"One and fivepence."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Well! well! I say nothing, but I think a lot. And do you mean to tell me that you're off to London with the sum of one shilling and fivepence in your pocket?"
"You said you ran away with ninepence-halfpenny."
"Well, that's a score! And so I did, but circumstances alter cases, and that was the foolishest thing that ever I did."
"You said it was the most sensible thing you'd ever done."
"You've a remarkable memory--a remarkable memory; and if you keep it up you'll improve as you go on. If I said that, I was a liar--I was the biggest liar that ever lived. I wonder if you could go through the sort of thing that I have done?"
Mr. Bankes' eyes were again fixed on Bertie, as though he would take his measure.
"Most men would have been dead a dozen times. I don't know that I haven't been; I know I've often wished that I could have died just once--that I could have been wiped clean out. God save you, young one, from such a life as mine. Pray God to pull you up in time."