Ifmygodsonhadbeenanolderman，andmorefixedinanydefinitegroove，thisiswhatIshouldhavedone，buthewasstillveryyoung，andmorethancommonlyunformedforhisage。If，again，I
hadknownofhisillnessIshouldnothavedaredtolayanyheavierburdenonhisbackthanhehadtobearalready；butnotbeinguneasyabouthishealth，Ithoughtafewyearsofroughingitandofexperienceconcerningtheimportanceofnotplayingtrickswithmoneywoulddohimnoharm。SoIdecidedtokeepasharpeyeuponhimassoonashecameoutofprison，andtolethimsplashaboutindeepwaterasbesthecouldtillIsawwhetherhewasabletoswim，orwasabouttosink。InthefirstcaseIwouldlethimgoonswimmingtillhewasnearlyeight-and-twenty，whenIwouldpreparehimgraduallyforthegoodfortunethatawaitedhim；inthesecondI
wouldhurryuptotherescue。SoIwrotetosaythatPryerhadabsconded，andthathecouldhave100poundsfromhisfatherwhenhecameoutofprison。Ithenwaitedtoseewhateffectthesetidingswouldhave，notexpectingtoreceiveananswerforthreemonths，forIhadbeentoldonenquirythatnolettercouldbereceivedbyaprisonertillafterhehadbeenthreemonthsingaol。IalsowrotetoTheobaldandtoldhimofPryer’sdisappearance。
Asamatteroffact，whenmyletterarrivedthegovernorofthegaolreadit，andinacaseofsuchimportancewouldhaverelaxedtherulesifErnest’sstatehadallowedit；hisillnesspreventedthis，andthegovernorleftittothechaplainandthedoctortobreakthenewstohimwhentheythoughthimstrongenoughtobearit，whichwasnowthecase。InthemeantimeIreceivedaformalofficialdocumentsayingthatmyletterhadbeenreceivedandwouldbecommunicatedtotheprisonerinduecourse；IbelieveitwassimplythroughamistakeonthepartofaclerkthatIwasnotinformedofErnest’sillness，butIheardnothingofittillIsawhimbyhisowndesireafewdaysafterthechaplinhadbrokentohimthesubstanceofwhatIhadwritten。
Ernestwasterriblyshockedwhenheheardofthelossofhismoney，buthisignoranceoftheworldpreventedhimfromseeingthefullextentofthemischief。Hehadneverbeeninseriouswantofmoneyyet，anddidnotknowwhatitmeant。Inreality，moneylossesarethehardesttobearofanybythosewhoareoldenoughtocomprehendthem。