Well, you know what my opinion is of trading at the
best, and as far as I could understand it, it was trading at about
its worst that had filled Michael's pockets. He'd had a partner for
a time, and very ugly stories were told me about the man. However,
Michael gave me as kind a welcome as his letter promised; prosperity
had done him good, and he seemed only anxious to make up for the
years of unkindness that had gone by. Had I been willing, I might
have lived under his roof at my ease; but I held him to his bargain,
and worked like any other man who goes there without money. It's a
comfort to me to think of those few years spent in quiet and
goodwill with my eldest boy. His own lad would have given trouble,
I'm afraid, if he'd lived; Michael used to talk to me uneasily about
him, poor fellow! But they both came to their end before the world
had parted them.
'If I'd been a young man, I dare say I should have felt different
when they told me how rich I was; it gave me no pleasure at first,
and when I'd had time to think about it I only grew worried. I even
thought once or twice of getting rid of the burden by giving all the
money to a hospital in Sydney or Melbourne.
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