He would take his place in the working world, and perhaps--some day-- A thought came to him with the impact of a blow: What could he do?
What work was there for him?
How could he pull his weight in the boat?
All his life he had depended upon some one else, with easy-going thoughtlessness.

Hardly had it ever really occurred to him that he might have to make a career for himself.

Of business he had thought as something which he should undertake some time, but it was always a business ready made to his hand, with plenty of capital not of his own acquiring--something for occupation, not of necessity.

It came home to him that his father was his only resource, and that of his father's affairs he knew next to nothing.
In addition to his affection for him, he had always had an unquestioning confidence in his father.

It was his earliest recollection, and he still retained it to almost a childish extent.