To face the matter squarely: the friendship between them did not mean as much to Purdy as to him; the sudden impulse that had made the boy relinquish a promising clerkship to emigrate in his wake--into this he had read more than it would hold.-- And, as he picked his muddy steps, Mahony agreed with himself that the net result, for him, of Purdy's coming to the colony, had been to saddle him with a new responsibility.

It was his lot for ever to be helping the lad out of tight places.

Sometimes it made him feel unnecessarily bearish.

For Purdy had the knack, common to sunny, improvident natures, of taking everything that was done for him for granted.

His want of delicacy in this respect was distressing.