quality of it if i got places sir it was because i made fit for em k you want to dip into a round hole you must make a ball of that s where it is mr tapped his box again he had been led on by pure enthusiasm in his subject and had really forgotten what thb on bearing this survey had on his listener he had found occasion for saying the same thing more than once before and was not distinctly aware that he had not his port wine before him well uncle said tom with a slight complaint in his tone that s what i should like to do can t on in the same way in the same way said mr tom with quiet deliberation there go two or three questions to that master tom that depends on what sort of material you are to begin with and whether you ve been put into the right mill but i ll tell you what it is your father went the wrong way to work in giving vou an education it wasn t my business and i didn t interfere but it is as i thought it would be you ve had a sort of learning that s all very well for a young fellow like our mr guest who ll have nothing to do but sign all his life and may as well have latin inside his head as any other sort of but uncle said tom earnestly i don t see why the latin need hinder me from getting on in business i shall soon forget it all it makes no difference to me i had to do my lessons at school but i always thought they d never be of any use to me afterward � i didn t care about ay ay that s all very well said mr but it doesn t alter what i was going to say your latin and may soon dry off you but you ll be but a bare stick after that besides it has your hands and taken the rough work out of you and what do you know why you know nothing about book keeping to begin with and not so much of reckoning as a you ll have to begin at a low round of the ladder let me tell you if you mean to get on in life it s no use forgetting the education your father s been paying for if you don t give yourself a new un tom bit his lips hard he felt as if the tears were rising and he would rather die than let them you want me to help you to a situation mr went on well i ve no fault to find with that i m willing to do something for you but you nowadays think you re to begin with living well and working easy you ve no notion of running before you get on horseback now you must remember what you are � you re a lad of sixteen trained to nothing particular there s he of your sort like so many pebbles made to fit in nowhere well you mi ht be to some business � a s and s your latin might come in a bit there mill on thb tom was going to speak bnt mr put tip his hand and said stop hear what got to say yon don t want to be a � i know i know � you want to make more haste � and you don t want to stand behind a counter but re a you u have to stand behind a desk and stare at your ink and paper all day there isn t much outlook there and you won t oe much wiser at the end of the year than at the beginning the world isn t made of pen ink and paper and if you re to get on in the world young man you must know what the world s made of now the best for you ud be to have a place on a wharf or in a where you d learn the smell o things but you wouldn t thi i ll be bound you d have to stand cold and wet and be shouldered about by rough fellows tou re too fine a gentleman for that mr paused and looked hard at tom who certainly felt some inward struggle before he could reply i would rather do what will be best for me in the end sir i would put up with what was disagreeable that s well if you can it out but you must ber it isn t only laying hold of a rope � you must go on pulling it s the mistake you lads make that have got nothing either in your brains or your pocket to think you ve got a better start in the world if you stick yourselves in a place where you can keep your coats clean and have the take you for fine gentlemen that wasn t the way z started young man when i was sixteen my jacket smelt of tar and i wasn t afraid of handling that s the reason i can wear good now and have my legs under the same table with the heads of the best in st s uncle tapped his box and seemed to a little under his waistcoat and gold chain as he his shoulders in the chair is there any place at liberty that you know of now undo that i should do for i should like to set to work at once said tom with a slight tremor in his voice stop a bit � stop a bit we mustn t be in too great a hurry you must bear in mind if i put you in a place you re a bit young for because you happen 