It must be admitted that he was as
bad at spelling in all three of those languages as he was in his own.
Again, his geography was hardly of the ornamental kind; he was entirely
and happily ignorant of the whereabouts of Leeds and Crim Tartary; it
is doubtful whether the Balearic Isles, which most boys of the Western
World could point you out on a map, were even a name to him. But by
the time he was ten he could so deal with continental or English
Bradshaw that in five or six minutes he could tell you the quickest or
the most comfortable way of reaching any town in which a
self-respecting person would care to find himself, and his knowledge of
steamer-routes and the Great American railways was no less sound.
Besides these accomplishments he was acquiring a wide knowledge of the
world. By his eleventh birthday, though inexperienced in Lestrygons
and Lotos-eaters, he had seen the cities of more men than that way-worn
wanderer Ulysses at the end of his voyages, and he had no mean
understanding of their disposition. Besides, as the years went on, Sir
Tancred's debts increased. To live the really strenuous London life,
you need a great deal of money; and though Fortune, so cruel to him in
love, was kind at Bridge, her kindness was not continuous; and
sometimes the ungracious importunities of his creditors drove him into
retirement in the country.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49