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266 THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP
daresay you haven't dined much at Williams's in the Old Bailey ?
You can get a famous dinner there for a shilling—beef, bread,
potatoes, beer, and a penny for the waiter." Yes, Philip seemed
actually to enjoy his discomfiture. It was long since we had seen
him in such spirits. " The weight is off my mind now. It has
been throttling me for some time past. Without understanding
why or wherefore, I have always been looking out for this. My
poor father had ruin written in his face ; and when those bailiffs
made their appearance in Old Parr Street yesterday, I felt as if I
had known them before. I had seen their hooked beaks in my
dreams."
"That unlucky General Baynes, when he accepted your
mother's trust, took it with its consequences. If the sentry falls
asleep on his post, he must pay the penalty," says Mr. Pendennis,
very severely.
" Great powers, you would not have me come down on an old
man with a large family, and ruin them all ?" cries Philip.
" No : I don't think Philip will do that," says my wife, looking
exceedingly pleased.
" If men accept trusts they must fulfil them, my dear," cries
the master of the house.
" And I must make that old gentleman suffer for my father's
wrong ? If I do, may I starve ! there !" cries Philip.
" And so that poor Little Sister has made her sacrifice in vain ! "
sighed my wife. "As for the father—oh, Arthur! I can't tell
you how odious that man was to me. There was something
dreadful about him. And in his manner to women—oh! _______ "
" If he had been a black draught, my dear, you could not have
shuddered more naturally."
" Well, he was horrible : and I know Philip will be better now
he is gone."
Women often make light of ruin. Give them but the beloved
objects, and poverty is a trifling sorrow to bear. As for Philip, he,
as we have said, is gayer than he has been for years past. The
Doctor's flight occasions not a little club talk : but, now he is gone,
many people see quite well that they were aware of his insolvency,
and always knew it must end so. The case is told, is canvassed, is
exaggerated as such cases will be. I daresay it forms a week's
talk. But people know that poor Philip is his father's largest
creditor, and eye the young man with no unfriendly looks when he
comes to his club after his mishap,—with burning cheeks, and a
tingling sense of shame, imagining that all the world will point at
and avoid him as the guilty fugitive's son.
No : the world takes very little heed of his misfortune. One