say that there is no ,god1 lie1 unless they also mean that there is a ,god4 #c4 ,it is very true to say that man is made after the likeness of ,god2 and yet it is very untrue to say this4 #d4 ,god lives and moves in every atom throughout the universe4 ,therefore it is wrong to think of ,him as #8,him' and #8,he1' save as by the clutching of a drowning man at a straw4 #e4 ,god is ,god to us only so long as we cannot see ,him4 ,when we are near to seeing ,him ,he vanishes1 and we behold ,nature in ,his stead4 #f4 ,we approach ,him most nearly when we think of ,him as our expression for ,man's highest conception1 of goodness1 wisdom1 and power4 ,but we cannot rise to ,him above the level of our own highest selves4 #g4 ,we remove ourselves most far from ,him when we invest ,him with human form and attributes4 #h4 ,my father the sun1 the earth1 the moon1 and all planets that roll round my father1 are to ,god but as a single cell in our bodies to ourselves4 #i4 ,he is as much above my father1 as my father is above men and women4 #aj4 ,the universe is instinct with the mind of ,god4 ,the mind of ,god is in all that has mind throughout all worlds4 ,there is no ,god but the ,universe1 and man1 in this world is ,his prophet4 #aa4 ,god's conscious life1 nascent1 so far as this world is concerned1 in the infusoria1 adolescent in the higher mammals1 approaches maturity on this earth in man4 ,all these living beings are members one of another1 and of ,god4 #ab4 ,therefore1 as man cannot live without ,god in the world1 so neither can ,god live in this world without mankind4 #ac4 ,if we speak ill of ,god in our ignorance it may be forgiven us2 but if we speak ill of ,his ,holy ,spirit indwelling in good men and women it may not be forgiven us4 ,the ,head ,manager now resumed his place by ,president ,gurgoyle's side1 and the ,president in the name of his ,majesty the ,king declared the temple to be hereby dedicated to the contemplation of the ,sunchild and the better exposition of his teaching4 ,this was all that was said4 ,the reliquary was then brought forward and placed at the top of the steps leading from the apse to the nave2 but the original intention of carrying it round the temple was abandoned for fear of accidents through the pressure round it of the enormous multitudes who were assembled4 ,more singing followed of a simple but impressive kind2 during this ,i am afraid ,i must own that my father1 tired with his walk1 dropped off into a refreshing slumber1 from which he did not wake till ,george nudged him and told him not to snore1 just as the ,vice-,manager was going towards the lectern to read another chapter of the ,sunchild's ,sayings--which was as follows3- ,the ,sunchild also spoke to us a parable about the unwisdom of the children yet unborn1 who though they know so much1 yet do not know as much as they think they do4 ,he said3- 8,the unborn have knowledge of one another so long as they are unborn1 and this without impediment from walls or material obstacles4 ,the unborn children in any city form a population apart1 who talk with one another and tell each other about their developmental progress4 8,they have no knowledge1 and cannot even conceive the existence of anything that is not such as they are themselves4 ,those who have been born are to them what the dead are to us4 ,they can see no life in them1 and know no more about them than they do of any stage in their own past development other than the one through which they are passing at the moment4 ,they do not even know that their mothers are alive--much less that their mothers were once as they now are4 ,to an embryo1 its mother is simply the environment1 and is looked upon much as our inorganic surroundings are by ourselves4 8,the great terror of their lives is the fear of birth1--that they shall have to leave the only thing that they can think of as life1 and enter upon a dark unknown which is to them tantamount to annihilation4 8,some1 indeed1 among them have maintained that birth is not the death which they commonly deem it1 but that there is a life beyond the womb of which they as yet know nothing1 and which is a million fold more truly life than anything they have yet been able even to imagine4 ,but the greater number shake their yet unfashioned heads and say they have no evidence for this that will stand a moment's examination4 8#8,nay1' answer the others1 #8so much work1 so elaborate1 so wondrous as that whereon we are now so busily engaged must have a purpose1 though the purpose is beyond our grasp4' 8#8,never1' reply the first speakers2 #8our pleasure in the work is sufficient justification for it4 ,who has ever partaken of this life you speak of1 and re-entered into the womb to tell us of it8 ,granted that some few have pretended to have done this1 but how completely have their stories broken down when subjected to the tests of sober criticism4 ,no4 ,when we are born we are born1 and there is an end of us4' 8,but in the hour of birth1 when they can no longer re-enter the womb and tell the others1 ,behold6 they find that it is not so40 ,here the reader again closed his book and resumed his place in the apse4 ,,chapter ,,xvi3 ,,professor ,,hanky ,,preaches ,a ,,sermon1 ,,in ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,which ,,my ,,father ,,declares ,,himself ,,to ,,be ,,the ,,sunchild ,professor ,hanky then went up into the pulpit1 richly but soberly robed in vestments the exact nature of which ,i cannot determine4 ,his carriage was dignified1 and the harsh lines on his face gave it a strong individuality1 which1 though it did not attract1 conveyed an impression of power that could not fail to interest4 ,as soon as he had given attention time to fix itself upon him1 he began his sermon without text or preliminary matter of any kind1 and apparently without notes4 ,he spoke clearly and very quietly1 especially at the beginning2 he used action whenever it could point his meaning1 or give it life and colour1 but there was no approach to staginess or even oratorical display4 ,in fact1 he spoke as one who meant what he was saying1 and desired that his hearers should accept his meaning1 fully confident in his good faith4 ,his use of pause was effective4 ,after the word 8mistake10 at the end of the opening sentence1 he held up his half-bent hand and paused for full three seconds1 looking intently at his audience as he did so4 ,every one felt the idea to be here enounced that was to dominate the sermon4 ,the sermon--so much of it as ,i can find room for--was as follows3- 8,my friends1 let there be no mistake4 ,at such a time1 as this1 it is well we should look back upon the path by which we have travelled1 and forward to the goal towards which we are tending4 ,as it was necessary that the material foundations of this building should be so sure that there shall be no subsidence in the superstructure1 so is it not less necessary to ensure that there shall be no subsidence in the immaterial structure that we have raised in consequence of the ,sunchild's sojourn among us4 ,therefore1 my friends1 ,i again say1 #8,let there be no mistake4' ,each stone that goes towards the uprearing of this visible fane1 each human soul that does its part in building the invisible temple of our national faith1 is bearing witness to1 and lending its support to1 that which is either the truth of truths1 or the baseless fabric of a dream4 8,my friends1 this is the only possible alternative4 ,he in whose name we are here assembled1 is either worthy of more reverential honour than we can ever pay him1 or he is worthy of no more honour than any other honourable man among ourselves4 ,there can be no halting between these two opinions4 ,the question of questions is1 was he the child of the tutelary god of this world--the sun1 and is it to the palace of the sun that he returned when he left us1 or was he1 as some amongst us still do not hesitate to maintain1 a mere man1 escaping by unusual but strictly natural means to some part of this earth with which we are unacquainted4 ,my friends1 either we are on a right path or on a very wrong one1 and in a matter of such supreme importance--there must be no mistake4 8,i need not remind those of you whose privilege it is to live in ,sunch'ston1 of the charm attendant on the ,sunchild's personal presence and conversation1 nor of his quick sympathy1 his keen intellect1 his readiness to adapt himself to the capacities of all those who came to see him while he was in prison4 ,he adored children1 and it was on them that some of his most conspicuous miracles were performed4 ,many a time when a child had fallen and hurt itself1 was he known to make the place well by simply kissing it4 ,nor need ,i recall to your minds the spotless purity of his life--so spotless that not one breath of slander has ever dared to visit it4 ,i was one of the not very many who had the privilege of being admitted to the inner circle of his friends during the later weeks that he was amongst us4 ,i loved him dearly1 and it will ever be the proudest recollection of my life that he deigned to return me no small measure of affection40 ,my father1 furious as he was at finding himself dragged into complicity with this man's imposture1 could not resist a smile at the effrontery with which he lowered his tone here1 and appeared unwilling to dwell on an incident which he could not recall without being affected almost to tears1 and mere allusion to which1 had involved an apparent self-display that was above all things repugnant to him4 ,what a difference between the ,hanky of ,thursday evening with its 8never set eyes on him and hope ,i never shall10 and the ,hanky of ,sunday morning1 who now looked as modest as ,cleopatra might have done had she been standing godmother to a little blue-eyed girl--,bellerophon's first-born baby4 ,having recovered from his natural1 but promptly repressed1 emotion1 the ,professor continued3- 8,i need not remind you of the purpose for which so many of us1 from so many parts of our kingdom1 are here assembled4 ,we know what we have come hither to do3 we are come each one of us to sign and seal by his presence the bond of his assent to those momentous changes1 which have found their first great material expression in the temple that you see around you4 8,you all know how1 in accordance with the expressed will of the ,sunchild1 the ,presidents and ,vice-,presidents of the ,musical ,banks began as soon as he had left us to examine1 patiently1 carefully1 earnestly1 and without bias of any kind1 firstly the evidences in support of the ,sunchild's claim to be the son of the tutelar deity of this world1 and secondly the precise nature of his instructions as regards the future position and authority of the ,musical ,banks4 8,my friends1 it is easy to understand why the ,sunchild should have given us these instructions4 ,with that foresight which is the special characteristic of divine1 as compared with human1 wisdom1 he desired that the evidences in support of his superhuman character should be collected1 sifted1 and placed on record1 before anything was either lost through the death of those who could alone substantiate it1 or unduly supplied through the enthusiasm of over-zealous visionaries4 ,the greater any true miracle has been1 the more certainly will false ones accrete round it2 here1 then1 we find the explanation of the command the ,sunchild gave to us to gather1 verify1 and record1 the facts of his sojourn here in ,erewhon4 ,for above all things he held it necessary to ensure that there should be neither mistake1 nor even possibility of mistake4 8,consider for a moment what differences of opinion would infallibly have arisen1 if the evidences for the miraculous character of the ,sunchild's mission had been conflicting--if they had rested on versions each claiming to be equally authoritative1 but each hopelessly irreconcilable on vital points with every single other4 ,what would future generations have said in answer to those who bade them fling all human experience to the winds1 on the strength of records written they knew not certainly by whom1 nor how long after the marvels that they recorded1 and of which all that could be certainly said was that no two of them told the same story8 8,who that believes either in ,god or man--who with any self-respect1 or respect for the gift of reason with which ,god had endowed him1 either would1 or could1 believe that a chariot and four horses had come down from heaven1 and gone back again with human or quasi-human occupants1 unless the evidences for the fact left no loophole for escape8 ,if a single loophole were left him1 he would be unpardonable1 not for disbelieving the story1 but for believing it4 ,the sin against ,god would lie not in want of faith1 but in faith4 8,my friends1 there are two sins in matters of belief4 ,there is that of believing on too little evidence1 and that of requiring too much before we are convinced4 ,the guilt of the latter is incurred1 alas6 by not a few amongst us at the present day1 but if the testimony to the truth of the wondrous event so faithfully depicted on the picture that confronts you had been less contemporaneous1 less authoritative1 less unanimous1 future generations--and it is for them that we should now provide--would be guilty of the first-named1 and not less heinous sin if they believed at all4 8,small wonder1 then1 that the ,sunchild1 having come amongst us for our advantage1 not his own1 would not permit his beneficent designs to be endangered by the discrepancies1 mythical developments1 idiosyncracies1 and a hundred other defects inevitably attendant on amateur and irresponsible recording4 ,small wonder1 then1 that he should have chosen the officials of the ,musical ,banks1 from the ,presidents and ,vice-,presidents downwards to be the authoritative exponents of his teaching1 the depositaries of his traditions1 and his representatives here on earth till he shall again see fit to visit us4 ,for he will come4 ,nay it is even possible that he may be here amongst us at this very moment1 disguised so that none may know him1 and intent only on watching our devotion towards him4 ,if this be so1 let me implore him1 in the name of the sun his father1 to reveal himself40 ,now ,hanky had already given my father more than one look that had made him uneasy4 ,he had evidently recognised him as the supposed ranger of last ,thursday evening4 ,twice he had run his eye like a searchlight over the front benches opposite to him1 and when the beam had reached my father there had been no more searching4 ,it was beginning to dawn upon my father that ,george might have discovered that he was not ,professor ,panky2 was it for this reason that these two young special constables1 though they gave up their places1 still kept so close to him8 ,was ,george only waiting his opportunity to arrest him--not of course even suspecting who he was--but as a foreign devil who had tried to pass himself off as ,professor ,panky8 ,had this been the meaning of his having followed him to ,fairmead8 ,and should he have to be thrown into the ,blue ,pool by ,george after all8 8,it would serve me10 said he to himself1 8richly right40 ,these fears which had been taking shape for some few minutes were turned almost to certainties by the half-contemptuous glance ,hanky threw towards him as he uttered what was obviously intended as a challenge4 ,he saw that all was over1 and was starting to his feet to declare himself1 and thus fall into the trap that ,hanky was laying for him1 when ,george gripped him tightly by the knee and whispered1 8,don't--you are in great danger40 ,and he smiled kindly as he spoke4 ,my father sank back dumbfounded4 8,you know me80 he whispered in reply4 8,perfectly4 ,so does ,hanky1 so does my mother2 say no more10 and he again smiled4 ,george1 as my father afterwards learned1 had hoped that he would reveal himself1 and had determined in spite of his mother's instructions1 to give him an opportunity of doing so4 ,it was for this reason that he had not arrested him quietly1 as he could very well have done1 before the service began4 ,he wished to discover what manner of man his father was1 and was quite happy as soon as he saw that he would have spoken out if he had not been checked4 ,he had not yet caught ,hanky's motive in trying to goad my father1 but on seeing that he was trying to do this1 he knew that a trap was being laid1 and that my father must not be allowed to speak4 ,almost immediately1 however1 he perceived that while his eyes had been turned on ,hanky1 two burly vergers had wormed their way through the crowd and taken their stand close to his two brothers4 ,then he understood1 and understood also how to frustrate4 ,as for my father1 ,george's ascendancy over him--quite felt by ,george--was so absolute that he could think of nothing now but the exceeding great joy of finding his fears groundless1 and of delivering himself up to his son's guidance in the assurance that the void in his heart was filled1 and that his wager not only would be held as won1 but was being already paid4 ,how they had found out1 why he was not to speak as he would assuredly have done--for he was in a white heat of fury--what did it all matter now that he had found that which he had feared he should fail to find8 ,he gave ,george a puzzled smile1 and composed himself as best he could to hear the continuation of ,hanky's sermon1 which was as follows3- 8,who could the ,sunchild have chosen1 even though he had been gifted with no more than human sagacity1 but the body of men whom he selected8 ,it becomes me but ill to speak so warmly in favour of that body of whom ,i am the least worthy member1 but what other is there in ,erewhon so above all suspicion of slovenliness1 self-seeking1 preconceived bias1 or bad faith8 ,if there was one set of qualities more essential than another for the conduct of the investigations entrusted to us by the ,sunchild1 it was those that turn on meekness and freedom from all spiritual pride4 ,i believe ,i can say quite truly that these are the qualities for which ,bridgeford is more especially renowned4 ,the readiness of her ,professors to learn even from those who at first sight may seem least able to instruct them--the gentleness with which they correct an opponent if they feel it incumbent upon them to do so1 the promptitude with which they acknowledge error when it is pointed out to them and quit a position no matter how deeply they have been committed to it1 at the first moment in which they see that they cannot hold it righteously1 their delicate sense of honour1 their utter immunity from what the ,sunchild used to call log- rolling or intrigue1 the scorn with which they regard anything like hitting below the belt--these ,i believe ,i may truly say are the virtues for which ,bridgeford is pre-eminently renowned40 ,the ,professor went on to say a great deal more about the fitness of ,bridgeford and the ,musical ,bank managers for the task imposed on them by the ,sunchild1 but here my father's attention flagged--nor1 on looking at the verbatim report of the sermon that appeared next morning in the leading ,sunch'ston journal1 do ,i see reason to reproduce ,hanky's words on this head4 ,it was all to shew that there had been no possibility of mistake4 ,meanwhile ,george was writing on a scrap of paper as though he was taking notes of the sermon4 ,presently he slipped this into my father's hand4 ,it ran3- 8,you see those vergers standing near my brothers1 who gave up their seats to us4 ,hanky tried to goad you into speaking that they might arrest you1 and get you into the ,bank prisons4 ,if you fall into their hands you are lost4 ,i must arrest you instantly on a charge of poaching on the ,king's preserves1 and make you my prisoner4 ,let those vergers catch sight of the warrant which ,i shall now give you4 ,read it and return it to me4 ,come with me quietly after service4 ,i think you had better not reveal yourself at all40 ,as soon as he had given my father time to read the foregoing1 ,george took a warrant out of his pocket4 ,my father pretended to read it and returned it4 ,george then laid his hand on his shoulder1 and in an undertone arrested him4 ,he then wrote on another scrap of paper and passed it on to the elder of his two brothers4 ,it was to the effect that he had now arrested my father1 and that if the vergers attempted in any way to interfere between him and his prisoner1 his brothers were to arrest both of them1 which1 as special constables1 they had power to do4 ,yram had noted ,hanky's attempt to goad my father1 and had not been prepared for his stealing a march upon her by trying to get my father arrested by ,musical ,bank officials1 rather than by her son4 ,on the preceding evening this last plan had been arranged on2 and she knew nothing of the note that ,hanky had sent an hour or two later to the ,manager of the temple--the substance of which the reader can sufficiently guess4 ,when she had heard ,hanky's words and saw the vergers1 she was for a few minutes seriously alarmed1 but she was reassured when she saw ,george give my father the warrant1 and her two sons evidently explaining the position to the vergers4 ,hanky had by this time changed his theme1 and was warning his hearers of the dangers that would follow on the legalization of the medical profession1 and the repeal of the edicts against machines4 ,space forbids me to give his picture of the horrible tortures that future generations would be put to by medical men1 if these were not duly kept in check by the influence of the ,musical ,banks2 the horrors of the inquisition in the middle ages are nothing to what he depicted as certain to ensue if medical men were ever to have much money at their command4 ,the only people in whose hands money might be trusted safely were those who presided over the ,musical ,banks4 ,this tirade was followed by one not less alarming about the growth of materialistic tendencies among the artisans employed in the production of mechanical inventions4 ,my father1 though his eyes had been somewhat opened by the second of the two processions he had seen on his way to ,sunch'ston1 was not prepared to find that in spite of the superficially almost universal acceptance of the new faith1 there was a powerful1 and it would seem growing1 undercurrent of scepticism1 with a desire to reduce his escape with my mother to a purely natural occurence4 8,it is not enough10 said ,hanky1 8that the ,sunchild should have ensured the preparation of authoritative evidence of his supernatural character4 ,the evidences happily exist in overwhelming strength1 but they must be brought home to minds that as yet have stubbornly refused to receive them4 ,during the last five years there has been an enormous increase in the number of those whose occupation in the manufacture of machines inclines them to a materialistic explanation even of the most obviously miraculous events1 and the growth of this class in our midst constituted1 and still constitutes1 a grave danger to the state4 8,it was to meet this that the society was formed on behalf of which ,i appeal fearlessly to your generosity4 ,it is called1 as most of you doubtless know1 the ,sunchild ,evidence ,society2 and his ,majesty the ,king graciously consented to become its ,patron4 ,this society not only collects additional evidences--indeed it is entirely due to its labours that the precious relic now in this temple was discovered--but it is its beneficent purpose to lay those that have been authoritatively investigated before men who1 if left to themselves1 would either neglect them altogether1 or worse still reject them4 8,for the first year or two the efforts of the society met with but little success among those for whose benefit they were more particularly intended1 but during the present year the working classes in some cities and towns 7stimulated very much by the lectures of my illustrious friend ,professor ,panky7 have shewn a most remarkable and zealous interest in ,sunchild evidences1 and have formed themselves into local branches for the study and defence of ,sunchild truth4 8,yet in spite of all this need--of all this patient labour and really very gratifying success--the subscriptions to the society no longer furnish it with its former very modest income--an income which is deplorably insufficient if the organization is to be kept effective1 and the work adequately performed4 ,in spite of the most rigid economy1 the committee have been compelled to part with a considerable portion of their small reserve fund 7provided by a legacy7 to tide over difficulties4 ,but this method of balancing expenditure and income is very unsatisfactory1 and cannot be long continued4 8,i am led to plead for the society with especial insistence at the present time1 inasmuch as more than one of those whose unblemished life has made them fitting recipients of such a signal favour1 have recently had visions informing them that the ,sunchild will again shortly visit us4 ,we know not when he will come1 but when he comes1 my friends1 let him not find us unmindful of1 nor ungrateful for1 the inestimable services he has rendered us4 ,for come he surely will4 ,either in winter1 what time icicles hang by the wall and milk comes frozen home in the pail--or in summer when days are at their longest and the mowing grass is about--there will be an hour1 either at morn1 or eve1 or in the middle day1 when he will again surely come4 ,may it be mine to be among those who are then present to receive him40 ,here he again glared at my father1 whose blood was boiling4 ,george had not positively forbidden him to speak out2 he therefore sprang to his feet1 8,you lying hound10 he cried1 8,i am the ,sunchild1 and you know it40 ,george1 who knew that he had my father in his own hands1 made no attempt to stop him1 and was delighted that he should have declared himself though he had felt it his duty to tell him not to do so4 ,yram turned pale4 ,hanky roared out1 8,tear him in pieces--leave not a single limb on his body4 ,take him out and burn him alive40 ,the vergers made a dash for him--but ,george's brothers seized them4 ,the crowd seemed for a moment inclined to do as ,hanky bade them1 but ,yram rose from her place1 and held up her hand as one who claimed attention4 ,she advanced towards ,george and my father as unconcernedly as though she were merely walking out of church1 but she still held her hand uplifted4 ,all eyes were turned on her1 as well as on ,george and my father1 and the icy calm of her self- possession chilled those who were inclined for the moment to take ,hanky's words literally4 ,there was not a trace of fluster in her gait1 action1 or words1 as she said-- 8,my friends1 this temple1 and this day1 must not be profaned with blood4 ,my son will take this poor madman to the prison4 ,let him be judged and punished according to law4 ,make room1 that he and my son may pass40 ,then1 turning to my father1 she said1 8,go quietly with the ,ranger40 ,having so spoken1 she returned to her seat as unconcernedly as she had left it4 ,hanky for a time continued to foam at the mouth and roar out1 8,tear him to pieces6 burn him alive60 but when he saw that there was no further hope of getting the people to obey him1 he collapsed on to a seat in his pulpit1 mopped his bald head1 and consoled himself with a great pinch of a powder which corresponds very closely to our own snuff4 ,george led my father out by the side door at the north end of the western aisle2 the people eyed him intently1 but made way for him without demonstration4 ,one voice alone was heard to cry out1 8,yes1 he is the ,sunchild60 ,my father glanced at the speaker1 and saw that he was the interpreter who had taught him the ,erewhonian language when he was in prison4 ,george1 seeing a special constable close by1 told him to bid his brothers release the vergers1 and let them arrest the interpreter--this the vergers1 foiled as they had been in the matter of my father's arrest1 were very glad to do4 ,so the poor interpreter1 to his dismay1 was lodged at once in one of the ,bank prison-cells1 where he could do no further harm4 ,,chapter ,,xvii3 ,,george ,,takes ,,his ,,father ,,to ,,prison1 ,,and ,,there ,,obtains ,,some ,,useful ,,information ,by this time ,george had got my father into the open square1 where he was surprised to find that a large bonfire had been made and lighted4 ,there had been nothing of the kind an hour before2 the wood1 therefore1 must have been piled and lighted while people had been in church4 ,he had no time at the moment to enquire why this had been done1 but later on he discovered that on the ,sunday morning the ,manager of the new temple had obtained leave from the ,mayor to have the wood piled in the square1 representing that this was ,professor ,hanky's contribution to the festivities of the day4 ,there had1 it seemed1 been no intention of lighting it until nightfall2 but it had accidentally caught fire through the carelessness of a workman1 much about the time when ,hanky began to preach4 ,no one for a moment believed that there had been any sinister intention1 or that ,professor ,hanky when he urged the crowd to burn my father alive1 even knew that there was a pile of wood in the square at all--much less that it had been lighted--for he could hardly have supposed that the wood had been got together so soon4 ,nevertheless both ,george and my father1 when they knew all that had passed1 congratulated themselves on the fact that my father had not fallen into the hands of the vergers1 who would probably have tried to utilise the accidental fire1 though in no case is it likely they would have succeeded4 ,as soon as they were inside the gaol1 the old ,master recognised my father4 8,bless my heart--what8 ,you here1 again1 ,mr4 ,higgs8 ,why1 ,i thought you were in the palace of the sun your father40 8,i wish ,i was10 answered my father1 shaking hands with him1 but he could say no more4 8,you are as safe here as if you were10 said ,george laughing1 8and safer40 ,then turning to his grandfather1 he said1 8,you have the record of ,mr4 ,higgs's marks and measurements8 ,i know you have3 take him to his old cell2 it is the best in the prison2 and then please bring me the record40 ,the old man took ,george and my father to the cell which he had occupied twenty years earlier--but ,i cannot stay to describe his feelings on finding himself again within it4 ,the moment his grandfather's back was turned1 ,george said to my father1 8,and now shake hands also with your son40 ,as he spoke he took my father's hand and pressed it warmly between both his own4 8,then you know you are my son10 said my father as steadily as the strong emotion that mastered him would permit4 8,certainly40 8,but you did not know this when ,i was walking with you on ,friday80 8,of course not4 ,i thought you were ,professor ,panky2 if ,i had not taken you for one of the two persons named in your permit1 ,i should have questioned you closely1 and probably ended by throwing you into the ,blue ,pool40 ,he shuddered as he said this4 8,but you knew who ,i was when you called me ,panky in the temple80 8,quite so4 ,my mother told me everything on ,friday evening40 8,and that is why you tried to find me at ,fairmead80 8,yes1 but where in the world were you80 8,i was inside the ,musical ,bank of the town1 resting and reading40 ,george laughed1 and said1 8,on purpose to hide80 8,oh no2 pure chance4 ,but on ,friday evening8 ,how could your mother have found out by that time that ,i was in ,erewhon8 ,am ,i on my head or my heels80 8,on your heels1 my father1 which shall take you back to your own country as soon as we can get you out of this40 8,what have ,i done to deserve so much goodwill8 ,i have done you nothing but harm80 ,again he was quite overcome4 ,george patted him gently on the hand1 and said1 8,you made a bet and you won it4 ,during the very short time that we can be together1 you shall be paid in full1 and may heaven protect us both40 ,as soon as my father could speak he said1 8,but how did your mother find out that ,i was in ,erewhon80 8,hanky and ,panky were dining with her1 and they told her some things that she thought strange4 ,she cross-questioned them1 put two and two together1 learned that you had got their permit out of them1 saw that you intended to return on ,friday1 and concluded that you would be sleeping in ,sunch'ston4 ,she sent for me1 told me all1 bade me scour ,sunch'ston to find you1 intending that you should be at once escorted safely over the preserves by me4 ,i found your inn1 but you had given us the slip4 ,i tried first ,fairmead and then ,clearwater1 but did not find you till this morning4 ,for reasons too long to repeat1 my mother warned ,hanky and ,panky that you would be in the temple2 whereon ,hanky tried to get you into his clutches4 ,happily he failed1 but if ,i had known what he was doing ,i should have arrested you before the service4 ,i ought to have done this1 but ,i wanted you to win your wager1 and ,i shall get you safely away in spite of them4 ,my mother will not like my having let you hear ,hanky's sermon and declare yourself40 8,you half told me not to say who ,i was40 8,yes1 but ,i was delighted when you disobeyed me40 8,i did it very badly4 ,i never rise to great occasions1 ,i always fall to them1 but these things must come as they come40 8,you did it as well as it could be done1 and good will come of it40 8,and now10 he continued1 8describe exactly all that passed between you and the ,professors4 ,on which side of ,panky did ,hanky sit1 and did they sit north and south or east and west8 ,how did you get--oh yes1 ,i know that--you told them it would be of no further use to them4 ,tell me all else you can40 ,my father said that the ,professors were sitting pretty well east and west1 so that ,hanky1 who was on the east side1 nearest the mountains1 had ,panky1 who was on the ,sunch'ston side1 on his right hand4 ,george made a note of this4 ,my father then told what the reader already knows1 but when he came to the measurement of the boots1 ,george said1 8,take your boots off10 and began taking off his own4 8,foot for foot10 said he1 8we are not father and son1 but brothers4 ,yours will fit me2 they are less worn than mine1 but ,i daresay you will not mind that40 ,on this ,george ex abundanti cautel knocked a nail out of the right boot that he had been wearing and changed boots with my father2 but he thought it more plausible not to knock out exactly the same nail that was missing on my father's boot4 ,when the change was made1 each found--or said he found--the other's boots quite comfortable4 ,my father all the time felt as though he were a basket given to a dog4 ,the dog had got him1 was proud of him1 and no one must try to take him away4 ,the promptitude with which ,george took to him1 the obvious pleasure he had in 8running0 him1 his quick judgement1 verging as it should towards rashness1 his confidence that my father trusted him without reserve1 the conviction of perfect openness that was conveyed by the way in which his eyes never budged from my father's when he spoke to him1 his genial1 kindly1 manner1 perfect physical health1 and the air he had of being on the best possible terms with himself and every one else--the combination of all this so overmastered my poor father 7who indeed had been sufficiently mastered before he had been five minutes in ,george's company7 that he resigned himself as gratefully to being a basket1 as ,george had cheerfully undertaken the task of carrying him4 ,in passing ,i may say that ,george could never get his own boots back again1 though he tried more than once to do so4 ,my father always made some excuse4 ,they were the only memento of ,george that he brought home with him2 ,i wonder that he did not ask for a lock of his hair1 but he did not4 ,he had the boots put against a wall in his bedroom1 where he could see them from his bed1 and during his illness1 while consciousness yet remained with him1 ,i saw his eyes continually turn towards them4 ,george1 in fact1 dominated him as long as anything in this world could do so4 ,nor do ,i wonder2 on the contrary1 ,i love his memory the better2 for ,i too1 as will appear later1 have seen ,george1 and whatever little jealousy ,i may have felt1 vanished on my finding him almost instantaneously gain the same ascendancy over me his brother1 that he had gained over his and my father4 ,but of this no more at present4 ,let me return to the gaol in ,sunch'ston4 8,tell me more10 said ,george1 8about the ,professors40 ,my father told him about the nuggets1 the sale of his kit1 the receipt he had given for the money1 and how he had got the nuggets back from a tree1 the position of which he described4 8,i know the tree2 have you got the nuggets here80 8,here they are1 with the receipt1 and the pocket handkerchief marked with ,hanky's name4 ,the pocket handkerchief was found wrapped round some dried leaves that we call tea1 but ,i have not got these with me40 ,as he spoke he gave everything to ,george1 who showed the utmost delight in getting possession of them4 8,i suppose the blanket and the rest of the kit are still in the tree80 8,unless ,hanky and ,panky have got them away1 or some one has found them40 8,this is not likely4 ,i will now go to my office1 but ,i will come back very shortly4 ,my grandfather shall bring you something to eat at once4 ,i will tell him to send enough for two0--which he accordingly did4 ,on reaching the office1 he told his next brother 7whom he had made an under-ranger7 to go to the tree he described1 and bring back the bundle he should find concealed therein4 8,you can go there and back10 he said1 8in an hour and a half1 and ,i shall want the bundle by that time40 ,the brother1 whose name ,i never rightly caught1 set out at once4 ,as soon as he was gone1 ,george took from a drawer the feathers and bones of quails1 that he had shown my father on the morning when he met him4 ,he divided them in half1 and made them into two bundles1 one of which he docketed1 8,bones of quails eaten1 ,,xix4 xii4 #bi1 by ,professor ,hanky1 ,p4,o4,w4,w41 c40 ,and he labelled ,panky's quail bones in like fashion4 ,having done this1 he returned to the gaol1 but on his way he looked in at the ,mayor's1 and left a note saying that he should be at the gaol1 where any message would reach him1 but that he did not wish to meet ,professors ,hanky and ,panky for another couple of hours4 ,it was now about half-past twelve1 and he caught sight of a crowd coming quietly out of the temple1 whereby he knew that ,hanky would soon be at the ,mayor's house4 ,dinner was brought in almost at the moment when ,george returned to the gaol4 ,as soon as it was over ,george said3- 8,are you quite sure you have made no mistake about the way in which you got the permit out of the ,professors80 8,quite sure4 ,i told them they would not want it1 and said ,i could save them trouble if they gave it me4 ,they never suspected why ,i wanted it4 ,where do you think ,i may be mistaken80 8,you sold your nuggets for rather less than a twentieth part of their value1 and you threw in some curiosities1 that would have fetched about half as much as you got for the nuggets4 ,you say you did this because you wanted money to keep you going till you could sell some of your nuggets4 ,this sounds well at first1 but the sacrifice is too great to be plausible when considered4 ,it looks more like a case of good honest manly straightforward corruption40 8,but surely you believe me80 8,of course ,i do4 ,i believe every syllable that comes from your mouth1 but ,i shall not be able to make out that the story was as it was not1 unless ,i am quite certain what it really was40 8,it was exactly as ,i have told you40 8,that is enough4 ,and now1 may ,i tell my mother that you will put yourself in her1 and the ,mayor's1 and my1 hands1 and will do whatever we tell you80 8,i will be obedience itself--but you will not ask me to do anything that will make your mother or you think less well of me80 8,if we tell you what you are to do1 we shall not think any the worse of you for doing it4 ,then ,i may say to my mother that you will be good and give no trouble--not even though we bid you shake hands with ,hanky and ,panky80 8,i will embrace them and kiss them on both cheeks1 if you and she tell me to do so4 ,but what about the ,mayor80 8,he has known everything1 and condoned everything1 these last twenty years4 ,he will leave everything to my mother and me40 8,shall ,i have to see him80 8,certainly4 ,you must be brought up before him to-morrow morning40 8,how can ,i look him in the face80 8,as you would me1 or any one else4 ,it is understood among us that nothing happened4 ,things may have looked as though they had happened1 but they did not happen40 8,and you are not yet quite twenty80 8,no1 but ,i am son to my mother--and10 he added1 8to one who can stretch a point or two in the way of honesty as well as other people40 ,having said this with a laugh1 he again took my father's hand between both his1 and went back to his office--where he set himself to think out the course he intended to take when dealing with the ,professors4 ,,chapter ,,xviii3 ,,yram ,,invites ,,dr4 ,,downie ,,and ,,mrs4 ,,humdrum ,,to ,,luncheon--,a ,,passage ,,at ,,arms ,,between ,,her ,,and ,,hanky ,,is ,,amicably ,,arranged ,the disturbance caused by my father's outbreak was quickly suppressed1 for ,george got him out of the temple almost immediately2 it was bruited about1 however1 that the ,sunchild had come down from the palace of the sun1 but had disappeared as soon as any one had tried to touch him4 ,in vain did ,hanky try to put fresh life into his sermon2 its back had been broken1 and large numbers left the church to see what they could hear outside1 or failing information1 to discourse more freely with one another4 ,hanky did his best to quiet his hearers when he found that he could not infuriate them1-- 8,this poor man10 he said1 8is already known to me1 as one of those who have deluded themselves into believing that they are the ,sunchild4 ,i have known of his so declaring himself1 more than once1 in the neighbourhood of ,bridgeford1 and others have not infrequently done the same2 ,i did not at first recognize him1 and regret that the shock of horror his words occasioned me should have prompted me to suggest violence against him4 ,let this unfortunate affair pass from your minds1 and let me again urge upon you the claims of the ,sunchild ,evidence ,society40 ,the audience on hearing that they were to be told more about the ,sunchild ,evidence ,society melted away even more rapidly than before1 and the sermon fizzled out to an ignominious end quite unworthy of its occasion4 ,about half-past twelve1 the service ended1 and ,hanky went to the robing- room to take off his vestments4 ,yram1 the ,mayor1 and ,panky1 waited for him at the door opposite to that through which my father had been taken2 while waiting1 ,yram scribbled off two notes in pencil1 one to ,dr4 ,downie1 and another to ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 begging them to come to lunch at once--for it would be one o'clock before they could reach the ,mayor's4 ,she gave these notes to the ,mayor1 and bade him bring both the invited guests along with him4 ,the ,mayor left just as ,hanky was coming towards her4 8,this1 ,mayoress10 he said with some asperity1 8is a very serious business4 ,it has ruined my collection4 ,half the people left the temple without giving anything at all4 ,you seem10 he added in a tone the significance of which could not be mistaken1 8to be very fond1 ,mayoress1 of this ,mr4 ,higgs40 8,yes10 said ,yram1 8,i am2 ,i always liked him1 and ,i am sorry for him2 but he is not the person ,i am most sorry for at this moment--he1 poor man1 is not going to be horsewhipped within the next twenty minutes40 ,and she spoke the 8he0 in italics4 8,i do not understand you1 ,mayoress40 8,my husband will explain1 as soon as ,i have seen him40 8,hanky10 said ,panky1 8you must withdraw1 and apologise at once40 ,hanky was not slow to do this1 and when he had disavowed everything1 withdrawn everything1 apologised for everything1 and eaten humble pie to ,yram's satisfaction1 she smiled graciously1 and held out her hand1 which ,hanky was obliged to take4 8,and now1 ,professor10 she said1 8let me return to your remark that this is a very serious business1 and let me also claim a woman's privilege of being listened to whenever she chooses to speak4 ,i propose1 then1 that we say nothing further about this matter till after luncheon4 ,i have asked ,dr4 ,downie and ,mrs4 ,humdrum to join us--0 8,why ,mrs4 ,humdrum80 interrupted ,hanky none too pleasantly1 for he was still furious about the duel that had just taken place between himself and his hostess4 8,my dear ,professor10 said ,yram good-humouredly1 8pray say all you have to say and ,i will continue40 ,hanky was silent4 8,i have asked10 resumed ,yram1 8,dr4 ,downie and ,mrs4 ,humdrum to join1 us1 and after luncheon we can discuss the situation or no as you may think proper4 ,till then let us say no more4 ,luncheon will be over by two o'clock or soon after1 and the banquet will not begin till seven1 so we shall have plenty of time40 ,hanky looked black and said nothing4 ,as for ,panky he was morally in a state of collapse1 and did not count4 ,hardly had they reached the ,mayor's house when the ,mayor also arrived with ,dr4 ,downie and ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 both of whom had seen and recognised my father in spite of his having dyed his hair4 ,dr4 ,downie had met him at supper in ,mr4 ,thims's rooms when he had visited ,bridgeford1 and naturally enough had observed him closely4 ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 as ,i have already said1 had seen him more than once when he was in prison4 ,she and ,dr4 ,downie were talking earnestly over the strange reappearance of one whom they had believed long since dead1 but ,yram imposed on them the same silence that she had already imposed on the ,professors4 8,professor ,hanky10 said she to ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 in ,hanky's hearing1 8is a little alarmed at my having asked you to join our secret conclave4 ,he is not married1 and does not know how well a woman can hold her tongue when she chooses4 ,i should have told you all that passed1 for ,i mean to follow your advice1 so ,i thought you had better hear everything yourself40 ,hanky still looked black1 but he said nothing4 ,luncheon was promptly served1 and done justice to in spite of much preoccupation2 for if there is one thing that gives a better appetite than another1 it is a ,sunday morning's service with a charity sermon to follow4 ,as the guests might not talk on the subject they wanted to talk about1 and were in no humour to speak of anything else1 they gave their whole attention to the good things that were before them1 without so much as a thought about reserving themselves for the evening's banquet4 ,nevertheless1 when luncheon was over1 the ,professors were in no more genial1 manageable1 state of mind than they had been when it began4 ,when the servants had left the room1 ,yram said to ,hanky1 8,you saw the prisoner1 and he was the man you met on ,thursday night80 8,certainly1 he was wearing the forbidden dress and he had many quails in his possession4 ,there is no doubt also that he was a foreign devil40 ,at this point1 it being now nearly half-past two1 ,george came in1 and took a seat next to ,mrs4 ,humdrum--between her and his mother--who of course sat at the head of the table with the ,mayor opposite to her4 ,on one side of the table sat the ,professors1 and on the other ,dr4 ,downie1 ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 and ,george1 who had heard the last few words that ,hanky had spoken4 ,,chapter ,,xix3 ,a ,,council ,,is ,,held ,,at ,,the ,,mayor',s1 ,,in ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,which ,,george ,,turns ,,the ,,tables ,,on ,,the ,,professors 8,now who10 said ,yram1 8is this unfortunate creature to be1 when he is brought up to-morrow morning1 on the charge of poaching80 8,it is not necessary10 said ,hanky severely1 8that he should be brought up for poaching4 ,he is a foreign devil1 and as such your son is bound to fling him without trial into the ,blue ,pool4 ,why bring a smaller charge when you must inflict the death penalty on a more serious one8 ,i have already told you that ,i shall feel it my duty to report the matter at headquarters1 unless ,i am satisfied that the death penalty has been inflicted40 8,of course10 said ,george1 8we must all of us do our duty1 and ,i shall not shrink from mine--but ,i have arrested this man on a charge of poaching1 and must give my reasons2 the case cannot be dropped1 and it must be heard in public4 ,am ,i1 or am ,i not1 to have the sworn depositions of both you gentlemen to the fact that the prisoner is the man you saw with quails in his possession8 ,if you can depose to this he will be convicted1 for there can be no doubt he killed the birds himself4 ,the least penalty my father can inflict is twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour2 and he must undergo this sentence before ,i can ,blue-,pool him4 8,then comes the question whether or no he is a foreign devil4 ,i may decide this in private1 but ,i must have depositions on oath before ,i do so1 and at present ,i have nothing but hearsay4 ,perhaps you gentlemen can give me the evidence ,i shall require1 but the case is one of such importance that were the prisoner proved never so clearly to be a foreign devil1 ,i should not ,blue-,pool him till ,i had taken the ,king's pleasure concerning him4 ,i shall rejoice1 therefore1 if you gentlemen can help me to sustain the charge of poaching1 and thus give me legal standing-ground for deferring action which the ,king might regret1 and which once taken cannot be recalled40 ,here ,yram interposed4 8,these points10 she said1 8are details4 ,should we not first settle1 not what1 but who1 we shall allow the prisoner to be1 when he is brought up to-morrow morning8 ,settle this1 and the rest will settle itself4 ,he has declared himself to be the ,sunchild1 and will probably do so again4 ,i am prepared to identify him1 so is ,dr4 ,downie1 so is ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 the interpreter1 and doubtless my father4 ,others of known respectability will also do so1 and his marks and measurements are sure to correspond quite sufficiently4 ,the question is1 whether all this is to be allowed to appear on evidence1 or whether it is to be established1 as it easily may1 if we give our minds to it1 that he is not the ,sunchild40 8,whatever else he is10 said ,hanky1 8he must not be the ,sunchild4 ,he must1 if the charge of poaching cannot be dropped1 be a poacher and a foreign devil4 ,i was doubtless too hasty when ,i said that ,i believed ,i recognized the man as one who had more than once declared himself to be the ,sunchild--0 8,but1 ,hanky10 interrupted ,panky1 8are you sure that you can swear to this man's being the man we met on ,thursday night8 ,we only saw him by firelight1 and ,i doubt whether ,i should feel justified in swearing to him40 8,well1 well3 on second thoughts ,i am not sure1 ,panky1 but what you may be right after all2 it is possible that he may be what ,i said he was in my sermon40 8,i rejoice to hear you say so10 said ,george1 8for in this case the charge of poaching will fall through4 ,there will be no evidence against the prisoner4 ,and ,i rejoice also to think that ,i shall have nothing to warrant me in believing him to be a foreign devil4 ,for if he is not to be the ,sunchild1 and not to be your poacher1 he becomes a mere monomaniac4 ,if he apologises for having made a disturbance in the temple1 and promises not to offend again1 a fine1 and a few days' imprisonment1 will meet the case1 and he may be discharged40 8,i see1 ,i see10 said ,hanky very angrily4 8,you are determined to get this man off if you can40 8,i shall act10 said ,george1 8in accordance with sworn evidence1 and not otherwise4 ,choose whether you will have the prisoner to be your poacher or no3 give me your sworn depositions one way or the other1 and ,i shall know how to act4 ,if you depose on oath to the identity of the prisoner and your poacher1 he will be convicted and imprisoned4 ,as to his being a foreign devil1 if he is the ,sunchild1 of course he is one2 but otherwise ,i cannot ,blue-,pool him even when his sentence is expired1 without testimony deposed to me on oath in private1 though no open trial is required4 ,a case for suspicion was made out in my hearing last night1 but ,i must have depositions on oath to all the leading facts before ,i can decide what my duty is4 ,what will you swear to80 8,all this10 said ,hanky1 in a voice husky with passion1 8shall be reported to the ,king40 8,i intend to report every word of it2 but that is not the point3 the question is what you gentlemen will swear to80 8,very well4 ,i will settle it thus4 ,we will swear that the prisoner is the poacher we met on ,thursday night1 and that he is also a foreign devil3 his wearing the forbidden dress2 his foreign accent2 the foot-tracks we found in the snow1 as of one coming over from the other side2 his obvious ignorance of the ,afforesting ,act1 as shown by his having lit a fire and making no effort to conceal his quails till our permit shewed him his blunder2 the cock-and-bull story he told us about your orders1 and that other story about his having killed a foreign devil--if these facts do not satisfy you1 they will satisfy the ,king that the prisoner is a foreign devil as well as a poacher40 8,some of these facts10 answered ,george1 8are new to me4 ,how do you know that the foot-tracks were made by the prisoner80 ,panky brought out his note-book and read the details he had noted4 8,did you examine the man's boots80 8,one of them1 the right foot2 this1 with the measurements1 was quite enough40 8,hardly4 ,please to look at both soles of my own boots2 you will find that those tracks were mine4 ,i will have the prisoner's boots examined2 in the meantime let me tell you that ,i was up at the statues on ,thursday morning1 walked three or four hundred yards beyond them1 over ground where there was less snow1 returned over the snow1 and went two or three times round them1 as it is the ,ranger's duty to do once a year in order to see that none of them are beginning to lean40 ,he showed the soles of his boots1 and the ,professors were obliged to admit that the tracks were his4 ,he cautioned them as to the rest of the points on which they relied4 ,might they not be as mistaken1 as they had just proved to be about the tracks8 ,he could not1 however1 stir them from sticking to it that there was enough evidence to prove my father to be a foreign devil1 and declaring their readiness to depose to the facts on oath4 ,in the end ,hanky again fiercely accused him of trying to shield the prisoner4 8,you are quite right10 said ,george1 8and you will see my reasons shortly40 8,i have no doubt10 said ,hanky significantly1 8that they are such as would weigh with any man of ordinary feeling40 8,i understand1 then10 said ,george1 appearing to take no notice of ,hanky's innuendo1 8that you will swear to the facts as you have above stated them80 8,certainly40 8,then kindly wait while ,i write them on the form that ,i have brought with me2 the ,mayor can administer the oath and sign your depositions4 ,i shall then be able to leave you1 and proceed with getting up the case against the prisoner40 ,so saying1 he went to a writing-table in another part of the room1 and made out the depositions4 ,meanwhile the ,mayor1 ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 and ,dr4 ,downie 7who had each of them more than once vainly tried to take part in the above discussion7 conversed eagerly in an undertone among themselves4 ,hanky was blind with rage1 for he had a sense that he was going to be outwitted2 the ,mayor1 ,yram1 and ,mrs4 ,humdrum had already seen that ,george thought he had all the trumps in his own hand1 but they did not know more4 ,dr4 ,downie was frightened1 and ,panky so muddled as to be hors de combat4 ,george now rejoined the ,professors1 and read the depositions3 the ,mayor administered the oath according to ,erewhonian custom2 the ,professors signed without a word1 and ,george then handed the document to his father to countersign4 ,the ,mayor examined it1 and almost immediately said1 8,my dear ,george1 you have made a mistake2 these depositions are on a form reserved for deponents who are on the point of death40 8,alas60 answered ,george1 8there is no help for it4 ,i did my utmost to prevent their signing4 ,i knew that those depositions were their own death warrant1--and that is why1 though ,i was satisfied that the prisoner is a foreign devil1 ,i had hoped to be able to shut my eyes4 ,i can now no longer do so1 and as the inevitable consequence1 ,i must ,blue-,pool both the ,professors before midnight4 ,what man of ordinary feeling would not under these circumstances have tried to dissuade them from deposing as they have done80 ,by this time the ,professors had started to their feet1 and there was a look of horrified astonishment on the faces of all present1 save that of ,george1 who seemed quite happy4 8,what monstrous absurdity is this80 shouted ,hanky2 8do you mean to murder us80 8,certainly not4 ,but you have insisted that ,i should do my duty1 and ,i mean to do it4 ,you gentlemen have now been proved to my satisfaction to have had traffic with a foreign devil2 and under section #cg of the ,afforesting ,act1 ,i must at once ,blue-,pool any such persons without public trial40 8,nonsense1 nonsense1 there was nothing of the kind on our permit1 and as for trafficking with this foreign devil1 we spoke to him1 but we neither bought nor sold4 ,where is the ,act80 8,here4 ,on your permit you were referred to certain other clauses not set out therein1 which might be seen at the ,mayor's office4 ,clause #cg is as follows3- 8,it is furthermore enacted that should any of his ,majesty's subjects be found1 after examination by the ,head ,ranger1 to have had traffic of any kind by way of sale or barter with any foreign devil1 the said ,ranger1 on being satisfied that such traffic has taken place1 shall forthwith1 with or without the assistance of his under-rangers1 convey such subjects of his ,majesty to the ,blue ,pool1 bind them1 weight them1 and fling them into it1 without the formality of a trial1 and shall report the circumstances of the case to his ,majesty40 8,but we never bought anything from the prisoner4 ,what evidence can you have of this but the word of a foreign devil in such straits that he would swear to anything80 8,the prisoner has nothing to do with it4 ,i am convinced by this receipt in ,professor ,panky's handwriting which states that he and you jointly purchased his kit from the prisoner1 and also this bag of gold nuggets worth about #ajj in silver1 for the absurdly small sum of #d1 #ajs4 in silver4 ,i am further convinced by this handkerchief marked with ,professor ,hanky's name1 in which was found a broken packet of dried leaves that are now at my office with the rest of the prisoner's kit40 8,then we were watched and dogged10 said ,hanky1 8on ,thursday evening40 8,that1 sir10 replied ,george1 8is my business1 not yours40 ,here ,panky laid his arms on the table1 buried his head in them1 and burst into tears4 ,every one seemed aghast1 but the ,mayor1 ,yram1 and ,mrs4 ,humdrum saw that ,george was enjoying it all far too keenly to be serious4 ,dr4 ,downie was still frightened 7for ,george's surface manner was ,rhadamanthine7 and did his utmost to console ,panky4 ,george pounded away ruthlessly at his case4 8,i say nothing about your having bought quails from the prisoner and eaten them4 ,as you justly remarked just now1 there is no object in preferring a smaller charge when one must inflict the death penalty on a more serious one4 ,still1 ,professor ,hanky1 these are bones of the quails you ate as you sate opposite the prisoner on the side of the fire nearest ,sunch'ston2 these are ,professor ,panky's bones1 with which ,i need not disturb him4 ,this is your permit1 which was found upon the prisoner1 and which there can be no doubt you sold him1 having been bribed by the offer of the nuggets for--0 8,monstrous1 monstrous6 ,infamous falsehood6 ,who will believe such a childish trumped up story60 8,who1 sir1 will believe anything else8 ,you will hardly contend that you did not know the nuggets were gold1 and no one will believe you mean enough to have tried to get this poor man's property out of him for a song--you knowing its value1 and he not knowing the same4 ,no one will believe that you did not know the man to be a foreign devil1 or that he could hoodwink two such learned ,professors so cleverly as to get their permit out of them4 ,obviously he seduced you into selling him your permit1 and--,i presume because he wanted a little of our money--he made you pay him for his kit4 ,i am satisfied that you have not only had traffic with a foreign devil1 but traffic of a singularly atrocious kind1 and this being so1 ,i shall ,blue-,pool both of you as soon as ,i can get you up to the ,pool itself4 ,the sooner we start the better4 ,i shall gag you1 and drive you up in a close carriage as far as the road goes2 from that point you can walk up1 or be dragged up as you may prefer1 but you will probably find walking more comfortable40 8,but10 said ,hanky1 8come what may1 ,i must be at the banquet4 ,i am set down to speak40 8,the ,mayor will explain that you have been taken somewhat suddenly unwell40 ,here ,yram1 who had been talking quietly with her husband1 ,dr4 ,downie1 and ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 motioned her son to silence4 8,i feared10 she said1 8that difficulties might arise1 though ,i did not foresee how seriously they would affect my guests4 ,let ,mrs4 ,humdrum on our side1 and ,dr4 ,downie on that of the ,professors1 go into the next room and talk the matter quietly over2 let us then see whether we cannot agree to be bound by their decision4 ,i do not doubt but they will find some means of averting any catastrophe more serious--,no1 ,professor ,hanky1 the doors are locked--than a little perjury in which we shall all share and share alike40 8,do what you like10 said ,hanky1 looking for all the world like a rat caught in a trap4 ,as he spoke he seized a knife from the table1 whereon ,george pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and slipped them on to his wrists before he well knew what was being done to him4 8,george10 said the ,mayor1 8this is going too far4 ,do you mean to ,blue- ,pool the ,professors or no80 8,not if they will compromise4 ,if they will be reasonable1 they will not be ,blue-,pooled2 if they think they can have everything their own way1 the eels will be at them before morning40 ,a voice was heard from the head of ,panky which he had buried in his arms upon the table4 8,co-co-co-compromise10 it said2 and the effect was so comic that every one except ,hanky smiled4 ,meanwhile ,yram had conducted ,dr4 ,downie and ,mrs4 ,humdrum into an adjoining room4 ,,chapter ,,xx3 ,,mrs4 ,,humdrum ,,and ,,dr4 ,,downie ,,propose ,a ,,compromise1 ,,which1 ,,after ,,an ,,amendment ,,by ,,george1 ,,is ,,carried ,,nem4 ,,con4 ,they returned in about ten minutes1 and ,dr4 ,downie asked ,mrs4 ,humdrum to say what they had agreed to recommend4 8,we think10 said she very demurely1 8that the strict course would be to drop the charge of poaching1 and ,blue-,pool both the ,professors and the prisoner without delay4 8,we also think that the proper thing would be to place on record that the prisoner is the ,sunchild--about which neither ,dr4 ,downie nor ,i have a shadow of doubt4 8,these measures we hold to be the only legal ones1 but at the same time we do not recommend them4 ,we think it would offend the public conscience if it came to be known1 as it certainly would1 that the ,sunchild was violently killed1 on the very day that had seen us dedicate a temple in his honour1 and perhaps at the very hour when laudatory speeches were being made about him at the ,mayor's banquet2 we think also that we should strain a good many points rather than ,blue-,pool the ,professors4 8,nothing is perfect1 and ,truth makes her mistakes like other people2 when she goes wrong and reduces herself to such an absurdity as she has here done1 those who love her must save her from herself1 correct her1 and rehabilitate her4 8,our conclusion1 therefore1 is this3- 8,the prisoner must recant on oath his statement that he is the ,sunchild4 ,the interpreter must be squared1 or convinced of his mistake4 ,the ,mayoress1 ,dr4 ,downie1 ,i1 and the gaoler 7with the interpreter if we can manage him71 must depose on oath that the prisoner is not ,higgs4 ,this must be our contribution to the rehabilitation of ,truth4 8,the ,professors must contribute as follows3 ,they must swear that the prisoner is not the man they met with quails in his possession on ,thursday night4 ,they must further swear that they have one or both of them known him1 off and on1 for many years past1 as a monomaniac with ,sunchildism on the brain but otherwise harmless4 ,if they will do this1 no proceedings are to be taken against them4 8,the ,mayor's contribution shall be to reprimand the prisoner1 and order him to repeat his recantation in the new temple before the ,manager and ,head ,cashier1 and to confirm his statement on oath by kissing the reliquary containing the newly found relic4 8,the ,ranger and the ,master of the ,gaol must contribute that the prisoner's measurements1 and the marks found on his body1 negative all possibility of his identity with the ,sunchild1 and that all the hair on the covered as well as the uncovered parts of his body was found to be jet black4 8,we advise further that the prisoner should have his nuggets and his kit returned to him1 and that the receipt given by the ,professors together with ,professor ,hanky's handkerchief be given back to the ,professors4 8,furthermore1 seeing that we should all of us like to have a quiet evening with the prisoner1 we should petition the ,mayor and ,mayoress to ask him to meet all here present at dinner to-morrow evening1 after his discharge1 on the plea that ,professors ,hanky and ,panky and ,dr4 ,downie may give him counsel1 convince him of his folly1 and if possible free him henceforth from the monomania under which he now suffers4 8,the prisoner shall give his word of honour1 never to return to ,erewhon1 nor to encourage any of his countrymen to do so4 ,after the dinner to which we hope the ,mayoress will invite us1 the ,ranger1 if the night is fair1 shall escort the prisoner as far as the statues1 whence he will find his own way home4 8,those who are in favour of this compromise hold up their hands40 ,the ,mayor and ,yram held up theirs4 8,will you hold up yours1 ,professor ,hanky10 said ,george1 8if ,i release you80 8,yes10 said ,hanky with a gruff laugh1 whereon ,george released him and he held up both his hands4 ,panky did not hold up his1 whereon ,hanky said1 8,hold up your hands1 ,panky1 can't you8 ,we are really very well out of it40 ,panky1 hardly lifting his head1 sobbed out1 8,i think we ought to have our f-f-fo-fo-four pounds ten returned to us40 8,i am afraid1 sir10 said ,george1 8that the prisoner must have spent the greater part of this money40 ,every one smiled1 indeed it was all ,george could do to prevent himself from laughing outright4 ,the ,mayor brought out his purse1 counted the money1 and handed it good-humouredly to ,panky1 who gratefully received it1 and said he would divide it with ,hanky4 ,he then held up his hands1 8,but10 he added1 turning to his brother ,professor1 8so long as ,i live1 ,hanky1 ,i will never go out anywhere again with you40 ,george then turned to ,hanky and said1 8,i am afraid ,i must now trouble you and ,professor ,panky to depose on oath to the facts which ,mrs4 ,humdrum and ,dr4 ,downie propose you should swear to in open court to-morrow4 ,i knew you would do so1 and have brought an ordinary form1 duly filled up1 which declares that the prisoner is not the poacher you met on ,thursday2 and also1 that he has been long known to both of you as a harmless monomaniac40 ,as he spoke he brought out depositions to the above effect which he had just written in his office2 he shewed the ,professors that the form was this time an innocent one1 whereon they made no demur to signing and swearing in the presence of the ,mayor1 who attested4 8,the former depositions10 said ,hanky1 8had better be destroyed at once40 8,that10 said ,george1 8may hardly be1 but so long as you stick to what you have just sworn to1 they will not be used against you40 ,hanky scowled1 but knew that he was powerless and said no more4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the knowledge of what ensued did not reach me from my father4 ,george and his mother1 seeing how ill he looked1 and what a shock the events of the last few days had given him1 resolved that he should not know of the risk that ,george was about to run2 they therefore said nothing to him about it4 ,what ,i shall now tell1 ,i learned on the occasion already referred to when ,i had the happiness to meet ,george4 ,i am in some doubt whether it is more fitly told here1 or when ,i come to the interview between him and me2 on the whole1 however1 ,i suppose chronological order is least outraged by dealing with it here4 ,as soon as the ,professors had signed the second depositions1 ,george said1 8,i have not yet held up my hands1 but ,i will hold them up if ,mrs4 ,humdrum and ,dr4 ,downie will approve of what ,i propose4 ,their compromise does not go far enough1 for swear as we may1 it is sure to get noised abroad1 with the usual exaggerations1 that the ,sunchild has been here1 and that he has been spirited away either by us1 or by the sun his father4 ,for one person whom we know of as having identified him1 there will be five1 of whom we know nothing1 and whom we cannot square4 ,reports will reach the ,king sooner or later1 and ,i shall be sent for4 ,meanwhile the ,professors will be living in fear of intrigue on my part1 and ,i1 however unreasonably1 shall fear the like on theirs4 ,this should not be4 ,i mean1 therefore1 on the day following my return from escorting the prisoner1 to set out for the capital1 see the ,king1 and make a clean breast of the whole matter4 ,to this end ,i must have the nuggets1 the prisoner's kit1 his receipt1 ,professor ,hanky's handkerchief1 and1 of course1 the two depositions just sworn to by the ,professors4 ,i hope and think that the ,king will pardon us all round2 but whatever he may do ,i shall tell him everything40 ,hanky was up in arms at once4 8,sheer madness10 he exclaimed4 ,yram and the ,mayor looked anxious2 ,dr4 ,downie eyed ,george as though he were some curious creature1 which he heard of but had never seen1 and was rather disposed to like4 ,mrs4 ,humdrum nodded her head approvingly4 8,quite right1 ,george10 said she1 8tell his ,majesty everything40 ,dr4 ,downie then said1 8,your son1 ,mayoress1 is a very sensible fellow4 ,i will go with him1 and with the ,professors--for they had better come too3 each will hear what the other says1 and we will tell the truth1 the whole truth1 and nothing but the truth4 ,i am1 as you know1 a persona grata at ,court2 ,i will say that ,i advised your son's action4 ,the ,king has liked him ever since he was a boy1 and ,i am not much afraid about what he will do4 ,in public1 no doubt we had better hush things up1 but in private the ,king must be told40 ,hanky fought hard for some time1 but ,george told him that it did not matter whether he agreed or no4 8,you can come10 he said1 8or stop away1 just as you please4 ,if you come1 you can hear and speak2 if you do not1 you will not hear1 but these two depositions will speak for you4 ,please yourself40 8,very well10 he said at last1 8,i suppose we had better go40 ,every one having now understood what his or her part was to be1 ,yram said they had better shake hands all round and take a couple of hours' rest before getting ready for the banquet4 ,george said that the ,professors did not shake hands with him very cordially1 but the farce was gone through4 ,when the hand-shaking was over1 ,dr4 ,downie and ,mrs4 ,humdrum left the house1 and the ,professors retired grumpily to their own room4 ,i will say here that no harm happened either to ,george or the ,professors in consequence of his having told the ,king1 but will reserve particulars for my concluding chapter4 ,,chapter ,,xxi3 ,,yram1 ,,on ,,getting ,,rid ,,of ,,her ,,guests1 ,,goes ,,to ,,the ,,prison ,,to ,,see ,,my ,,father ,yram did not take the advice she had given her guests1 but set about preparing a basket of the best cold dainties she could find1 including a bottle of choice wine that she knew my father would like2 thus loaded she went to the gaol1 which she entered by her father's private entrance4 ,it was now about half-past four1 so that much more must have been said and done after luncheon at the ,mayor's than ever reached my father4 ,the wonder is that he was able to collect so much4 ,he1 poor man1 as soon as ,george left him1 flung himself on to the bed that was in his cell and lay there wakeful1 but not unquiet1 till near the time when ,yram reached the gaol4 ,the old gaoler came to tell him that she had come and would be glad to see him2 much as he dreaded the meeting there was no avoiding it1 and in a few minutes ,yram stood before him4 ,both were agitated1 but ,yram betrayed less of what she felt than my father4 ,he could only bow his head and cover his face with his hands4 ,yram said1 8,we are old friends2 take your hands from your face and let me see you4 ,there6 ,that is well40 ,she took his right hand between both hers1 looked at him with eyes full of kindness1 and said softly-- 8,you are not much changed1 but you look haggard1 worn1 and ill2 ,i am uneasy about you4 ,remember1 you are among friends1 who will see that no harm befalls you4 ,there is a look in your eyes that frightens me40 ,as she spoke she took the wine out of her basket1 and poured him out a glass1 but rather to give him some little thing to distract his attention1 than because she expected him to drink it--which he could not do4 ,she never asked him whether he found her altered1 or turned the conversation ever such a little on to herself2 all was for him2 to soothe and comfort him1 not in words alone1 but in look1 manner1 and voice4 ,my father knew that he could thank her best by controlling himself1 and letting himself be soothed and comforted--at any rate so far as he could seem to be4 ,up to this time they had been standing1 but now ,yram1 seeing my father calmer1 said1 8,enough1 let us sit down40 ,so saying she seated herself at one end of the small table that was in the cell1 and motioned my father to sit opposite to her4 8,the light hurts you80 she said1 for the sun was coming into the room4 8,change places with me1 ,i am a sun worshipper4 ,no1 we can move the table1 and we can then see each other better40 ,this done1 she said1 still very softly1 8,and now tell me what it is all about4 ,why have you come here80 8,tell me first10 said my father1 8what befell you after ,i had been taken away4 ,why did you not send me word when you found what had happened8 or come after me8 ,you know ,i should have married you at once1 unless they bound me in fetters40 8,i know you would2 but you remember ,mrs4 ,humdrum8 ,yes1 ,i see you do4 ,i told her everything2 it was she who saved me4 ,we thought of you1 but she saw that it would not do4 ,as ,i was to marry ,mr4 ,strong1 the more you were lost sight of the better1 but with ,george ever with me ,i have not been able to forget you4 ,i might have been very happy with you1 but ,i could not have been happier than ,i have been ever since that short dreadful time was over4 ,george must tell you the rest4 ,i cannot do so4 ,all is well4 ,i love my husband with my whole heart and soul1 and he loves me with his4 ,as between him and me1 he knows everything2 ,george is his son1 not yours2 we have settled it so1 though we both know otherwise2 as between you and me1 for this one hour1 here1 there is no use in pretending that you are not ,george's father4 ,i have said all ,i need say4 ,now1 tell me what ,i asked you--,why are you here80 8,i fear10 said my father1 set at rest by the sweetness of ,yram's voice and manner--he told me he had never seen any one to compare with her except my mother--8,i fear1 to do as much harm now as ,i did before1 and with as little wish to do any harm at all40 ,he then told her all that the reader knows1 and explained how he had thought he could have gone about the country as a peasant1 and seen how she herself had fared1 without her1 or any one1 even suspecting that he was in the country4 8,you say your wife is dead1 and that she left you with a son--is he like ,george80 8,in mind and disposition1 wonderfully2 in appearance1 no2 he is dark and takes after his mother1 and though he is handsome1 he is not so good-looking as ,george40 8,no one10 said ,george's mother1 8ever was1 or ever will be1 and he is as good as he looks40 8,i should not have believed you if you had said he was not40 8,that is right4 ,i am glad you are proud of him4 ,he irradiates the lives of every one of us40 8,and the mere knowledge that he exists will irradiate the rest of mine40 8,long may it do so4 ,let us now talk about this morning--did you mean to declare yourself80 8,i do not know what ,i meant2 what ,i most cared about was the doing what ,i thought ,george would wish to see his father do40 8,you did that2 but he says he told you not to say who you were40 8,so he did1 but ,i knew what he would think right4 ,he was uppermost in my thoughts all the time40 ,yram smiled1 and said1 8,george is a dangerous person2 you were both of you very foolish2 one as bad as the other40 8,i do not know4 ,i do not know anything4 ,it is beyond me2 but ,i am at peace about it1 and hope ,i shall do the like again to-morrow before the ,mayor40 8,i heartily hope you will do nothing of the kind4 ,george tells me you have promised him to be good and to do as we bid you40 8,so ,i will2 but he will not tell me to say that ,i am not what ,i am40 8,yes1 he will1 and ,i will tell you why4 ,if we permit you to be ,higgs the ,sunchild1 he must either throw his own father into the ,blue ,pool--which he will not do--or run great risk of being thrown into it himself1 for not having ,blue-,pooled a foreigner4 ,i am afraid we shall have to make you do a good deal that neither you nor we shall like40 ,she then told him briefly of what had passed after luncheon at her house1 and what it had been settled to do1 leaving ,george to tell the details while escorting him towards the statues on the following evening4 ,she said that every one would be so completely in every one else's power that there was no fear of any one's turning traitor4 ,but she said nothing about ,george's intention of setting out for the capital on ,wednesday morning to tell the whole story to the ,king4 8,now10 she said1 when she had told him as much as was necessary1 8be good1 and do as you said you would40 8,i will4 ,i will deny myself1 not once1 nor twice1 but as often as is necessary4 ,i will kiss the reliquary1 and when ,i meet ,hanky and ,panky at your table1 ,i will be sworn brother to them--so long1 that is1 as ,george is out of hearing2 for ,i cannot lie well to them when he is listening40 8,oh yes1 you can4 ,he will understand all about it2 he enjoys falsehood as well as we all do1 and has the nicest sense of when to lie and when not to do so40 8,what gift can be more invaluable80 ,my father1 knowing that he might not have another chance of seeing ,yram alone1 now changed the conversation4 8,i have something10 he said1 8for ,george1 but he must know nothing about it till after ,i am gone40 ,as he spoke1 he took from his pockets the nine small bags of nuggets that remained to him4 8,but this10 said ,yram1 8being gold1 is a large sum3 can you indeed spare it1 and do you really wish ,george to have it all80 8,i shall be very unhappy if he does not1 but he must know nothing about it till ,i am out of ,erewhon40 ,my father then explained to her that he was now very rich1 and would have brought ten times as much1 if he had known of ,george's existence4 8,then10 said ,yram1 musing1 8if you are rich1 ,i accept and thank you heartily on his behalf4 ,i can see a reason for his not knowing what you are giving him at present1 but it is too long to tell40 ,the reason was1 that if ,george knew of this gold before he saw the ,king1 he would be sure to tell him of it1 and the ,king might claim it1 for ,george would never explain that it was a gift from father to son2 whereas if the ,king had once pardoned him1 he would not be so squeamish as to open up the whole thing again with a postscript to his confession4 ,but of this she said not a word4 ,my father then told her of the box of sovereigns that he had left in his saddle-bags4 8,they are coined10 he said1 8and ,george will have to melt them down1 but he will find some way of doing this4 ,they will be worth rather more than these nine bags of nuggets40 8,the difficulty will be to get him to go down and fetch them1 for it is against his oath to go far beyond the statues4 ,if you could be taken faint and say you wanted help1 he would see you to your camping ground without a word1 but he would be angry if he found he had been tricked into breaking his oath in order that money might be given him4 ,it would never do4 ,besides1 there would not be time1 for he must be back here on ,tuesday night4 ,no2 if he breaks his oath he must do it with his eyes open--and he will do it later on--or ,i will go and fetch the money for him myself4 ,he is in love with a grand-daughter of ,mrs4 ,humdrum's1 and this sum1 together with what you are now leaving with me1 will make him a well-to-do man4 ,i have always been unhappy about his having any of the ,mayor's money1 and his salary was not quite enough for him to marry on4 ,what can ,i say to thank you80 8,tell me1 please1 about ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter4 ,you like her as a wife for ,george80 8,absolutely4 ,she is just such another as her grandmother must have been4 ,she and ,george have been sworn lovers ever since he was ten1 and she eight4 ,the only drawback is that her mother1 ,mrs4 ,humdrum's second daughter1 married for love1 and there are many children1 so that there will be no money with her2 but what you are leaving will make everything quite easy1 for he will sell the gold at once4 ,i am so glad about it40 8,can you ask ,mrs4 ,humdrum to bring her grand-daughter with her to-morrow evening80 8,i am afraid not1 for we shall want to talk freely at dinner1 and she must not know that you are the ,sunchild2 she shall come to my house in the afternoon and you can see her then4 ,you will be quite happy about her1 but of course she must not know that you are her father-in-law that is to be40 8,one thing more4 ,as ,george must know nothing about the sovereigns1 ,i must tell you how ,i will hide them4 ,they are in a silver box1 which ,i will bind to the bough of some tree close to my camp2 or if ,i can find a tree with a hole in it ,i will drop the box into the hole4 ,he cannot miss my camp2 he has only to follow the stream that runs down from the pass till it gets near a large river1 and on a small triangular patch of flat ground1 he will see the ashes of my camp fire1 a few yards away from the stream on his right hand as he descends4 ,in whatever tree ,i may hide the box1 ,i will strew wood ashes for some yards in a straight line towards it4 ,i will then light another fire underneath1 and blaze the tree with a knife that ,i have left at my camping ground4 ,he is sure to find it40 ,yram again thanked him1 and then my father1 to change the conversation1 asked whether she thought that ,george really would have ,blue-,pooled the ,professors4 8,there is no knowing10 said ,yram4 8,he is the gentlest creature living till some great provocation rouses him1 and ,i never saw him hate and despise any one as he does the ,professors4 ,much of what he said was merely put on1 for he knew the ,professors must yield4 ,i do not like his ever having to throw any one into that horrid place1 no more does he1 but the ,rangership is exactly the sort of thing to suit him1 and the opening was too good to lose4 ,i must now leave you1 and get ready for the ,mayor's banquet4 ,we shall meet again to-morrow evening4 ,try and eat what ,i have brought you in this basket4 ,i hope you will like the wine40 ,she put out her hand1 which my father took1 and in another moment she was gone1 for she saw a look in his face as though he would fain have asked her to let him once more press his lips to hers4 ,had he done this1 without thinking about it1 it is likely enough she would not have been ill pleased4 ,but who can say8 ,for the rest of the evening my father was left very much to his own not too comfortable reflections4 ,he spent part of it in posting up the notes from which1 as well as from his own mouth1 my story is in great part taken4 ,the good things that ,yram had left with him1 and his pipe1 which she had told him he might smoke quite freely1 occupied another part1 and by ten o'clock he went to bed4 ,,chapter ,,xxii3 ,,mainly ,,occupied ,,with ,a ,,veracious ,,extract ,,from ,a ,,sunch',,stonian ,,journal ,while my father was thus wiling away the hours in his cell1 the whole town was being illuminated in his honour1 and not more than a couple of hundred yards off1 at the ,mayor's banquet1 he was being extolled as a superhuman being4 ,the banquet1 which was at the town hall1 was indeed a very brilliant affair1 but the little space that is left me forbids my saying more than that ,hanky made what was considered the speech of the evening1 and betrayed no sign of ill effects from the bad quarter of an hour which he had spent so recently4 ,not a trace was to be seen of any desire on his part to change his tone as regards ,sunchildism--as1 for example1 to minimize the importance of the relic1 or to remind his hearers that though the chariot and horses had undoubtedly come down from the sky and carried away my father and mother1 yet that the earlier stage of the ascent had been made in a balloon4 ,it almost seemed1 so ,george told my father1 as though he had resolved that he would speak lies1 all lies1 and nothing but lies4 ,panky1 who was also to have spoken1 was excused by the ,mayor on the ground that the great heat and the excitement of the day's proceedings had quite robbed him of his voice4 ,dr4 ,downie had a jumping cat before his mental vision4 ,he spoke quietly and sensibly1 dwelling chiefly on the benefits that had already accrued to the kingdom through the abolition of the edicts against machinery1 and the great developments which he foresaw as probable in the near future4 ,he held up the ,sunchild's example1 and his ethical teaching1 to the imitation and admiration of his hearers1 but he said nothing about the miraculous element in my father's career1 on which he declared that his friend ,professor ,hanky had already so eloquently enlarged as to make further allusion to it superfluous4 ,the reader knows what was to happen on the following morning4 ,the programme concerted at the ,mayor's was strictly adhered to4 ,the following account1 however1 which appeared in the ,sunch'ston bi-weekly newspaper two days after my father had left1 was given me by ,george a year later1 on the occasion of that interview to which ,i have already more than once referred4 ,there were other accounts in other papers1 but the one ,i am giving departs the least widely from the facts4 ,it ran3- 8,the close of a disagreeable incident4--,our readers will remember that on ,sunday last during the solemn inauguration of the temple now dedicated to the ,sunchild1 an individual on the front bench of those set apart for the public suddenly interrupted ,professor ,hanky's eloquent sermon by declaring himself to be the ,sunchild1 and saying that he had come down from the sun to sanctify by his presence the glorious fane which the piety of our fellow-citizens and others has erected in his honour4 8,wild rumours obtained credence throughout the congregation to the effect that this person was none other than the ,sunchild himself1 and in spite of the fact that his complexion and the colour of his hair showed this to be impossible1 more than one person was carried away by the excitement of the moment1 and by some few points of resemblance between the stranger and the ,sunchild4 ,under the influence of this belief1 they were preparing to give him the honour which they supposed justly due to him1 when to the surprise of every one he was taken into custody by the deservedly popular ,ranger of the ,king's preserves1 and in the course of the afternoon it became generally known that he had been arrested on the charge of being one of a gang of poachers who have been known for some time past to be making much havoc among the quails on the preserves4 8,this offence1 at all times deplored by those who desire that his ,majesty should enjoy good sport when he honours us with a visit1 is doubly deplorable during the season when1 on the higher parts of the preserves1 the young birds are not yet able to shift for themselves2 the ,ranger1 therefore1 is indefatigable in his efforts to break up the gang1 and with this end in view1 for the last fortnight has been out night and day on the remoter sections of the forest--little suspecting that the marauders would venture so near ,sunch'ston as it now seems they have done4 ,it is to his extreme anxiety to detect and punish these miscreants that we must ascribe the arrest of a man1 who1 however foolish1 and indeed guilty1 he is in other respects1 is innocent of the particular crime imputed to him4 ,the circumstances that led to his arrest have reached us from an exceptionally well-informed source1 and are as follows3- 8,our distinguished guests1 ,professors ,hanky and ,panky1 both of them justly celebrated archaeologists1 had availed themselves of the opportunity afforded them by their visit to ,sunch'ston1 to inspect the mysterious statues at the head of the stream that comes down near this city1 and which have hitherto baffled all those who have tried to ascertain their date and purpose4 8,on their descent after a fatiguing day the ,professors were benighted1 and lost their way4 ,seeing the light of a small fire among some trees near them1 they made towards it1 hoping to be directed rightly1 and found a man1 respectably dressed1 sitting by the fire with several brace of quails beside him1 some of them plucked4 ,believing that in spite of his appearance1 which would not have led them to suppose that he was a poacher1 he must unquestionably be one1 they hurriedly enquired their way1 intending to leave him as soon as they had got their answer2 he1 however1 attacked them1 or made as though he would do so1 and said he would show them a way which they should be in no fear of losing1 whereon ,professor ,hanky1 with a well-directed blow1 felled him to the ground4 ,the two ,professors1 fearing that other poachers might come to his assistance1 made off as nearly as they could guess in the direction of ,sunch'ston4 ,when they had gone a mile or two onward at haphazard1 they sat down under a large tree1 and waited till day began to break2 they then resumed their journey1 and before long struck a path which led them to a spot from which they could see the towers of the new temple4 8,fatigued though they were1 they waited before taking the rest of which they stood much in need1 till they had reported their adventure at the ,ranger's office4 ,the ,ranger was still out on the preserves1 but immediately on his return on ,saturday morning he read the description of the poacher's appearance and dress1 about which last1 however1 the only remarkable feature was that it was better than a poacher might be expected to possess1 and gave an air of respectability to the wearer that might easily disarm suspicion4 8,the ,ranger made enquiries at all the inns in ,sunch'ston1 and at length succeeded in hearing of a stranger who appeared to correspond with the poacher whom the ,professors had seen2 but the man had already left1 and though the ,ranger did his best to trace him he did not succeed4 ,on ,sunday morning1 however1 he observed the prisoner1 and found that he answered the description given by the ,professors2 he therefore arrested him quietly in the temple1 but told him that he should not take him to prison till the service was over4 ,the man said he would come quietly inasmuch as he should easily be able to prove his innocence4 ,in the meantime1 however1 he professed the utmost anxiety to hear ,professor ,hanky's sermon1 which he said he believed would concern him nearly4 ,the ,ranger paid no attention to this1 and was as much astounded as the rest of the congregation were1 when immediately after one of ,professor ,hanky's most eloquent passages1 the man started up and declared himself to be the ,sunchild4 ,on this the ,ranger took him away at once1 and for the man's own protection hurried him off to prison4 8,professor ,hanky was so much shocked at such outrageous conduct1 that for the moment he failed to recognise the offender2 after a few seconds1 however1 he grasped the situation1 and knew him to be one who on previous occasions1 near ,bridgeford1 had done what he was now doing4 ,it seems that he is notorious in the neighbourhood of ,bridgeford1 as a monomaniac who is so deeply impressed with the beauty of the ,sunchild's character--and we presume also of his own--as to believe that he is himself the ,sunchild4 8,recovering almost instantly from the shock the interruption had given him1 the learned ,professor calmed his hearers by acquainting them with the facts of the case1 and continued his sermon to the delight of all who heard it4 ,we should say1 however1 that the gentleman who twenty years ago instructed the ,sunchild in the ,erewhonian language1 was so struck with some few points of resemblance between the stranger1 and his former pupil1 that he acclaimed him1 and was removed forcibly by the vergers4 8,on ,monday morning the prisoner was brought up before the ,mayor4 ,we cannot say whether it was the sobering effect of prison walls1 or whether he had been drinking before he entered the temple1 and had now had time enough to recover himself--at any rate for some reason or other he was abjectly penitent when his case came on for hearing4 ,the charge of poaching was first gone into1 but was immediately disposed of by the evidence of the two ,professors1 who stated that the prisoner bore no resemblance to the poacher they had seen1 save that he was about the same height and age1 and was respectably dressed4 8,the charge of disturbing the congregation by declaring himself the ,sunchild was then proceeded with1 and unnecessary as it may appear to be1 it was thought advisable to prevent all possibility of the man's assertion being accepted by the ignorant as true1 at some later date1 when those who could prove its falsehood were no longer living4 ,the prisoner1 therefore1 was removed to his cell1 and there measured by the ,master of the ,gaol1 and the ,ranger in the presence of the ,mayor1 who attested the accuracy of the measurements4 ,not one single one of them corresponded with those recorded of the ,sunchild himself1 and a few marks such as moles1 and permanent scars on the ,sunchild's body were not found on the prisoner's4 ,furthermore the prisoner was shaggy-breasted1 with much coarse jet black hair on the fore-arms and from the knees downwards1 whereas the ,sunchild had little hair save on his head1 and what little there was1 was fine1 and very light in colour4 8,confronted with these discrepancies1 the gentleman who had taught the ,sunchild our language was convinced of his mistake1 though he still maintained that there was some superficial likeness between his former pupil and the prisoner4 ,here he was confirmed by the ,master of the ,gaol1 the ,mayoress1 ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 and ,professors ,hanky and ,panky1 who all of them could see what the interpreter meant1 but denied that the prisoner could be mistaken for the ,sunchild for more than a few seconds4 ,no doubt the prisoner's unhappy delusion has been fostered1 if not entirely caused1 by his having been repeatedly told that he was like the ,sunchild4 ,the celebrated ,dr4 ,downie1 who well remembers the ,sunchild1 was also examined1 and gave his evidence with so much convincing detail as to make it unnecessary to call further witnesses4 8,it having been thus once for all officially and authoritatively placed on record that the prisoner was not the ,sunchild1 ,professors ,hanky and ,panky then identified him as a well known monomaniac on the subject of ,sunchildism1 who in other respects was harmless4 ,we withhold his name and place of abode1 out of consideration for the well known and highly respectable family to which he belongs4 ,the prisoner admitted with much contrition that he had made a disturbance in the temple1 but pleaded that he had been carried away by the eloquence of ,professor ,hanky2 he promised to avoid all like offence in future1 and threw himself on the mercy of the court4 8,the ,mayor1 unwilling that ,sunday's memorable ceremony should be the occasion of a serious punishment to any of those who took part in it1 reprimanded the prisoner in a few severe but not unkindly words1 inflicted a fine of forty shillings1 and ordered that the prisoner should be taken directly to the temple1 where he should confess his folly to the ,manager and ,head ,cashier1 and confirm his words by kissing the reliquary in which the newly found relic has been placed4 ,the prisoner being unable to pay the fine1 some of the ladies and gentlemen in court kindly raised the amount amongst them1 in pity for the poor creature's obvious contrition1 rather than see him sent to prison for a month in default of payment4 8,the prisoner was then conducted to the temple1 followed by a considerable number of people4 ,strange to say1 in spite of the overwhelming evidence that they had just heard1 some few among the followers1 whose love of the marvellous overpowered their reason1 still maintained that the prisoner was the ,sunchild4 ,nothing could be more decorous than the prisoner's behaviour when1 after hearing the recantation that was read out to him by the ,manager1 he signed the document with his name and address1 which we again withhold1 and kissed the reliquary in confirmation of his words4 8,the ,mayor then declared the prisoner to be at liberty4 ,when he had done so he said1 #8,i strongly urge you to place yourself under my protection for the present1 that you may be freed from the impertinent folly and curiosity of some whose infatuation might lead you from that better mind to which ,i believe you are now happily restored4 ,i wish you to remain for some few hours secluded in the privacy of my own study1 where ,dr4 ,downie and the two excellent ,professors will administer that ghostly counsel to you1 which will be likely to protect you from any return of your unhappy delusion4' 8,the man humbly bowed assent1 and was taken by the ,mayor's younger sons to the ,mayor's own house1 where he was duly cared for4 ,about midnight1 when all was quiet1 he was conducted to the outskirts of the town towards ,clearwater1 and furnished with enough money to provide for his more pressing necessities till he could reach some relatives who reside three or four days' walk down on the road towards the capital4 ,he desired the man who accompanied him to repeat to the ,mayor his heartfelt thanks for the forbearance and generosity with which he had been treated4 ,the remembrance of this1 he said1 should be ever present with him1 and he was confident would protect him if his unhappy monomania shewed any signs of returning4 8,let us now1 however1 remind our readers that the poacher who threatened ,professors ,hanky and ,panky's life on ,thursday evening last is still at large4 ,he is evidently a man of desperate character1 and it is to be hoped that our fellow-citizens will give immediate information at the ,ranger's office if they see any stranger in the neighbourhood of the preserves whom they may have reasonable grounds for suspecting4 8,p4,s4--,as we are on the point of going to press we learn that a dangerous lunatic1 who has been for some years confined in the ,clearwater asylum1 succeeded in escaping on the night of ,wednesday last1 and it is surmised with much probability1 that this was the man who threatened the two ,professors on ,thursday evening4 ,his being alone1 his having dared to light a fire1 probably to cook quails which he had been driven to kill from stress of hunger1 the respectability of his dress1 and the fury with which he would have attacked the two ,professors single-handed1 but for ,professor ,hanky's presence of mind in giving him a knock-down blow1 all point in the direction of thinking that he was no true poacher1 but1 what is even more dangerous--a madman at large4 ,we have not received any particulars as to the man's appearance1 nor the clothes he was wearing1 but we have little doubt that these will confirm the surmise to which we now give publicity4 ,if it is correct it becomes doubly incumbent on all our fellow-citizens to be both on the watch1 and on their guard4 8,we may add that the man was fully believed to have taken the direction towards the capital2 hence no attempts were made to look for him in the neighbourhood of ,sunch'ston1 until news of the threatened attack on the ,professors led the keeper of the asylum to feel confident that he had hitherto been on a wrong scent40 ,,chapter ,,xxiii3 ,,my ,,father ,,is ,,escorted ,,to ,,the ,,mayor',s ,,house1 ,,and ,,is ,,introduced ,,to ,a ,,future ,,daughter-,,in-,,law ,my father said he was followed to the ,mayor's house by a good many people1 whom the ,mayor's sons in vain tried to get rid of4 ,one or two of these still persisted in saying he was the ,sunchild--whereon another said1 8,but his hair is black40 8,yes10 was the answer1 8but a man can dye his hair1 can he not8 look at his blue eyes and his eyelashes80 ,my father was doubting whether he ought not to again deny his identity out of loyalty to the ,mayor and ,yram1 when ,george's next brother said1 8,pay no attention to them1 but step out as fast as you can40 ,this settled the matter1 and in a few minutes they were at the ,mayor's1 where the young men took him into the study2 the elder said with a smile1 8,we should like to stay and talk to you1 but my mother said we were not to do so40 ,whereon they left him much to his regret1 but he gathered rightly that they had not been officially told who he was1 and were to be left to think what they liked1 at any rate for the present4 ,in a few minutes the ,mayor entered1 and going straight up to my father shook him cordially by the hand4 8,i have brought you this morning's paper10 said he4 8,you will find a full report of ,professor ,hanky's sermon1 and of the speeches at last night's banquet4 ,you see they pass over your little interruption with hardly a word1 but ,i dare say they will have made up their minds about it all by ,thursday's issue40 ,he laughed as he produced the paper--which my father brought home with him1 and without which ,i should not have been able to report ,hanky's sermon as fully as ,i have done4 ,but my father could not let things pass over thus lightly4 8,i thank you10 he said1 8but ,i have much more to thank you for1 and know not how to do it40 8,can you not trust me to take everything as said80 8,yes1 but ,i cannot trust myself not to be haunted if ,i do not say--or at any rate try to say--some part of what ,i ought to say40 8,very well2 then ,i will say something myself4 ,i have a small joke1 the only one ,i ever made1 which ,i inflict periodically upon my wife4 ,you1 and ,i suppose ,george1 are the only two other people in the world to whom it can ever be told2 let me see1 then1 if ,i cannot break the ice with it4 ,it is this4 ,some men have twin sons2 ,george in this topsy turvey world of ours has twin fathers--you by luck1 and me by cunning4 ,i see you smile2 give me your hand40 ,my father took the ,mayor's hand between both his own4 8,had ,i been in your place10 he said1 8,i should be glad to hope that ,i might have done as you did40 8,and ,i10 said the ,mayor1 more readily than might have been expected of him1 8fear that if ,i had been in yours--,i should have made it the proper thing for you to do4 ,there6 ,the ice is well broken1 and now for business4 ,you will lunch with us1 and dine in the evening4 ,i have given it out that you are of good family1 so there is nothing odd in this4 ,at lunch you will not be the ,sunchild1 for my younger children will be there2 at dinner all present will know who you are1 so we shall be free as soon as the servants are out of the room4 8,i am sorry1 but ,i must send you away with ,george as soon as the streets are empty--say at midnight--for the excitement is too great to allow of your staying longer4 ,we must keep your rug and the things you cook with1 but my wife will find you what will serve your turn4 ,there is no moon1 so you and ,george will camp out as soon as you get well on to the preserves2 the weather is hot1 and you will neither of you take any harm4 ,to-morrow by mid-day you will be at the statues1 where ,george must bid you good-bye1 for he must be at ,sunch'ston to-morrow night4 ,you will doubtless get safely home2 ,i wish with all my heart that ,i could hear of your having done so1 but this1 ,i fear1 may not be40 8,so be it10 replied my father1 8but there is something ,i should yet say4 ,the ,mayoress has no doubt told you of some gold1 coined and uncoined1 that ,i am leaving for ,george4 ,she will also have told you that ,i am rich2 this being so1 ,i should have brought him much more1 if ,i had known that there was any such person4 ,you have other children2 if you leave him anything1 you will be taking it away from your own flesh and blood2 if you leave him nothing1 it will be a slur upon him4 ,i must therefore send you enough gold1 to provide for ,george as your other children will be provided for2 you can settle it upon him at once1 and make it clear that the settlement is instead of provision for him by will4 ,the difficulty is in the getting the gold into ,erewhon1 and until it is actually here1 he must know nothing about it40 ,i have no space for the discussion that followed4 ,in the end it was settled that ,george was to have #bjjj in gold1 which the ,mayor declared to be too much1 and my father too little4 ,both1 however1 were agreed that ,erewhon would before long be compelled to enter into relations with foreign countries1 in which case the value of gold would decline so much as to make #bjjj worth little more than it would be in ,england4 ,the ,mayor proposed to buy land with it1 which he would hand over to ,george as a gift from himself1 and this my father at once acceded to4 ,all sorts of questions such as will occur to the reader were raised and settled1 but ,i must beg him to be content with knowing that everything was arranged with the good sense that two such men were sure to bring to bear upon it4 ,the getting the gold into ,erewhon was to be managed thus4 ,george was to know nothing1 but a promise was to be got from him that at noon on the following ,new ,year's day1 or whatever day might be agreed upon1 he would be at the statues1 where either my father or myself would meet him1 spend a couple of hours with him1 and then return4 ,whoever met ,george was to bring the gold as though it were for the ,mayor1 and ,george could be trusted to be human enough to bring it down1 when he saw that it would be left where it was if he did not do so4 8,he will kick a good deal10 said the ,mayor1 8at first1 but he will come round in the end40 ,luncheon was now announced4 ,my father was feeling faint and ill2 more than once during the forenoon he had had a return of the strange giddiness and momentary loss of memory which had already twice attacked him1 but he had recovered in each case so quickly that no one had seen he was unwell4 ,he1 poor man1 did not yet know what serious brain exhaustion these attacks betokened1 and finding himself in his usual health as soon as they passed away1 set them down as simply effects of fatigue and undue excitement4 ,george did not lunch with the others4 ,yram explained that he had to draw up a report which would occupy him till dinner time4 ,her three other sons1 and her three lovely daughters1 were there4 ,my father was delighted with all of them1 for they made friends with him at once4 ,he had feared that he would have been disgraced in their eyes1 by his having just come from prison1 but whatever they may have thought1 no trace of anything but a little engaging timidity on the girls' part was to be seen4 ,the two elder boys--or rather young men1 for they seemed fully grown1 though1 like ,george1 not yet bearded--treated him as already an old acquaintance1 while the youngest1 a lad of fourteen1 walked straight up to him1 put out his hand1 and said1 8,how do you do1 sir80 with a pretty blush that went straight to my father's heart4 8,these boys10 he said to ,yram aside1 8who have nothing to blush for--see how the blood mantles into their young cheeks1 while ,i1 who should blush at being spoken to by them1 cannot do so40 8,do not talk nonsense10 said ,yram1 with mock severity4 ,but it was no nonsense to my poor father4 ,he was awed at the goodness and beauty with which he found himself surrounded4 ,his thoughts were too full of what had been1 what was1 and what was yet to be1 to let him devote himself to these young people as he would dearly have liked to do4 ,he could only look at them1 wonder at them1 fall in love with them1 and thank heaven that ,george had been brought up in such a household4 ,when luncheon was over1 ,yram said1 8,i will now send you to a room where you can lie down and go to sleep for a few hours4 ,you will be out late to-night1 and had better rest while you can4 ,do you remember the drink you taught us to make of corn parched and ground8 ,you used to say you liked it4 ,a cup shall be brought to your room at about five1 for you must try and sleep till then4 ,if you notice a little box on the dressing- table of your room1 you will open it or no as you like4 ,about half-past five there will be a visitor1 whose name you can guess1 but ,i shall not let her stay long with you4 ,here comes the servant to take you to your room40 ,on this she smiled1 and turned somewhat hurriedly away4 ,my father on reaching his room went to the dressing-table1 where he saw a small unpretending box1 which he immediately opened4 ,on the top was a paper with the words1 8,look--say nothing--forget40 ,beneath this was some cotton wool1 and then--the two buttons and the lock of his own hair1 that he had given ,yram when he said good-bye to her4 ,the ghost of the lock that ,yram had then given him1 rose from the dead1 and smote him as with a whip across the face4 ,on what dust-heap had it not been thrown how many long years ago8 ,then she had never forgotten him8 to have been remembered all these years by such a woman as that1 and never to have heeded it--never to have found out what she was though he had seen her day after day for months4 ,ah6 but she was then still budding4 ,that was no excuse4 ,if a loveable woman--aye1 or any woman--has loved a man1 even though he cannot marry her1 or even wish to do so1 at any rate let him not forget her--and he had forgotten ,yram as completely until the last few days1 as though he had never seen her4 ,he took her little missive1 and under 8,look10 he wrote1 8,i have20 under 8,say nothing10 8,i will20 under 8forget10 8never40 8,and ,i never shall10 he said to himself1 as he replaced the box upon the table4 ,he then lay down to rest upon the bed1 but he could get no sleep4 ,when the servant brought him his imitation coffee--an imitation so successful that ,yram made him a packet of it to replace the tea that he must leave behind him--he rose and presently came downstairs into the drawing-room1 where he found ,yram and ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter1 of whom ,i will say nothing1 for ,i have never seen her1 and know nothing about her1 except that my father found her a sweet-looking girl1 of graceful figure and very attractive expression4 ,he was quite happy about her1 but she was too young and shy to make it possible for him to do more than admire her appearance1 and take ,yram's word for it that she was as good as she looked4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv3 ,,after ,,dinner1 ,,dr4 ,,downie ,,and ,,the ,,professors ,,would ,,be ,,glad ,,to ,,know ,,what ,,is ,,to ,,be ,,done ,,about ,,sunchildism ,it was about six when ,george's fiance left the house1 and as soon as she had done so1 ,yram began to see about the rug and the best substitutes she could find for the billy and pannikin4 ,she had a basket packed with all that my father and ,george would want to eat and drink while on the preserves1 and enough of everything1 except meat1 to keep my father going till he could reach the shepherd's hut of which ,i have already spoken4 ,meat would not keep1 and my father could get plenty of flappers--i4e4 ducks that cannot yet fly--when he was on the river-bed down below4 ,the above preparations had not been made very long1 before ,mrs4 ,humdrum arrived1 followed presently by ,dr4 ,downie and in due course by the ,professors1 who were still staying in the house4 ,my father remembered ,mrs4 ,humdrum's good honest face1 but could not bring ,dr4 ,downie to his recollection till the ,doctor told him when and where they had met1 and then he could only very uncertainly recall him1 though he vowed that he could now do so perfectly well4 8,at any rate10 said ,hanky1 advancing towards him with his best ,bridgeford manner1 8you will not have forgotten meeting my brother ,professor and myself40 8,it has been rather a forgetting sort of a morning10 said my father demurely1 8but ,i can remember that much1 and am delighted to renew my acquaintance with both of you40 ,as he spoke he shook hands with both ,professors4 ,george was a little late1 but when he came1 dinner was announced4 ,my father sat on ,yram's right-hand1 ,dr4 ,downie on her left4 ,george was next my father1 with ,mrs4 ,humdrum opposite to him4 ,the ,professors sat one on either side of the ,mayor4 ,during dinner the conversation turned almost entirely on my father's flight1 his narrow escape from drowning1 and his adventures on his return to ,england2 about these last my father was very reticent1 for he said nothing about his book1 and antedated his accession of wealth by some fifteen years1 but as he walked up towards the statues with ,george he told him everything4 ,my father repeatedly tried to turn the conversation from himself1 but ,mrs4 ,humdrum and ,yram wanted to know about ,nna ,haras1 as they persisted in calling my mother--how she endured her terrible experiences in the balloon1 when she and my father were married1 all about my unworthy self1 and ,england generally4 ,no matter how often he began to ask questions about the ,nosnibors and other old acquaintances1 both the ladies soon went back to his own adventures4 ,he succeeded1 however1 in learning that ,mr4 ,nosnibor was dead1 and ,zulora1 an old maid of the most unattractive kind1 who had persistently refused to accept ,sunchildism1 while ,mrs4 ,nosnibor was the recipient of honours hardly inferior to those conferred by the people at large on my father and mother1 with whom1 indeed1 she believed herself to have frequent interviews by way of visionary revelations4 ,so intolerable were these revelations to ,zulora1 that a separate establishment had been provided for her4 ,george said to my father quietly--8,do you know ,i begin to think that ,zulora must be rather a nice person40 8,perhaps10 said my father grimly1 8but my wife and ,i did not find it out40 ,when the ladies left the room1 ,dr4 ,downie took ,yram's seat1 and ,hanky ,dr4 ,downie's2 the ,mayor took ,mrs4 ,humdrum's1 leaving my father1 ,george1 and ,panky1 in their old places4 ,almost immediately1 ,dr4 ,downie said1 8,and now1 ,mr1 ,higgs1 tell us1 as a man of the world1 what we are to do about ,sunchildism80 ,my father smiled at this4 8,you know1 my dear sir1 as well as ,i do1 that the proper thing would be to put me back in prison1 and keep me there till you can send me down to the capital4 ,you should eat your oaths of this morning1 as ,i would eat mine2 tell every one here who ,i am2 let them see that my hair has been dyed2 get all who knew me when ,i was here before to come and see me2 appoint an unimpeachable committee to examine the record of my marks and measurements1 and compare it with those of my own body4 ,you should let me be seen in every town at which ,i lodged on my way down1 and tell people that you had made a mistake4 ,when you get to the capital1 hand me over to the ,king's tender mercies and say that our oaths were only taken this morning to prevent a ferment in the town4 ,i will play my part very willingly4 ,the ,king can only kill me1 and ,i should die like a gentleman40 8,they will not do it10 said ,george quietly to my father1 8and ,i am glad of it40 ,he was right4 8,this10 said ,dr4 ,downie1 8is a counsel of perfection4 ,things have gone too far1 and we are flesh and blood4 ,what would those who in your country come nearest to us ,musical ,bank ,managers do1 if they found they had made such a mistake as we have1 and dared not own it80 8,do not ask me10 said my father2 8the story is too long1 and too terrible40 8,at any rate1 then1 tell us what you would have us do that is within our reach40 8,i have done you harm enough1 and if ,i preach1 as likely as not ,i shall do more40 ,seeing1 however1 that ,dr4 ,downie was anxious to hear what he thought1 my father said-- 8,then ,i must tell you4 ,our religion sets before us an ideal which we all cordially accept1 but it also tells us of marvels like your chariot and horses1 which we most of us reject4 ,our best teachers insist on the ideal1 and keep the marvels in the background4 ,if they could say outright that our age has outgrown them1 they would say so1 but this they may not do2 nevertheless they contrive to let their opinions be sufficiently well known1 and their hearers are content with this4 8,we have others who take a very different course1 but of these ,i will not speak4 ,roughly1 then1 if you cannot abolish me altogether1 make me a peg on which to hang all your own best ethical and spiritual conceptions4 ,if you will do this1 and wriggle out of that wretched relic1 with that not less wretched picture--if you will make me out to be much better and abler than ,i was1 or ever shall be1 ,sunchildism may serve your turn for many a long year to come4 ,otherwise it will tumble about your heads before you think it will4 8,am ,i to go on or stop80 8,go on10 said ,george softly4 ,that was enough for my father1 so on he went4 8,you are already doing part of what ,i wish4 ,i was delighted with the two passages ,i heard on ,sunday1 from what you call the ,sunchild's ,sayings4 ,i never said a word of either passage2 ,i wish ,i had2 ,i wish ,i could say anything half so good4 ,and ,i have read a pamphlet by ,president ,gurgoyle1 which ,i liked extremely2 but ,i never said what he says ,i did4 ,again1 ,i wish ,i had4 ,keep to this sort of thing1 and ,i will be as good a ,sunchildist as any of you4 ,but you must bribe some thief to steal that relic1 and break it up to mend the roads with2 and--for ,i believe that here as elsewhere fires sometimes get lighted through the carelessness of a workman--set the most careless workman you can find to do a plumbing job near that picture40 ,hanky looked black at this1 and ,george trod lightly on my father's toe1 but he told me that my father's face was innocence itself4 8,these are hard sayings10 said ,dr4 ,downie4 8,i know they are10 replied my father1 8and ,i do not like saying them1 but there is no royal road to unlearning1 and you have much to unlearn4 ,still1 you ,musical ,bank people bear witness to the fact that beyond the kingdoms of this world there is another1 within which the writs of this world's kingdoms do not run4 ,this is the great service which our church does for us in ,england1 and hence many of us uphold it1 though we have no sympathy with the party now dominant within it4 #8,better1' we think1 #8a corrupt church than none at all4' ,moreover1 those who in my country would step into the church's shoes are as corrupt as the church1 and more exacting4 ,they are also more dangerous1 for the masses distrust the church1 and are on their guard against aggression1 whereas they do not suspect the doctrinaires and faddists1 who1 if they could1 would interfere in every concern of our lives4 8,let me return to yourselves4 ,you ,musical ,bank ,managers are very much such a body of men as your country needs--but when ,i was here before you had no figurehead2 ,i have unwittingly supplied you with one1 and it is perhaps because you saw this1 that you good people of ,bridgeford took up with me4 ,sunchildism is still young and plastic2 if you will let the cock-and-bull stories about me tacitly drop1 and invent no new ones1 beyond saying what a delightful person ,i was1 ,i really cannot see why ,i should not do for you as well as any one else4 8,there4 ,what ,i have said is nine-tenths of it rotten and wrong1 but it is the most practicable rotten and wrong that ,i can suggest1 seeing into what a rotten and wrong state of things you have drifted4 ,and now1 ,mr4 ,mayor1 do you not think we may join the ,mayoress and ,mrs4 ,humdrum80 8,as you please1 ,mr4 ,higgs10 answered the ,mayor4 8,then let us go1 for ,i have said too much already1 and your son ,george tells me that we must be starting shortly40 ,as they were leaving the room ,panky sidled up to my father and said1 8,there is a point1 ,mr4 ,higgs1 which you can settle for me1 though ,i feel pretty certain how you will settle it4 ,i think that a corruption has crept into the text of the very beautiful--0 ,at this moment1 as my father1 who saw what was coming1 was wondering what in the world he could say1 ,george came up to him and said1 8,mr4 ,higgs1 my mother wishes me to take you down into the store-room1 to make sure that she has put everything for you as you would like it40 ,on this my father said he would return directly and answer what he knew would be ,panky's question4 ,when ,yram had shewn what she had prepared--all of it1 of course1 faultless--she said1 8,and now1 ,mr4 ,higgs1 about our leave-taking4 ,of course we shall both of us feel much4 ,i shall2 ,i know you will2 ,george will have a few more hours with you than the rest of us1 but his time to say good-bye will come1 and it will be painful to both of you4 ,i am glad you came--,i am glad you have seen ,george1 and ,george you1 and that you took to one another4 ,i am glad my husband has seen you2 he has spoken to me about you very warmly1 for he has taken to you much as ,george did4 ,i am very1 very glad to have seen you myself1 and to have learned what became of you--and of your wife4 ,i know you wish well to all of us2 be sure that we all of us wish most heartily well to you and yours4 ,i sent for you and ,george1 because ,i could not say all this unless we were alone2 it is all ,i can do10 she said1 with a smile1 8to say it now40 ,indeed it was1 for the tears were in her eyes all the time1 as they were also in my father's4 8,let this10 continued ,yram1 8be our leave-taking--for we must have nothing like a scene upstairs4 ,just shake hands with us all1 say the usual conventional things1 and make it as short as you can2 but ,i could not bear to send you away without a few warmer words than ,i could have said when others were in the room40 8,may heaven bless you and yours10 said my father1 8for ever and ever40 8,that will do10 said ,george gently4 8,now1 both of you shake hands1 and come upstairs with me40 99 99 99 99 99 ,when all three of them had got calm1 for ,george had been moved almost as much as his father and mother1 they went upstairs1 and ,panky came for his answer4 8,you are very possibly right10 said my father--8the version you hold to be corrupt is the one in common use amongst ourselves1 but it is only a translation1 and very possibly only a translation of a translation1 so that it may perhaps have been corrupted before it reached us40 8,that10 said ,panky1 8will explain everything10 and he went contentedly away4 ,my father talked a little aside with ,mrs4 ,humdrum about her grand-daughter and ,george1 for ,yram had told him that she knew all about the attachment1 and then ,george1 who saw that my father found the greatest difficulty in maintaining an outward calm1 said1 8,mr4 ,higgs1 the streets are empty2 we had better go40 ,my father did as ,yram had told him2 shook hands with every one1 said all that was usual and proper as briefly as he could1 and followed ,george out of the room4 ,the ,mayor saw them to the door1 and saved my father from embarrassment by saying1 8,mr4 ,higgs1 you and ,i understand one another too well to make it necessary for us to say so4 ,good-bye to you1 and may no ill befall you ere you get home40 ,my father grasped his hand in both his own4 8,again10 he said1 8,i can say no more than that ,i thank you from the bottom of my heart40 ,as he spoke he bowed his head1 and went out with ,george into the night4 ,,chapter ,,xxv3 ,,george ,,escorts ,,my ,,father ,,to ,,the ,,statues2 ,,the ,,two ,,then ,,part ,the streets were quite deserted as ,george had said they would be1 and very dark1 save for an occasional oil lamp4 8,as soon as we can get within the preserves10 said ,george1 8we had better wait till morning4 ,i have a rug for myself as well as for you40 8,i saw you had two10 answered my father2 8you must let me carry them both2 the provisions are much the heavier load40 ,george fought as hard as a dog would do1 till my father said that they must not quarrel during the very short time they had to be together4 ,on this ,george gave up one rug meekly enough1 and my father yielded about the basket1 and the other rug4 ,it was about half-past eleven when they started1 and it was after one before they reached the preserves4 ,for the first mile from the town they were not much hindered by the darkness1 and my father told ,george about his book and many another matter2 he also promised ,george to say nothing about this second visit4 ,then the road became more rough1 and when it dwindled away to be a mere lane--becoming presently only a foot track--they had to mind their footsteps1 and got on but slowly4 ,the night was starlit1 and warm1 considering that they were more than three thousand feet above the sea1 but it was very dark1 so that my father was well enough pleased when ,george showed him the white stones that marked the boundary1 and said they had better soon make themselves as comfortable as they could till morning4 8,we can stay here10 he said1 8till half-past three1 there will be a little daylight then2 we will rest half an hour for breakfast at about five1 and by noon we shall be at the statues1 where we will dine40 ,this being settled1 ,george rolled himself up in his rug1 and in a few minutes went comfortably off to sleep4 ,not so my poor father4 ,he wound up his watch1 wrapped his rug round him1 and lay down2 but he could get no sleep4 ,after such a day1 and such an evening1 how could any one have slept8 ,about three the first signs of dawn began to show1 and half an hour later my father could see the sleeping face of his son--whom it went to his heart to wake4 ,nevertheless he woke him1 and in a few minutes the two were on their way--,george as fresh as a lark--my poor father intent on nothing so much as on hiding from ,george how ill and unsound in body and mind he was feeling4 ,they walked on1 saying but little1 till at five by my father's watch ,george proposed a halt for breakfast4 ,the spot he chose was a grassy oasis among the trees1 carpeted with subalpine flowers1 now in their fullest beauty1 and close to a small stream that here came down from a side valley4 ,the freshness of the morning air1 the extreme beauty of the place1 the lovely birds that flitted from tree to tree1 the exquisite shapes and colours of the flowers1 still dew-bespangled1 and above all1 the tenderness with which ,george treated him1 soothed my father1 and when he and ,george had lit a fire and made some hot corn-coffee--with a view to which ,yram had put up a bottle of milk--he felt so much restored as to look forward to the rest of his journey without alarm4 ,moreover he had nothing to carry1 for ,george had left his own rug at the place where they had slept1 knowing that he should find it on his return2 he had therefore insisted on carrying my father's4 ,my father fought as long as he could1 but he had to give in4 8,now tell me10 said ,george1 glad to change the subject1 8what will those three men do about what you said to them last night8 ,will they pay any attention to it80 ,my father laughed4 8,my dear ,george1 what a question--,i do not know them well enough40 8,oh yes1 you do4 ,at any rate say what you think most likely40 8,very well4 ,i think ,dr4 ,downie will do much as ,i said4 ,he will not throw the whole thing over1 through fear of schism1 loyalty to a party from which he cannot well detach himself1 and because he does not think that the public is quite tired enough of its toy4 ,he will neither preach nor write against it1 but he will live lukewarmly against it1 and this is what the ,hankys hate4 ,they can stand either hot or cold1 but they are afraid of lukewarm4 ,in ,england ,dr4 ,downie would be a ,broad ,churchman40 8,do you think we shall ever get rid of ,sunchildism altogether80 8,if they stick to the cock-and-bull stories they are telling now1 and rub them in1 as ,hanky did on ,sunday1 it may go1 and go soon4 ,it has taken root too quickly and easily2 and its top is too heavy for its roots2 still there are so many chances in its favour that it may last a long time40 8,and how about ,hanky80 8,he will brazen it out1 relic1 chariot1 and all3 and he will welcome more relics and more cock-and-bull stories2 his single eye will be upon his own aggrandisement and that of his order4 ,plausible1 unscrupulous1 heartless scoundrel that he is1 he will play for the queen and the women of the court1 as ,dr4 ,downie will play for the king and the men4 ,he and his party will sleep neither night nor day1 but they will have one redeeming feature--whoever they may deceive1 they will not deceive themselves4 ,they believe every one else to be as bad as they are1 and see no reason why they should not push their own wares in the way of business4 ,hanky is everything that we in ,england rightly or wrongly believe a typical ,jesuit to be40 8,and ,panky--what about him80 8,panky must persuade himself of his own lies1 before he is quite comfortable about telling them to other people4 ,hanky keeps ,hanky well out of it2 ,panky must have a base of operations in ,panky4 ,hanky will lead him by the nose1 bit by bit1 for his is the master spirit4 ,in ,england ,panky would be what we call an extreme ritualist40 8,then the real battle will be between ,hanky and ,dr4 ,downie4 ,which will carry the day80 8,for the present1 probably ,hanky4 ,he is the more vigilant1 and energetic2 in this case ,sunchildism will have to go1 and ,i am afraid your whole ,musical ,bank system will be swept away along with it40 8,and why not80 8,because1 my dear boy1 though false in the letter1 if good counsels prevail1 it may be made true enough in spirit4 ,if it were to go1 its place would be soon filled by men who would be as false in letter as the others were1 and much more false in spirit4 ,you want a heart to check your head1 and a head to check your heart4 ,as in our ,english body politic there are two parties opposed to one another1 neither of which can thrive if the other is unduly weakened1 so in our spiritual and intellectual world two parties more or less antagonistic are equally necessary4 ,those who are at the head of science provide us with the one party2 those whom we call our churchmen are the other4 ,both are corrupt1 but we can spare neither1 for each checks as far as it can the corruptions of the other40 8,then you would have us uphold ,sunchildism1 knowing it to be untrue80 8,do what you will1 you will not get perfect truth4 ,and if you can follow the lead which ,i believe ,dr4 ,downie will give you1 that is to say1 get rid of cock-and-bull stories1 idealise my unworthy self1 and1 as ,i said last night1 make me a peg on which to hang your own best thoughts--,sunchildism will be as near truth as anything you are likely to get4 ,but if ,hankyism triumphs1 come what may you must get rid of it1 for he and his school will tamper with the one sure and everlasting word of ,god revealed to us by human experience4 ,he who plays fast and loose with this is as one who would forge ,god's signature to a cheque drawn on ,god's own bank40 8,are we to foster the belief that it was indeed the ,sunchild who interrupted ,hanky's sermon80 8,yes1 where you safely can1 but not otherwise2 and commit the facts to writing as soon as you can find time4 ,do nothing to jeopardise your own safety2 you can do more by perfunctory acquiescence than by open dissent4 ,and tell those friends whom you can trust1 what these my parting words to you have been4 ,but above all ,i charge you solemnly1 do nothing to jeopardise your own safety2 you cannot play into ,hanky's hands more certainly than by risking this4 ,think how he and ,panky would rejoice1 and how ,dr4 ,downie would grieve4 ,be wise and wary2 bide your time2 do what you prudently can1 and you will find you can do much2 try to do more1 and you will do nothing4 ,be guided by the ,mayor1 by your mother--and by that dear old lady whose grandson you will--0 8,then they have told you10 interrupted the youth blushing scarlet4 8,my dearest boy1 of course they have1 and ,i have seen her1 and am head over ears in love with her myself40 ,he was all smiles and blushes1 and vowed for a few minutes that it was a shame of them to tell me1 but presently he said-- 8,then you like her40 8,rather60 said my father vehemently1 and shaking ,george by the hand4 ,but he said nothing about the nuggets and the sovereigns1 knowing that ,yram did not wish him to do so4 ,neither did ,george say anything about his determination to start for the capital in the morning1 and make a clean breast of everything to the ,king4 ,so soon does it become necessary even for those who are most cordially attached to hide things from one another4 ,my father1 however1 was made comfortable by receiving a promise from the youth that he would take no step of which the persons he had named would disapprove4 ,when once ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter had been introduced there was no more talking about ,hanky and ,panky2 for ,george began to bubble over with the subject that was nearest his heart1 and how much he feared that it would be some time yet before he could be married4 ,many a story did he tell of his early attachment and of its course for the last ten years1 but my space will not allow me to inflict one of them on the reader4 ,my father saw that the more he listened and sympathised and encouraged1 the fonder ,george became of him1 and this was all he cared about4 ,thus did they converse hour after hour4 ,they passed the ,blue ,pool1 without seeing it or even talking about it for more than a minute4 ,george kept an eye on the quails and declared them fairly plentiful and strong on the wing1 but nothing now could keep him from pouring out his whole heart about ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter1 until towards noon they caught sight of the statues1 and a halt was made which gave my father the first pang he had felt that morning1 for he knew that the statues would be the beginning of the end4 ,there was no need to light a fire1 for ,yram had packed for them two bottles of a delicious white wine1 something like ,white ,capri1 which went admirably with the many more solid good things that she had provided for them4 ,as soon as they had finished a hearty meal my father said to ,george1 8,you must have my watch for a keepsake2 ,i see you are not wearing my boots4 ,i fear you did not find them comfortable1 but ,i am glad you have not got them on1 for ,i have set my heart on keeping yours40 8,let us settle about the boots first4 ,i rather fancied that that was why you put me off when ,i wanted to get my own back again2 and then ,i thought ,i should like yours for a keepsake1 so ,i put on another pair last night1 and they are nothing like so comfortable as yours were40 8,now ,i wonder10 said my father to me1 8whether this was true1 or whether it was only that dear fellow's pretty invention2 but true or false ,i was as delighted as he meant me to be40 ,i asked ,george about this when ,i saw him1 and he confessed with an ingenuous blush that my father's boots had hurt him1 and that he had never thought of making a keepsake of them1 till my father's words stimulated his invention4 ,as for the watch1 which was only a silver one1 but of the best make1 ,george protested for a time1 but when he had yielded1 my father could see that he was overjoyed at getting it2 for watches1 though now permitted1 were expensive and not in common use4 ,having thus bribed him1 my father broached the possibility of his meeting him at the statues on that day twelvemonth1 but of course saying nothing about why he was so anxious that he should come4 8,i will come10 said my father1 8not a yard farther than the statues1 and if ,i cannot come ,i will send your brother4 ,and ,i will come at noon2 but it is possible that the river down below may be in fresh1 and ,i may not be able to hit off the day1 though ,i will move heaven and earth to do so4 ,therefore if ,i do not meet you on the day appointed1 do your best to come also at noon on the following day4 ,i know how inconvenient this will be for you1 and will come true to the day if it is possible40 ,to my father's surprise1 ,george did not raise so many difficulties as he had expected4 ,he said it might be done1 if neither he nor my father were to go beyond the statues4 8,and difficult as it will be for you10 said ,george1 8you had better come a second day if necessary1 as ,i will1 for who can tell what might happen to make the first day impossible80 8,then10 said my father1 8we shall be spared that horrible feeling that we are parting without hope of seeing each other again4 ,i find it hard enough to say good-bye even now1 but ,i do not know how ,i could have faced it if you had not agreed to our meeting again40 8,the day fixed upon will be our ,,xxi4 i4 #c1 and the hour noon as near as may be80 8,so4 ,let me write it down3 #8,,xxi4 i4 #c1 i4e4 our ,december #i1 #ahia1 ,i am to meet ,george at the statues1 at twelve o'clock1 and if he does not come1 ,i am to be there again on the following day4'0 ,in like manner1 ,george wrote down what he was to do3 8,,xxi4 i4 #c1 or failing this ,,xxi4 i4 #d4 ,statues4 ,noon40 8,this10 he said1 8is a solemn covenant1 is it not80 8,yes10 said my father1 8and may all good omens attend it60 ,the words were not out of his mouth before a mountain bird1 something like our jackdaw1 but smaller and of a bluer black1 flew out of the hollow mouth of one of the statues1 and with a hearty chuckle perched on the ground at his feet1 attracted doubtless by the scraps of food that were lying about4 ,with the fearlessness of birds in that country1 it looked up at him and ,george1 gave another hearty chuckle1 and flew back to its statue with the largest fragment it could find4 ,they settled that this was an omen so propitious that they could part in good hope4 8,let us finish the wine10 said my father1 8and then1 do what must be done60 ,they finished the wine to each other's good health2 ,george drank also to mine1 and said he hoped my father would bring me with him1 while my father drank to ,yram1 the ,mayor1 their children1 ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 and above all to ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter4 ,they then re-packed all that could be taken away2 my father rolled his rug to his liking1 slung it over his shoulder1 gripped ,george's hand1 and said1 8,my dearest boy1 when we have each turned our backs upon one another1 let us walk our several ways as fast as we can1 and try not to look behind us40 ,so saying he loosed his grip of ,george's hand1 bared his head1 lowered it1 and turned away4 ,george burst into tears1 and followed him after he had gone two paces2 he threw his arms round him1 hugged him1 kissed him on his lips1 cheeks1 and forehead1 and then turning round1 strode full speed towards ,sunch'ston4 ,my father never took his eyes off him till he was out of sight1 but the boy did not look round4 ,when he could see him no more1 my father with faltering gait1 and feeling as though a prop had suddenly been taken from under him1 began to follow the stream down towards his old camp4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi3 ,,my ,,father ,,reaches ,,home1 ,,and ,,dies ,,not ,,long ,,afterwards ,my father could walk but slowly1 for ,george's boots had blistered his feet1 and it seemed to him that the river-bed1 of which he caught glimpses now and again1 never got any nearer2 but all things come to an end1 and by seven o'clock on the night of ,tuesday1 he was on the spot which he had left on the preceding ,friday morning4 ,three entire days had intervened1 but he felt that something1 he knew not what1 had seized him1 and that whereas before these three days life had been one thing1 what little might follow them1 would be another--and a very different one4 ,he soon caught sight of his horse which had strayed a mile lower down the river-bed1 and in spite of his hobbles had crossed one ugly stream that my father dared not ford on foot4 ,tired though he was1 he went after him1 bridle in hand1 and when the friendly creature saw him1 it recrossed the stream1 and came to him of its own accord--either tired of his own company1 or tempted by some bread my father held out towards him4 ,my father took off the hobbles1 and rode him bare-backed to the camping ground1 where he rewarded him with more bread and biscuit1 and then hobbled him again for the night4 8,it was here10 he said to me on one of the first days after his return1 8that ,i first knew myself to be a broken man4 ,as for meeting ,george again1 ,i felt sure that it would be all ,i could do to meet his brother2 and though ,george was always in my thoughts1 it was for you and not him that ,i was now yearning4 ,when ,i gave ,george my watch1 how glad ,i was that ,i had left my gold one at home1 for that is yours1 and ,i could not have brought myself to give it him40 8,never mind that1 my dear father10 said ,i1 8but tell me how you got down the river1 and thence home again40 8,my very dear boy10 he said1 8,i can hardly remember1 and ,i had no energy to make any more notes4 ,i remember putting a scrap of paper into the box of sovereigns1 merely sending ,george my love along with the money2 ,i remember also dropping the box into a hole in a tree1 which ,i blazed1 and towards which ,i drew a line of wood-ashes4 ,i seem to see a poor unhinged creature gazing moodily for hours into a fire which he heaps up now and again with wood4 ,there is not a breath of air2 ,nature sleeps so calmly that she dares not even breathe for fear of waking2 the very river has hushed his flow4 ,without1 the starlit calm of a summer's night in a great wilderness2 within1 a hurricane of wild and incoherent thoughts battling with one another in their fury to fall upon him and rend him--and on the other side the great wall of mountain1 thousands of children praying at their mother's knee to this poor dazed thing4 ,i suppose this half delirious wretch must have been myself4 ,but ,i must have been more ill when ,i left ,england than ,i thought ,i was1 or ,erewhon would not have broken me down as it did40 ,no doubt he was right4 ,indeed it was because ,mr4 ,cathie and his doctor saw that he was out of health and in urgent need of change1 that they left off opposing his wish to travel4 ,there is no use1 however1 in talking about this now4 ,i never got from him how he managed to reach the shepherd's hut1 but ,i learned some little from the shepherd1 when ,i stayed with him both on going towards ,erewhon1 and on returning4 8,he did not seem to have drink in him10 said the shepherd1 8when he first came here2 but he must have been pretty full of it1 or he must have had some bottles in his saddle-bags2 for he was awful when he came back4 ,he had got them worse than any man ,i ever saw1 only that he was not awkward4 ,he said there was a bird flying out of a giant's mouth and laughing at him1 and he kept muttering about a blue pool1 and hanky-panky of all sorts1 and he said he knew it was all hanky-panky1 at least ,i thought he said so1 but it was no use trying to follow him1 for it was all nothing but horrors4 ,he said ,i was to stop the people from trying to worship him4 ,then he said the sky opened and he could see the angels going about and singing #8,hallelujah4'0 8,how long did he stay with you80 ,i asked4 8,about ten days1 but the last three he was himself again1 only too weak to move4 ,he thought he was cured except for weakness40 8,do you know how he had been spending the last two days or so before he got down to your hut80 ,i said two days1 because this was the time ,i supposed he would take to descend the river4 8,i should say drinking all the time4 ,he said he had fallen off his horse two or three times1 till he took to leading him4 ,if he had had any other horse than old ,doctor he would have been a dead man4 ,bless you1 ,i have known that horse ever since he was foaled1 and ,i never saw one like him for sense4 ,he would pick fords better than that gentleman could1 ,i know1 and if the gentleman fell off him he would just stay stock still4 ,he was badly bruised1 poor man1 when he got here4 ,i saw him through the gorge when he left me1 and he gave me a sovereign2 he said he had only one other left to take him down to the port1 or he would have made it more40 8,he was my father10 said ,i1 8and he is dead1 but before he died he told me to give you five pounds which ,i have brought you4 ,i think you are wrong in saying that he had been drinking40 8,that is what they all say2 but ,i take it very kind of him to have thought of me40 ,my father's illness for the first three weeks after his return played with him as a cat plays with a mouse2 now and again it would let him have a day or two's run1 during which he was so cheerful and unclouded that his doctor was quite hopeful about him4 ,at various times on these occasions ,i got from him that when he left the shepherd's hut1 he thought his illness had run itself out1 and that he should now reach the port from which he was to sail for ,s4 ,francisco without misadventure4 ,this he did1 and he was able to do all he had to do at the port1 though frequently attacked with passing fits of giddiness4 ,i need not dwell upon his voyage to ,s4 ,francisco1 and thence home2 it is enough to say that he was able to travel by himself in spite of gradually1 but continually1 increasing failure4 8,when10 he said1 8,i reached the port1 ,i telegraphed as you know1 for more money4 ,how puzzled you must have been4 ,i sold my horse to the man from whom ,i bought it1 at a loss of only about #aj1 and ,i left with him my saddle1 saddle-bags1 small hatchet1 my hobbles1 and in fact everything that ,i had taken with me1 except what they had impounded in ,erewhon4 ,yram's rug ,i dropped into the river when ,i knew that ,i should no longer need it--as also her substitutes for my billy and pannikin2 and ,i burned her basket4 ,the shepherd would have asked me questions4 ,you will find an order to deliver everything up to bearer4 ,you need therefore take nothing from ,england40 ,at another time he said1 8,when you go1 for it is plain ,i cannot1 and go one or other of us must1 try and get the horse ,i had3 he will be nine years old1 and he knows all about the rivers3 if you leave everything to him1 you may shut your eyes1 but do not interfere with him4 ,give the shepherd what ,i said and he will attend to you1 but go a day or two too soon1 for the margin of one day was not enough to allow in case of a fresh in the river2 if the water is discoloured you must not cross it--not even with ,doctor4 ,i could not ask ,george to come up three days running from ,sunch'ston to the statues and back40 ,here he became exhausted4 ,almost the last coherent string of sentences ,i got from him was as follows3- 8,about ,george's money if ,i send him #bjjj you will still have nearly #aej1jjj left1 and ,mr4 ,cathie will not let you try to make it more4 ,i know you would give him four or five thousand1 but the ,mayor and ,i talked it over1 and settled that #bjjj in gold would make him a rich man4 ,consult our good friend ,alfred0 7meaning1 of course1 ,mr4 ,cathie7 8about the best way of taking the money4 ,i am afraid there is nothing for it but gold1 and this will be a great weight for you to carry--about1 ,i believe #cf lbs4 ,can you do this8 ,i really think that if you lead your horse you 4 4 4 no--there will be the getting him down again--0 8,don't worry about it1 my dear father10 said ,i1 8,i can do it easily if ,i stow the load rightly1 and ,i will see to this4 ,i shall have nothing else to carry1 for ,i shall camp down below both morning and evening4 ,but would you not like to send some present to the ,mayor1 ,yram1 their other children1 and ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter80 8,do what you can10 said my father4 ,and these were the last instructions he gave me about those adventures with which alone this work is concerned4 ,the day before he died1 he had a little flicker of intelligence1 but all of a sudden his face became clouded as with great anxiety2 he seemed to see some horrible chasm in front of him which he had to cross1 or which he feared that ,i must cross1 for he gasped out words1 which1 as near as ,i could catch them1 were1 8,look out6 ,john6 ,leap6 ,leap6 ,le44440 but he could not say all that he was trying to say and closed his eyes1 having1 as ,i then deemed1 seen that he was on the brink of that gulf which lies between life and death2 ,i took it that in reality he died at that moment2 for there was neither struggle1 nor hardly movement of any kind afterwards--nothing but a pulse which for the next several hours grew fainter and fainter so gradually1 that it was not till some time after it had ceased to beat that we were certain of its having done so4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii3 ,i ,,meet ,,my ,,brother ,,george ,,at ,,the ,,statues1 ,,on ,,the ,,top ,,of ,,the ,,pass ,,into ,,erewhon ,this book has already become longer than ,i intended1 but ,i will ask the reader to have patience while ,i tell him briefly of my own visit to the threshold of that strange country of which ,i fear that he may be already beginning to tire4 ,the winding-up of my father's estate was a very simple matter1 and by the beginning of ,september #ahia ,i should have been free to start2 but about that time ,i became engaged1 and naturally enough ,i did not want to be longer away than was necessary4 ,i should not have gone at all if ,i could have helped it4 ,i left1 however1 a fortnight later than my father had done4 ,before starting ,i bought a handsome gold repeater for the ,mayor1 and a brooch for ,yram1 of pearls and diamonds set in gold1 for which ,i paid #bjj4 ,for ,yram's three daughters and for ,mrs4 ,humdrum's grand-daughter ,i took four brooches each of which cost about #ae1 #aes41 and for the boys ,i got three ten-guinea silver watches4 ,for ,george ,i only took a strong ,english knife of the best make1 and the two thousand pounds worth of uncoined gold1 which for convenience' sake ,i had had made into small bars4 ,i also had a knapsack made that would hold these and nothing else--each bar being strongly sewn into its place1 so that none of them could shift4 ,whenever ,i went on board ship1 or went on shore1 ,i put this on my back1 so that no one handled it except myself--and ,i can assure the reader that ,i did not find it a light weight to handle4 ,i ought to have taken something for old ,mrs4 ,humdrum1 but ,i am ashamed to say that ,i forgot her4 ,i went as directly as ,i could to the port of which my father had told me1 and reached it on ,november #bg1 one day later than he had done in the preceding year4 ,on the following day1 which was a ,saturday1 ,i went to the livery stables from which my father had bought his horse1 and found to my great delight that ,doctor could be at my disposal1 for1 as it seemed to me1 the very reasonable price of fifteen shillings a day4 ,i shewed the owner of the stables my father's order1 and all the articles he had left were immediately delivered to me4 ,i was still wearing crape round one arm1 and the horse-dealer1 whose name was ,baker1 said he was afraid the other gentleman might be dead4 8,indeed1 he is so10 said ,i1 8and a great grief it is to me2 he was my father40 8,dear1 dear10 answered ,mr4 ,baker1 8that is a very serious thing for the poor gentleman4 ,he seemed quite unfit to travel alone1 and ,i feared he was not long for this world1 but he was bent on going40 ,i had nothing now to do but to buy a blanket1 pannikin1 and billy1 with some tea1 tobacco1 two bottles of brandy1 some ship's biscuits1 and whatever other few items were down on the list of requisites which my father had dictated to me4 ,mr4 ,baker1 seeing that ,i was what he called a new chum1 shewed me how to pack my horse1 but ,i kept my knapsack full of gold on my back1 and though ,i could see that it puzzled him1 he asked no questions4 ,there was no reason why ,i should not set out at once for the principal town of the colony1 which was some ten miles inland2 ,i1 therefore1 arranged at my hotel that the greater part of my luggage should await my return1 and set out to climb the high hills that back the port4 ,from the top of these ,i had a magnificent view of the plains that ,i should have to cross1 and of the long range of distant mountains which bounded them north and south as far as the eye could reach4 ,on some of the mountains ,i could still see streaks of snow1 but my father had explained to me that the ranges ,i should here see1 were not those dividing the ,english colony from ,erewhon4 ,i also saw1 some nine miles or so out upon the plains1 the more prominent buildings of a large town which seemed to be embosomed in trees1 and this ,i reached in about an hour and a half2 for ,i had to descend at a foot's pace1 and ,doctor's many virtues did not comprise a willingness to go beyond an amble4 ,at the town above referred to ,i spent the night1 and began to strike across the plains on the following morning4 ,i might have crossed these in three days at twenty-five miles a day1 but ,i had too much time on my hands1 and my load of gold was so uncomfortable that ,i was glad to stay at one accommodation house after another1 averaging about eighteen miles a day4 ,i have no doubt that if ,i had taken advice1 ,i could have stowed my load more conveniently1 but ,i could not unpack it1 and made the best of it as it was4 ,on the evening of ,wednesday1 ,december #b1 ,i reached the river which ,i should have to follow up2 it was here nearing the gorge through which it had to pass before the country opened out again at the back of the front range4 ,i came upon it quite suddenly on reaching the brink of a great terrace1 the bank of which sloped almost precipitously down towards it1 but was covered with grass4 ,the terrace was some three hundred feet above the river1 and faced another similar one1 which was from a mile and a half to two miles distant4 ,at the bottom of this huge yawning chasm1 rolled the mighty river1 and ,i shuddered at the thought of having to cross and recross it4 ,for it was angry1 muddy1 evidently in heavy fresh1 and filled bank and bank for nearly a mile with a flood of seething waters4 ,i followed along the northern edge of the terrace1 till ,i reached the last accommodation house that could be said to be on the plains--which1 by the way1 were here some eight or nine hundred feet above sea level4 ,when ,i reached this house1 ,i was glad to learn that the river was not likely to remain high for more than a day or two1 and that if what was called a ,southerly ,burster came up1 as it might be expected to do at any moment1 it would be quite low again before three days were over4 ,at this house ,i stayed the night1 and in the course of the evening a stray dog--a retriever1 hardly full grown1 and evidently very much down on his luck--took up with me2 when ,i inquired about him1 and asked if ,i might take him with me1 the landlord said he wished ,i would1 for he knew nothing about him and was trying to drive him from the house4 ,knowing what a boon the companionship of this poor beast would be to me when ,i was camping out alone1 ,i encouraged him1 and next morning he followed me as a matter of course4 ,in the night the ,southerly ,burster which my host anticipated had come up1 cold and blustering1 but invigorating after the hot1 dry1 wind that had been blowing hard during the daytime as ,i had crossed the plains4 ,a mile or two higher up ,i passed a large sheep-station1 but did not stay there4 ,one or two men looked at me with surprise1 and asked me where ,i was going1 whereon ,i said ,i was in search of rare plants and birds for the ,museum of the town at which ,i had slept the night after my arrival4 ,this satisfied their curiosity1 and ,i ambled on accompanied by the dog4 ,in passing ,i may say that ,i found ,doctor not to excel at any pace except an amble1 but for a long journey1 especially for one who is carrying a heavy1 awkward load1 there is no pace so comfortable2 and he ambled fairly fast4 ,i followed the horse track which had been cut through the gorge1 and in many places ,i disliked it extremely1 for the river1 still in fresh1 was raging furiously2 twice1 for some few yards1 where the gorge was wider and the stream less rapid1 it covered the track1 and ,i had no confidence that it might not have washed it away2 on these occasions ,doctor pricked his ears towards the water1 and was evidently thinking exactly what his rider was4 ,he decided1 however1 that all would be sound1 and took to the water without any urging on my part4 ,seeing his opinion1 ,i remembered my father's advice1 and let him do what he liked1 but in one place for three or four yards the water came nearly up to his belly1 and ,i was in great fear for the watches that were in my saddle-bags4 ,as for the dog1 ,i feared ,i had lost him1 but after a time he rejoined me1 though how he contrived to do so ,i cannot say4 ,nothing could be grander than the sight of this great river pent into a narrow compass1 and occasionally becoming more like an immense waterfall than a river1 but ,i was in continual fear of coming to more places where the water would be over the track1 and perhaps of finding myself unable to get any farther4 ,i therefore failed to enjoy what was really far the most impressive sight in its way that ,i had ever seen4 8,give me10 ,i said to myself1 8the ,thames at ,richmond10 and right thankful was ,i1 when at about two o'clock ,i found that ,i was through the gorge and in a wide valley1 the greater part of which1 however1 was still covered by the river4 ,it was here that ,i heard for the first time the curious sound of boulders knocking against each other underneath the great body of water that kept rolling them round and round4 ,i now halted1 and lit a fire1 for there was much dead scrub standing that had remained after the ground had been burned for the first time some years previously4 ,i made myself some tea1 and turned ,doctor out for a couple of hours to feed4 ,i did not hobble him1 for my father had told me that he would always come for bread4 ,when ,i had dined1 and smoked1 and slept for a couple of hours or so1 ,i reloaded ,doctor and resumed my journey towards the shepherd's hut1 which ,i caught sight of about a mile before ,i reached it4 ,when nearly half a mile off it1 ,i dismounted1 and made a written note of the exact spot at which ,i did so4 ,i then turned for a couple of hundred yards to my right1 at right angles to the track1 where some huge rocks were lying--fallen ages since from the mountain that flanked this side of the valley4 ,here ,i deposited my knapsack in a hollow underneath some of the rocks1 and put a good sized stone in front of it1 for ,i meant spending a couple of days with the shepherd to let the river go down4 ,moreover1 as it was now only ,december #c1 ,i had too much time on my hands1 but ,i had not dared to cut things finer4 ,i reached the hut at about six o'clock1 and introduced myself to the shepherd1 who was a nice1 kind old man1 commonly called ,harris1 but his real name he told me was ,horace--,horace ,taylor4 ,i had the conversation with him of which ,i have already told the reader1 adding that my father had been unable to give a coherent account of what he had seen1 and that ,i had been sent to get the information he had failed to furnish4 ,the old man said that ,i must certainly wait a couple of days before ,i went higher up the river4 ,he had made himself a nice garden1 in which he took the greatest pride1 and which supplied him with plenty of vegetables4 ,he was very glad to have company1 and to receive the newspapers which ,i had taken care to bring him4 ,he had a real genius for simple cookery1 and fed me excellently4 ,my father's #e1 and the ration of brandy which ,i nightly gave him1 made me a welcome guest1 and though ,i was longing to be at any rate as far as the foot of the pass into ,erewhon1 ,i amused myself very well in an abundance of ways with which ,i need not trouble the reader4 ,one of the first things that ,harris said to me was1 8,i wish ,i knew what your father did with the nice red blanket he had with him when he went up the river4 ,he had none when he came down again2 ,i have no horse here1 but ,i borrowed one from a man who came up one day from down below1 and rode to a place where ,i found what ,i am sure were the ashes of the last fire he made1 but ,i could find neither the blanket nor the billy and pannikin he took away with him4 ,he said he supposed he must have left the things there1 but he could remember nothing about it40 8,i am afraid10 said ,i1 8that ,i cannot help you40 8,at any rate10 continued the shepherd1 8,i did not have my ride for nothing1 for as ,i was coming back ,i found this rug half covered with sand on the river-bed40 ,as he spoke he pointed to an excellent warm rug1 on the spare bunk in his hut4 8,it is none of our make10 said he2 8,i suppose some foreign digger has come over from the next river down south and got drowned1 for it had not been very long where ,i found it1 at least ,i think not1 for it was not much fly-blown1 and no one had passed here to go up the river since your father40 ,i knew what it was1 but ,i held my tongue beyond saying that the rug was a very good one4 ,the next day1 ,december #d1 was lovely1 after a night that had been clear and cold1 with frost towards early morning4 ,when the shepherd had gone for some three hours in the forenoon to see his sheep 7that were now lambing71 ,i walked down to the place where ,i had left my knapsack1 and carried it a good mile above the hut1 where ,i again hid it4 ,i could see the great range from one place1 and the thick new fallen snow assured me that the river would be quite normal shortly4 ,indeed1 by evening it was hardly at all discoloured1 but ,i waited another day1 and set out on the morning of ,sunday1 ,december #f4 ,the river was now almost as low as in winter1 and ,harris assured me that if ,i used my eyes ,i could not miss finding a ford over one stream or another every half mile or so4 ,i had the greatest difficulty in preventing him from accompanying me on foot for some little distance1 but ,i got rid of him in the end2 he came with me beyond the place where ,i had hidden my knapsack1 but when he had left me long enough1 ,i rode back and got it4 ,i see ,i am dwelling too long upon my own small adventures4 ,suffice it that1 accompanied by my dog1 ,i followed the north bank of the river till ,i found ,i must cross one stream before ,i could get any farther4 ,this place would not do1 and ,i had to ride half a mile back before ,i found one that seemed as if it might be safe4 ,i fancy my father must have done just the same thing1 for ,doctor seemed to know the ground1 and took to the water the moment ,i brought him to it4 ,it never reached his belly1 but ,i confess ,i did not like it4 ,by and by ,i had to recross1 and so on1 off and on1 till at noon ,i camped for dinner4 ,here the dog found me a nest of young ducks1 nearly fledged1 from which the parent birds tried with great success to decoy me4 ,i fully thought ,i was going to catch them1 but the dog knew better and made straight for the nest1 from which he returned immediately with a fine young duck in his mouth1 which he laid at my feet1 wagging his tail and barking4 ,i took another from the nest and left two for the old birds4 ,the afternoon was much as the morning and towards seven ,i reached a place which suggested itself as a good camping ground4 ,i had hardly fixed on it and halted1 before ,i saw a few pieces of charred wood1 and felt sure that my father must have camped at this very place before me4 ,i hobbled ,doctor1 unloaded1 plucked and singed a duck1 and gave the dog some of the meat with which ,harris had furnished me2 ,i made tea1 laid my duck on the embers till it was cooked1 smoked1 gave myself a nightcap of brandy and water1 and by and by rolled myself round in my blanket1 with the dog curled up beside me4 ,i will not dwell upon the strangeness of my feelings--nor the extreme beauty of the night4 ,but for the dog1 and ,doctor1 ,i should have been frightened1 but ,i knew that there were no savage creatures or venomous snakes in the country1 and both the dog and ,doctor were such good companionable creatures1 that ,i did not feel so much oppressed by the solitude as ,i had feared ,i should be4 ,but the night was cold1 and my blanket was not enough to keep me comfortably warm4 ,the following day was delightfully warm as soon as the sun got to the bottom of the valley1 and the fresh fallen snow disappeared so fast from the snowy range that ,i was afraid it would raise the river--which1 indeed1 rose in the afternoon and became slightly discoloured1 but it cannot have been more than three or four inches deeper1 for it never reached the bottom of my saddle-bags4 ,i believe ,doctor knew exactly where ,i was going1 for he wanted no guidance4 ,i halted again at midday1 got two more ducks1 crossed and recrossed the river1 or some of its streams1 several times1 and at about six1 caught sight1 after a bend in the valley1 of the glacier descending on to the river-bed4 ,this ,i knew to be close to the point at which ,i was to camp for the night1 and from which ,i was to ascend the mountain4 ,after another hour's slow progress over the increasing roughness of the river-bed1 ,i saw the triangular delta of which my father had told me1 and the stream that had formed it1 bounding down the mountain side4 ,doctor went right up to the place where my father's fire had been1 and ,i again found many pieces of charred wood and ashes4 ,as soon as ,i had unloaded ,doctor and hobbled him1 ,i went to a tree hard by1 on which ,i could see the mark of a blaze1 and towards which ,i thought ,i could see a line of wood ashes running4 ,there ,i found a hole in which some bird had evidently been wont to build1 and surmised correctly that it must be the one in which my father had hidden his box of sovereigns4 ,there was no box in the hole now1 and ,i began to feel that ,i was at last within measureable distance of ,erewhon and the ,erewhonians4 ,i camped for the night here1 and again found my single blanket insufficient4 ,the next day1 i4e4 ,tuesday1 ,december #h1 ,i had to pass as ,i best could1 and it occurred to me that as ,i should find the gold a great weight1 ,i had better take it some three hours up the mountain side and leave it there1 so as to make the following day less fatiguing1 and this ,i did1 returning to my camp for dinner2 but ,i was panic-stricken all the rest of the day lest ,i should not have hidden it safely1 or lest ,i should be unable to find it next day--conjuring up a hundred absurd fancies as to what might befall it4 ,and after all1 heavy though it was1 ,i could have carried it all the way4 ,in the afternoon ,i saddled ,doctor and rode him up to the glaciers1 which were indeed magnificent1 and then ,i made the few notes of my journey from which this chapter has been taken4 ,i made excuses for turning in early1 and at daybreak rekindled my fire and got my breakfast4 ,all the time the companionship of the dog was an unspeakable comfort to me4 ,it was now the day my father had fixed for my meeting with ,george1 and my excitement 7with which ,i have not yet troubled the reader1 though it had been consuming me ever since ,i had left ,harris's hut7 was beyond all bounds1 so much so that ,i almost feared ,i was in a fever which would prevent my completing the little that remained of my task2 in fact1 ,i was in as great a panic as ,i had been about the gold that ,i had left4 ,my hands trembled as ,i took the watches1 and the brooches for ,yram and her daughters from my saddle-bags1 which ,i then hung1 probably on the very bough on which my father had hung them4 ,needless to say1 ,i also hung my saddle and bridle along with the saddle-bags4 ,it was nearly seven before ,i started1 and about ten before ,i reached the hiding-place of my knapsack4 ,i found it1 of course1 quite easily1 shouldered it1 and toiled on towards the statues4 ,at a quarter before twelve ,i reached them1 and almost beside myself as ,i was1 could not refrain from some disappointment at finding them a good deal smaller than ,i expected4 ,my father1 correcting the measurement he had given in his book1 said he thought that they were about four or five times the size of life2 but really ,i do not think they were more than twenty feet high1 any one of them4 ,in other respects my father's description of them is quite accurate4 ,there was no wind1 and as a matter of course1 therefore1 they were not chanting4 ,i wiled away the quarter of an hour before the time when ,george became due1 with wondering at them1 and in a way admiring them1 hideous though they were2 but all the time ,i kept looking towards the part from which ,george should come4 ,at last my watch pointed to noon1 but there was no ,george4 ,a quarter past twelve1 but no ,george4 ,half-past1 still no ,george4 ,one o'clock1 and all the quarters till three o'clock1 but still no ,george4 ,i tried to eat some of the ship's biscuits ,i had brought with me1 but ,i could not4 ,my disappointment was now as great as my excitement had been all the forenoon2 at three o'clock ,i fairly cried1 and for half an hour could only fling myself on the ground and give way to all the unreasonable spleen that extreme vexation could suggest4 ,true1 ,i kept telling myself that for aught ,i knew ,george might be dead1 or down with a fever2 but this would not do2 for in this last case he should have sent one of his brothers to meet me1 and it was not likely that he was dead4 ,i am afraid ,i thought it most probable that he had been casual--of which unworthy suspicion ,i have long since been heartily ashamed4 ,i put the brooches inside my knapsack1 and hid it in a place where ,i was sure no one would find it2 then1 with a heavy heart1 ,i trudged down again to my camp--broken in spirit1 and hopeless for the morrow4 ,i camped again1 but it was some hours before ,i got a wink of sleep2 and when sleep came it was accompanied by a strange dream4 ,i dreamed that ,i was by my father's bedside1 watching his last flicker of intelligence1 and vainly trying to catch the words that he was not less vainly trying to utter4 ,all of a sudden the bed seemed to be at my camping ground1 and the largest of the statues appeared1 quite small1 high up the mountain side1 but striding down like a giant in seven league boots till it stood over me and my father1 and shouted out 8,leap1 ,john1 leap40 ,in the horror of this vision ,i woke with a loud cry that woke my dog also1 and made him shew such evident signs of fear1 that it seemed to me as though he too must have shared my dream4 ,shivering with cold ,i started up in a frenzy1 but there was nothing1 save a night of such singular beauty that ,i did not even try to go to sleep again4 ,naturally enough1 on trying to keep awake ,i dropped asleep before many minutes were over4 ,in the morning ,i again climbed up to the statues1 without1 to my surprise1 being depressed with the idea that ,george would again fail to meet me4 ,on the contrary1 without rhyme or reason1 ,i had a strong presentiment that he would come4 ,and sure enough1 as soon as ,i caught sight of the statues1 which ,i did about a quarter to twelve1 ,i saw a youth coming towards me1 with a quick step1 and a beaming face that had only to be seen to be fallen in love with4 8,you are my brother10 said he to me4 8,is my father with you80 ,i pointed to the crape on my arm1 and to the ground1 but said nothing4 ,he understood me1 and bared his head4 ,then he flung his arms about me and kissed my forehead according to ,erewhonian custom4 ,i was a little surprised at his saying nothing to me about the way in which he had disappointed me on the preceding day2 ,i resolved1 however1 to wait for the explanation that ,i felt sure he would give me presently4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii3 ,,george ,,and ,i ,,spend ,a ,,few ,,hours ,,together ,,at ,,the ,,statues1 ,,and ,,then ,,part--,i ,,reach ,,home--,,postscript ,i have said on an earlier page that ,george gained an immediate ascendancy over me1 but ascendancy is not the word--he took me by storm2 how1 or why1 ,i neither know nor want to know1 but before ,i had been with him more than a few minutes ,i felt as though ,i had known and loved him all my life4 ,and the dog fawned upon him as though he felt just as ,i did4 8,come to the statues10 said he1 as soon as he had somewhat recovered from the shock of the news ,i had given him4 8,we can sit down there on the very stone on which our father and ,i sat a year ago4 ,i have brought a basket1 which my mother packed for--for--him and me4 ,did he talk to you about me80 8,he talked of nothing so much1 and he thought of nothing so much4 ,he had your boots put where he could see them from his bed until he died40 ,then followed the explanation about these boots1 of which the reader has already been told4 ,this made us both laugh1 and from that moment we were cheerful4 ,i say nothing about our enjoyment of the luncheon with which ,yram had provided us1 and if ,i were to detail all that ,i told ,george about my father1 and all the additional information that ,i got from him--7many a point did he clear up for me that ,i had not fully understood7--,i should fill several chapters1 whereas ,i have left myself only one4 ,luncheon being over ,i said-- 8,and are you married80 8,yes0 7with a blush71 8and are you80 ,i could not blush4 ,why should ,i8 ,and yet young people--especially the most ingenuous among them--are apt to flush up on being asked if they are1 or are going1 to be married4 ,if ,i could have blushed1 ,i would4 ,as it was ,i could only say that ,i was engaged and should marry as soon as ,i got back4 8,then you have come all this way for me1 when you were wanting to get married80 8,of course ,i have4 ,my father on his death-bed told me to do so1 and to bring you something that ,i have brought you40 8,what trouble ,i have given6 ,how can ,i thank you80 8,shake hands with me40 ,whereon he gave my hand a stronger grip than ,i had quite bargained for4 8,and now10 said ,i1 8before ,i tell you what ,i have brought1 you must promise me to accept it4 ,your father said ,i was not to leave you till you had done so1 and ,i was to say that he sent it with his dying blessing40 ,after due demur ,george gave his promise1 and ,i took him to the place where ,i had hidden my knapsack4 8,i brought it up yesterday10 said ,i4 8,yesterday8 but why80 8,because yesterday--was it not8--was the first of the two days agreed upon between you and our father80 8,no--surely to-day is the first day--,i was to come ,,xxi4 i4 #c1 which would be your ,december #i40 8,but yesterday was ,december #i with us--to-day is ,december #aj40 8,strange6 ,what day of the week do you make it80 8,to-day is ,thursday1 ,december #aj40 8,this is still stranger--we make it ,wednesday2 yesterday was ,tuesday40 ,then ,i saw it4 ,the year ,,xx4 had been a leap year with the ,erewhonians1 and #ahia in ,england had not4 ,this1 then1 was what had crossed my father's brain in his dying hours1 and what he had vainly tried to tell me4 ,it was also what my unconscious self had been struggling to tell my conscious one1 during the past night1 but which my conscious self had been too stupid to understand4 ,and yet my conscious self had caught it in an imperfect sort of a way after all1 for from the moment that my dream had left me ,i had been composed1 and easy in my mind that all would be well4 ,i wish some one would write a book about dreams and parthenogenesis--for that the two are part and parcel of the same story--a brood of folly without father bred--,i cannot doubt4 ,i did not trouble ,george with any of this rubbish1 but only shewed him how the mistake had arisen4 ,when we had laughed sufficiently over my mistake--for it was ,i who had come up on the wrong day1 not he--,i fished my knapsack out of its hiding-place4 8,do not unpack it10 said ,i1 8beyond taking out the brooches1 or you will not be able to pack it so well2 but you can see the ends of the bars of gold1 and you can feel the weight2 my father sent them for you4 ,the pearl brooch is for your mother1 the smaller brooches are for your sisters1 and your wife40 ,i then told him how much gold there was1 and from my pockets brought out the watches and the ,english knife4 8,this last10 ,i said1 8is the only thing that ,i am giving you2 the rest is all from our father4 ,i have many many times as much gold myself1 and this is legally your property as much as mine is mine40 ,george was aghast1 but he was powerless alike to express his feelings1 or to refuse the gold4 8,do you mean to say that my father left me this by his will80 8,certainly he did10 said ,i1 inventing a pious fraud4 8,it is all against my oath10 said he1 looking grave4 8,your oath be hanged10 said ,i4 8,you must give the gold to the ,mayor1 who knows that it was coming1 and it will appear to the world1 as though he were giving it you now instead of leaving you anything40 8,but it is ever so much too much60 8,it is not half enough4 ,you and the ,mayor must settle all that between you4 ,he and our father talked it all over1 and this was what they settled40 8,and our father planned all this1 without saying a word to me about it while we were on our way up here80 8,yes4 ,there might have been some hitch in the gold's coming4 ,besides the ,mayor told him not to tell you40 8,and he never said anything about the other money he left for me--which enabled me to marry at once8 ,why was this80 8,your mother said he was not to do so40 8,bless my heart1 how they have duped me all round4 ,but why would not my mother let your father tell me8 ,oh yes--she was afraid ,i should tell the ,king about it1 as ,i certainly should1 when ,i told him all the rest40 8,tell the ,king80 said ,i1 8what have you been telling the ,king80 8,everything2 except about the nuggets and the sovereigns1 of which ,i knew nothing2 and ,i have felt myself a blackguard ever since for not telling him about these when he came up here last autumn--but ,i let the ,mayor and my mother talk me over1 as ,i am afraid they will do again40 8,when did you tell the ,king80 ,then followed all the details that ,i have told in the latter part of ,chapter ,,xxi4 ,when ,i asked how the ,king took the confession1 ,george said-- 8,he was so much flattered at being treated like a reasonable being1 and ,dr4 ,downie1 who was chief spokesman1 played his part so discreetly1 without attempting to obscure even the most compromising issues1 that though his ,majesty made some show of displeasure at first1 it was plain that he was heartily enjoying the whole story4 8,dr4 ,downie shewed very well4 ,he took on himself the onus of having advised our action1 and he gave me all the credit of having proposed that we should make a clean breast of everything4 8,the ,king1 too1 behaved with truly royal politeness2 he was on the point of asking why ,i had not taken our father to the ,blue ,pool at once1 and flung him into it on the ,sunday afternoon1 when something seemed to strike him3 he gave me a searching look1 on which he said in an undertone1 #8,oh yes1' and did not go on with his question4 ,he never blamed me for anything1 and when ,i begged him to accept my resignation of the ,rangership1 he said-- 8#8,no4 ,stay where you are till ,i lose confidence in you1 which will not1 ,i think1 be very soon4 ,i will come and have a few days' shooting about the middle of ,march1 and if ,i have good sport ,i shall order your salary to be increased4 ,if any more foreign devils come over1 do not ,blue-,pool them2 send them down to me1 and ,i will see what ,i think of them2 ,i am much disposed to encourage a few of them to settle here40 8,i am sure10 continued ,george1 8that he said this because he knew ,i was half a foreign devil myself4 ,indeed he won my heart not only by the delicacy of his consideration1 but by the obvious good will he bore me4 ,i do not know what he did with the nuggets1 but he gave orders that the blanket and the rest of my father's kit should be put in the great ,erewhonian ,museum4 ,as regards my father's receipt1 and the ,professors' two depositions1 he said he would have them carefully preserved in his secret archives4 #8,a document1' he said somewhat enigmatically1 #8is a document--but1 ,professor ,hanky1 you can have this'--and as he spoke he handed him back his pocket-handkerchief4 8,hanky during the whole interview was furious1 at having to play so undignified a part1 but even more so1 because the ,king while he paid marked attention to ,dr4 ,downie1 and even to myself1 treated him with amused disdain4 ,nevertheless1 angry though he was1 he was impenitent1 unabashed1 and brazened it out at ,bridgeford1 that the ,king had received him with open arms1 and had snubbed ,dr4 ,downie and myself4 ,but for his 7,hanky's7 intercession1 ,i should have been dismissed then and there from the ,rangership4 ,and so forth4 ,panky never opened his mouth4 8,returning to the ,king1 his ,majesty said to ,dr4 ,downie1 #8,i am afraid ,i shall not be able to canonize any of you gentlemen just yet4 ,we must let this affair blow over4 ,indeed ,i am in half a mind to have this ,sunchild bubble pricked2 ,i never liked it1 and am getting tired of it2 you ,musical ,bank gentlemen are overdoing it4 ,i will talk it over with her ,majesty4 ,as for ,professor ,hanky1 ,i do not see how ,i can keep one who has been so successfully hoodwinked1 as my ,professor of ,worldly ,wisdom2 but ,i will consult her ,majesty about this point also4 ,perhaps ,i can find another post for him4 ,if ,i decide on having ,sunchildism pricked1 he shall apply the pin4 ,you may go4' 8,and glad enough10 said ,george1 8we all of us were to do so40 8,but did he10 ,i asked1 8try to prick the bubble of ,sunchildism80 8,oh no4 ,as soon as he said he would talk it over with her ,majesty1 ,i knew the whole thing would end in smoke1 as indeed to all outward appearance it shortly did2 for ,dr4 ,downie advised him not to be in too great a hurry1 and whatever he did to do it gradually4 ,he therefore took no further action than to show marked favour to practical engineers and mechanicians4 ,moreover he started an aeronautical society1 which made ,bridgeford furious2 but so far1 ,i am afraid it has done us no good1 for the first ascent was disastrous1 involving the death of the poor fellow who made it1 and since then no one has ventured to ascend4 ,i am afraid we do not get on very fast40 8,did the ,king10 ,i asked1 8increase your salary80 8,yes4 ,he doubled it40 8,and what do they say in ,sunch'ston about our father's second visit80 ,george laughed1 and shewed me the newspaper extract which ,i have already given4 ,i asked who wrote it4 8,i did10 said he1 with a demure smile2 8,i wrote it at night after ,i returned home1 and before starting for the capital next morning4 ,i called myself #8the deservedly popular ,ranger1' to avert suspicion4 ,no one found me out2 you can keep the extract1 ,i brought it here on purpose40 8,it does you great credit4 ,was there ever any lunatic1 and was he found80 8,oh yes4 ,that part was true1 except that he had never been up our way40 8,then the poacher is still at large80 8,it is to be feared so40 8,and were ,dr4 ,downie and the ,professors canonized after all40 8,not yet2 but the ,professors will be next month--for ,hanky is still ,professor4 ,dr4 ,downie backed out of it4 ,he said it was enough to be a ,sunchildist without being a ,sunchild ,saint4 ,he worships the jumping cat as much as the others1 but he keeps his eye better on the cat1 and sees sooner both when it will jump1 and where it will jump to4 ,then1 without disturbing any one1 he insinuates himself into the place which will be best when the jump is over4 ,some say that the cat knows him and follows him2 at all events when he makes a move the cat generally jumps towards him soon afterwards40 8,you give him a very high character40 8,yes1 but ,i have my doubts about his doing much in this matter2 he is getting old1 and ,hanky burrows like a mole night and day4 ,there is no knowing how it will all end40 8,and the people at ,sunch'ston8 ,has it got well about among them1 in spite of your admirable article1 that it was the ,sunchild himself who interrupted ,hanky80 8,it has1 and it has not4 ,many of us know the truth1 but a story came down from ,bridgeford that it was an evil spirit who had assumed the ,sunchild's form1 intending to make people sceptical about ,sunchildism2 ,hanky and ,panky cowed this spirit1 otherwise it would never have recanted4 ,many people swallow this40 8,but ,hanky and ,panky swore that they knew the man40 8,that does not matter40 8,and now please1 how long have you been married80 8,about ten months40 8,any family80 8,one boy about a fortnight old4 ,do come down to ,sunch'ston and see him--he is your own nephew4 ,you speak ,erewhonian so perfectly that no human being would suspect you were a foreigner1 and you look one of us from head to foot4 ,i can smuggle you through quite easily1 and my mother would so like to see you40 ,i should dearly have liked to have gone1 but it was out of the question4 ,i had nothing with me but the clothes ,i stood in2 moreover ,i was longing to be back in ,england1 and when once ,i was in ,erewhon there was no knowing when ,i should be able to get away again2 but ,george fought hard before he gave in4 ,it was now nearing the time when this strange meeting between two brothers--as strange a one as the statues can ever have looked down upon--must come to an end4 ,i shewed ,george what the repeater would do1 and what it would expect of its possessor4 ,i gave him six good photographs1 of my father and myself--three of each4 ,he had never seen a photograph1 and could hardly believe his eyes as he looked at those ,i shewed him4 ,i also gave him three envelopes addressed to myself1 care of ,alfred ,emery ,cathie1 ,esq41 #ae ,clifford's ,inn1 ,london1 and implored him to write to me if he could ever find means of getting a letter over the range as far as the shepherd's hut4 ,at this he shook his head1 but he promised to write if he could4 ,i also told him that ,i had written a full account of my father's second visit to ,erewhon1 but that it should never be published till ,i heard from him--at which he again shook his head1 but added1 8,and yet who can tell8 ,for the ,king may have the country opened up to foreigners some day after all40 ,then he thanked me a thousand times over1 shouldered the knapsack1 embraced me as he had my father1 and caressed the dog1 embraced me again1 and made no attempt to hide the tears that ran down his cheeks4 8,there10 he said2 8,i shall wait here till you are out of sight40 ,i turned away1 and did not look back till ,i reached the place at which ,i knew that ,i should lose the statues4 ,i then turned round1 waved my hand--as also did ,george1 and went down the mountain side1 full of sad thoughts1 but thankful that my task had been so happily accomplished1 and aware that my life henceforward had been enriched by something that ,i could never lose4 ,for ,i had never seen1 and felt as though ,i never could see1 ,george's equal4 ,his absolute unconsciousness of self1 the unhesitating way in which he took me to his heart1 his fearless frankness1 the happy genial expression that played on his face1 and the extreme sweetness of his smile--these were the things that made me say to myself that the 8blazon of beauty's best0 could tell me nothing better than what ,i had found and lost within the last three hours4 ,how small1 too1 ,i felt by comparison6 ,if for no other cause1 yet for this1 that ,i1 who had wept so bitterly over my own disappointment the day before1 could meet this dear fellow's tears with no tear of my own4 ,but let this pass4 ,i got back to ,harris's hut without adventure4 ,when there1 in the course of the evening1 ,i told ,harris that ,i had a fancy for the rug he had found on the river-bed1 and that if he would let me have it1 ,i would give him my red one and ten shillings to boot4 ,the exchange was so obviously to his advantage that he made no demur1 and next morning ,i strapped ,yram's rug on to my horse1 and took it gladly home to ,england1 where ,i keep it on my own bed next to the counterpane1 so that with care it may last me out my life4 ,i wanted him to take the dog and make a home for him1 but he had two collies already1 and said that a retriever would be of no use to him4 ,so ,i took the poor beast on with me to the port1 where ,i was glad to find that ,mr4 ,baker liked him and accepted him from me1 though he was not mine to give4 ,he had been such an unspeakable comfort to me when ,i was alone1 that he would have haunted me unless ,i had been able to provide for him where ,i knew he would be well cared for4 ,as for ,doctor1 ,i was sorry to leave him1 but ,i knew he was in good hands4 8,i see you have not brought your knapsack back1 sir10 said ,mr4 ,baker4 8,no10 said ,i1 8and very thankful was ,i when ,i had handed it over to those for whom it was intended40 8,i have no doubt you were1 sir1 for ,i could see it was a desperate heavy load for you40 8,indeed it was40 ,but at this point ,i brought the discussion to a close4 ,two days later ,i sailed1 and reached home early in ,february #ahib4 ,i was married three weeks later1 and when the honeymoon was over1 set about making the necessary1 and some1 ,i fear1 unnecessary additions to this book--by far the greater part of which had been written1 as ,i have already said1 many months earlier4 ,i now leave it1 at any rate for the present1 ,april #bb1 #ahib4 99 99 99 99 99 ,postscript4--,on the last day of ,november #aijj1 ,i received a letter addressed in ,mr4 ,alfred ,cathie's familiar handwriting1 and on opening it found that it contained another1 addressed to me in my own1 and unstamped4 ,for the moment ,i was puzzled1 but immediately knew that it must be from ,george4 ,i tore it open1 and found eight closely written pages1 which ,i devoured as ,i have seldom indeed devoured so long a letter4 ,it was dated ,,xxix4 vii4 #a1 and1 as nearly as ,i can translate it was as follows2- 8,twice1 my dearest brother1 have ,i written to you1 and twice in successive days in successive years1 have ,i been up to the statues on the chance that you could meet me1 as ,i proposed in my letters4 ,do not think ,i went all the way back to ,sunch'ston--there is a ranger's shelter now only an hour and a half below the statues1 and here ,i passed the night4 ,i knew you had got neither of my letters1 for if you had got them and could not come yourself1 you would have sent some one whom you could trust with a letter4 ,i know you would1 though ,i do not know how you would have contrived to do it4 8,i sent both letters through ,bishop ,kahabuka 7or1 as his inferior clergy call him1 #8,chowbok'71 head of the ,christian ,mission to ,erwhmos1 which1 as your father has doubtless told you1 is the country adjoining ,erewhon1 but inhabited by a coloured race having no affinity with our own4 ,bishop ,kahabuka has penetrated at times into ,erewhon1 and the ,king1 wishing to be on good terms with his neighbours1 has permitted him to establish two or three mission stations in the western parts of ,erewhon4 ,among the missionaries are some few of your own countrymen4 ,none of us like them1 but one of them is teaching me ,english1 which ,i find quite easy4 8,as ,i wrote in the letters that have never reached you1 ,i am no longer ,ranger4 ,the ,king1 after some few years 7in the course of which ,i told him of your visit1 and what you had brought me71 declared that ,i was the only one of his servants whom he could trust1 and found high office for me1 which kept me in close confidential communication with himself4 8,about three years ago1 on the death of his ,prime ,minister1 he appointed me to fill his place2 and it was on this1 that so many possibilities occurred to me concerning which ,i dearly longed for your opinion1 that ,i wrote and asked you1 if you could1 to meet me personally or by proxy at the statues1 which ,i could reach on the occasion of my annual visit to my mother--yes--and father--at ,sunch'ston4 8,i sent both letters by way of ,erewhemos1 confiding them to ,bishop ,kahabuka1 who is just such another as ,st4 ,hanky4 ,he tells me that our father was a very old and dear friend of his--but of course ,i did not say anything about his being my own father4 ,i only inquired about a ,mr4 ,higgs1 who was now worshipped in ,erewhon as a supernatural being4 ,the ,bishop said it was1 8,oh1 so very dreadful10 and he felt it all the more keenly1 for the reason that he had himself been the means of my father's going to ,erewhon1 by giving him the information that enabled him to find the pass over the range that bounded the country4 8,i did not like the man1 but ,i thought ,i could trust him with a letter1 which it now seems ,i could not do4 ,this third letter ,i have given him with a promise of a hundred pounds in silver for his new ,cathedral1 to be paid as soon as ,i get an answer from you4 8,we are all well at ,sunch'ston2 so are my wife and eight children--five sons and three daughters--but the country is at sixes and sevens4 ,st4 ,panky is dead1 but his son ,pocus is worse4 ,dr4 ,downie has become very lethargic4 ,i can do less against ,st4 ,hankyism than when ,i was a private man4 ,a little indiscretion on my part would plunge the country in civil war4 ,our engineers and so-called men of science are sturdily begging for endowments1 and steadily claiming to have a hand in every pie that is baked from one end of the country to the other4 ,the missionaries are buying up all our silver1 and a change in the relative values of gold and silver is in progress of which none of us foresee the end4 8,the ,king and ,i both think that annexation by ,england1 or a ,british ,protectorate1 would be the saving of us1 for we have no army worth the name1 and if you do not take us over some one else soon will4 ,the ,king has urged me to send for you4 ,if you come 7do6 do6 do67 you had better come by way of ,erewhemos1 which is now in monthly communication with ,southampton4 ,if you will write me that you are coming ,i will meet you at the port1 and bring you with me to our own capital1 where the ,king will be overjoyed to see you40 99 99 99 99 99 ,the rest of the letter was filled with all sorts of news which interested me1 but would require chapters of explanation before they could become interesting to the reader4 ,the letter wound up3- 8,you may publish now whatever you like1 whenever you like4 8,write to me by way of ,erewhemos1 care of the ,right ,reverend the ,lord ,bishop1 and say which way you will come4 ,if you prefer the old road1 we are bound to be in the neighbourhood of the statues by the beginning of ,march4 ,my next brother is now ,ranger1 and could meet you at the statues with permit and luncheon1 and more of that white wine than ever you will be able to drink4 ,only let me know what you will do4 8,i should tell you that the old railway which used to run from ,clearwater to the capital1 and which1 as you know1 was allowed to go to ruin1 has been reconstructed at an outlay far less than might have been expected--for the bridges had been maintained for ordinary carriage traffic4 ,the journey1 therefore1 from ,sunch'ston to the capital can now be done in less than forty hours4 ,on the whole1 however1 ,i recommend you to come by way of ,erewhemos4 ,if you start1 as ,i think possible1 without writing from ,england1 ,bishop ,kahabuka's palace is only eight miles from the port1 and he will give you every information about your further journey--a distance of less than a couple of hundred miles4 ,but ,i should prefer to meet you myself4 8,my dearest brother1 ,i charge you by the memory of our common father1 and even more by that of those three hours that linked you to me for ever1 and which ,i would fain hope linked me also to yourself--come over1 if by any means you can do so--come over and help us4 8,,george ,,strong40 8,my dear10 said ,i to my wife who was at the other end of the breakfast table1 8,i shall have to translate this letter to you1 and then you will have to help me to begin packing2 for ,i have none too much time4 ,i must see ,alfred1 and give him a power of attorney4 ,he will arrange with some publisher about my book1 and you can correct the press4 ,break the news gently to the children2 and get along without me1 my dear1 for six months as well as you can40 99 99 99 99 99 ,i write this at ,southampton1 from which port ,i sail to-morrow--i4e4 ,november #ae1 #aijj--;for ,erewhemos4 ,footnotes #a ,see ,chapter ,x4