第37章

WhenfirstthenewshadreachedthemthatMrHardingwasgoingtoleavethehospital，ithadbeenreceivedwithakindoftriumph——hisdeparturewas，asitwere，apreludetosuccess。Hehadadmittedhiswantofrighttothemoneyaboutwhichtheyweredisputing；andasitdidnotbelongtohim，ofcourse，itdidtothem。Theonehundredayeartoeachofthemwasactuallybecomingareality；andAbelHandywasahero，andBunceafaint-heartedsycophant，worthyneitherhonournorfellowship。Butothertidingssoonmadetheirwayintotheoldmen’srooms。ItwasfirstnotifiedtothemthattheincomeabandonedbyMrHardingwouldnotcometothem；andtheseaccountswereconfirmedbyattorneyFinney。TheyweretheninformedthatMrHarding’splacewouldbeatoncefilledbyanother。Thatthenewwardencouldnotbeakindermantheyallknew；thathewouldbealessfriendlyonemostsuspected；andthencamethebitterinformationthat，fromthemomentofMrHarding’sdeparture，thetwopenceaday，hisownpeculiargift，mustofnecessitybewithdrawn。 Andthiswastobetheendofalltheirmightystruggle——oftheirfightfortheirrights——oftheirpetition，andtheirdebates，andtheirhopes！Theyweretochangethebestofmastersforapossiblebadone，andtolosetwopenceadayeachman！ No；unfortunateasthiswas，itwasnottheworst，ornearlytheworst，aswilljustnowbeseen。 ’Sitdown，sitdown，myfriends，’saidthewarden；’Iwanttosayawordtoyouandtodrinkyourhealths，beforeIleaveyou。Comeuphere，Moody，hereisachairforyou；come，JonathanCrumple’——andbydegreeshegotthementobeseated。Itwasnotsurprisingthattheyshouldhangbackwithfainthearts，havingreturnedsomuchkindnesswithsuchdeepingratitude。LastofallofthemcameBunce，andwithsorrowfulmienandslowstepgotintohisaccustomedseatnearthefire-place。 Whentheywereallintheirplaces，MrHardingrosetoaddressthem；andthenfindinghimselfnotquiteathomeonhislegs，hesatdownagain。’Mydearoldfriends，’saidhe，’youallknowthatIamgoingtoleaveyou。’ Therewasasortofmurmurranroundtheroom，intended，perhaps，toexpressregretathisdeparture；butitwasbutamurmur，andmighthavemeantthatoranythingelse。 ’Therehasbeenlatelysomemisunderstandingbetweenus。 Youhavethought，Ibelieve，thatyoudidnotgetallthatyouwereentitledto，andthatthefundsofthehospitalhavenotbeenproperlydisposedof。Asforme，Icannotsaywhatshouldbethedispositionofthesemoneys，orhowtheyshouldbemanaged，andIhavethereforethoughtitbesttogo。’ ’Weneverwantedtodriveyourreverenceoutofit，’saidHandy。 ’No，indeed，yourreverence，’saidSkulpit。’Weneverthoughtitwouldcometothis。WhenIsignedthepetition—— thatisIdidn’tsignit，because——’ ’Lethisreverencespeak，can’tyou？’saidMoody。 ’No，’continuedMrHarding；’Iamsureyoudidnotwishtoturnmeout；butIthoughtitbesttoleaveyou。Iamnotaverygoodhandatalawsuit，asyoumayallguess；andwhenitseemednecessarythatourordinaryquietmodeoflivingshouldbedisturbed，Ithoughtitbettertogo。Iamneitherangrynoroffendedwithanymaninthehospital。’ HereBunceutteredakindofgroan，veryclearlyexpressiveofdisagreement。 ’Iamneitherangrynordispleasedwithanymaninthehospital，’repeatedMrHarding，emphatically。’Ifanymanhasbeenwrong——andIdon’tsayanymanhas——hehaserredthroughwrongadvice。Inthiscountryallareentitledtolookfortheirownrights，andyouhavedonenomore。Aslongasyourinterestsandmyinterestswereatvariance，Icouldgiveyounocounselonthissubject；buttheconnectionbetweenushasceased；myincomecannolongerdependonyourdoings，andtherefore，asIleaveyou，Iventuretooffertoyoumyadvice。’ ThemenalldeclaredthattheywouldfromhenceforthbeentirelyguidedbyMrHarding’sopinionintheiraffairs。 ’Somegentlemanwillprobablytakemyplacehereverysoon，andIstronglyadviseyoutobepreparedtoreceivehiminakindlyspiritandtoraisenofurtherquestionamongyourselvesastotheamountofhisincome。Wereyoutosucceedinlesseningwhathehastoreceive，youwouldnotincreaseyourownallowance。Thesurpluswouldnotgotoyou；yourwantsareadequatelyprovidedfor，andyourpositioncouldhardlybeimproved。’ ’Godblessyourreverence，weknowsit，’saidSpriggs。 ’It’salltrue，yourreverence，’saidSkulpit。’Weseesitallnow。’ ’Yes，MrHarding，’saidBunce，openinghismouthforthefirsttime；’Ibelievetheydounderstanditnow，nowthatthey’vedrivenfromunderthesameroofwiththemsuchamasterasnotoneofthemwilleverknowagain——nowthatthey’reliketobeinsorewantofafriend。’ ’Come，come，Bunce，’saidMrHarding，blowinghisnoseandmanoeuvringtowipehiseyesatthesametime。 ’Oh，astothat，’saidHandy，’wenoneofusneverwantedtodoMrHardingnoharm；ifhe’sgoingnow，it’snotalongofus；andIdon’tseeforwhatMrBuncespeaksupagenusthatway。’ ’You’veruinedyourselves，andyou’veruinedmetoo，andthat’swhy，’saidBunce。 ’Nonsense，Bunce，’saidMrHarding；’there’snobodyruinedatall。Ihopeyou’llletmeleaveyouallfriends，Ihopeyou’llalldrinkaglassofwineinfriendlyfeelingwithmeandwithoneanother。You’llhaveagoodfriend，Idon’tdoubt，inyournewwarden；andifeveryouwantanyother，whyafterallI’mnotgoingsofaroffbutthatIshallsometimesseeyou’；andthen，havingfinishedhisspeech，MrHardingfilledalltheglasses，andhimselfhandedeachaglasstothemenroundhim，andraisinghisownsaid: ’Godblessyouall！youhavemyheartfeltwishesforyourwelfare。Ihopeyoumaylivecontented，anddietrustingintheLordjesusChrist，andthankfultoAlmightyGodForthegoodthingshehasgivenyou。Godblessyou，myfriends！’ andMrHardingdrankhiswine。 Anothermurmur，somewhatmorearticulatethanthefirst，passedroundthecircle，andthistimeitwasintendedtoimplyablessingonMrHarding。Ithad，however，butlittlecordialityinit。Pooroldmen！howcouldtheybecordialwiththeirsoreconsciencesandshamedfaces？howcouldtheybidGodblesshimwithheartyvoicesandatruebenison，knowing，astheydid，thattheirvilecabalhaddrivenhimfromhishappyhome，andsenthiminhisoldagetoseekshelterunderastrangeroof-tree？Theydidtheirbest，however；theydranktheirwine，andwithdrew。 Astheyleftthehall-door，MrHardingshookhandswitheachofthemen，andspokeakindwordtothemabouttheirindividualcasesandailments；andsotheydeparted，answeringhisquestionsinthefewestwords，andretreatedtotheirdens，asorrowfulrepentantcrew。 AllbutBunce，whostillremainedtomakehisownfarewell。 ’There’spooroldBell，’saidMrHarding；’Imustn’tgowithoutsayingawordtohim；comethroughwithme，Bunce，andbringthewinewithyou’；andsotheywentthroughtothemen’scottages，andfoundtheoldmanproppedupasusualinhisbed。 ’I’vecometosaygood-byetoyou，Bell，’saidMrHarding，speakingloud，fortheoldmanwasdeaf。 ’Andareyougoingaway，then，really？’askedBell。 ’IndeedIam，andI’vebroughtyouaglassofwine；sothatwemaypartfriends，aswelived，youknow。’ Theoldmantooktheprofferedglassinhisshakinghands，anddrankiteagerly。’Godblessyou，Bell！’saidMrHarding；’good-bye，myoldfriend。’ ’Andsoyou’rereallygoing？’themanagainasked。 ’IndeedIam，Bell。’ Thepooroldbed-riddencreaturestillkeptMrHarding’shandinhisown，andthewardenthoughtthathehadmetwithsomethinglikewarmthoffeelingintheoneofallhissubjectsfromwhomitwastheleastlikelytobeexpected；forpooroldBellhadnearlyoutlivedallhumanfeelings。’Andyourreverence，’saidhe，andthenhepaused，whilehisoldpalsiedheadshookhorribly，andhisshrivelledcheekssanklowerwithinhisjaws，andhisglazyeyegleamedwithamomentarylight；’andyourreverence，shallwegetthehundredayear，then？’ HowgentlydidMrHardingtrytoextinguishthefalsehopeofmoneywhichhadbeensowretchedlyraisedtodisturbthequietofthedyingman！Oneotherweekandhismortalcoilwouldbeshuffledoff；inoneshortweekwouldGodresumehissoul，andsetitapartforitsirrevocabledoom；sevenmoretediousdaysandnightsofsenselessinactivity，andallwouldbeoverforpoorBellinthisworld；andyet，withhislastaudiblewords，hewasdemandinghismoneyedrights，andassertinghimselftobetheproperheirofJohnHiram’sbounty！ Notonhim，poorsinnerashewas，betheloadofsuchsin！ MrHardingreturnedtohisparlour，meditatingwithasickheartonwhathehadseen，andBuncewithhim。Wewillnotdescribethepartingofthesetwogoodmen，forgoodmentheywere。Itwasinvainthatthelatewardenendeavouredtocomforttheheartoftheoldbedesman；pooroldBuncefeltthathisdaysofcomfortweregone。Thehospitalhadtohimbeenahappyhome，butitcouldbesonolonger。Hehadhadhonourthere，andfriendship；hehadrecognisedhismaster，andbeenrecognised；allhiswants，bothofsoulandbody，hadbeensupplied，andhehadbeenahappyman。Heweptgrievouslyashepartedfromhisfriend，andthetearsofanoldmanarebitter。’Itisalloverformeinthisworld，’ saidhe，ashegavethelastsqueezetoMrHarding’shand； ’Ihavenowtoforgivethosewhohaveinjuredme——andtodie。’ Andsotheoldmanwentout，andthenMrHardinggavewaytohisgriefandhetooweptaloud。