One of those with whom he often spoke of these matters was Bunce--himself a man made hard to approach by rude experiences.

Bunce was a locksmith; some twelve years ago he had had a little workshop of his own, but a disastrous marriage brought him back to the position of a journeyman, and at present he was as often out of work as not.

Happily his wife was dead; he found it a hard task to keep his three children.

The truth was that his domestic miseries had, when at their height, driven him to the public-house, and only by dint of struggles which no soul save his own was aware of was he gradually recovering self-confidence and the trust of employers.

His attendance at Egremont's lectures was part of the cure.