The Congo Rovers | Page 9

to
screen yourself by a falsehood--this is mean and cowardly in the last
degree. `To err is human;' we are all liable to make mistakes sometimes;
such a person as an infallible man, woman, or child has never yet
existed, and never will exist. Therefore, if you make a mistake, have
the courage to manfully acknowledge it and take the consequences; I
will answer for it that they will not be very dreadful. A fault confessed
is half atoned. And, apart from the morality of the thing, let me tell you
that a reputation for truthfulness is a priceless possession to a man; it
makes his services doubly valuable.
"Be careful that you are always strictly honest, honourable, and upright
in your dealings with others. Never let your reputation in this respect be
sullied by so much as a breath. And bear this in mind, my boy, it is not
sufficient that you should be all this, you must also seem it, that is to
say you must keep yourself far beyond the reach of even the barest
suspicion. Many a man who, by carelessness or inexperience, has
placed himself in a questionable position, has been obliged to pay the
penalty of his want of caution by carrying about with him, to the end of
his life, the burden of a false and undeserved suspicion.
"And now there is only one thing more I wish to caution you against,

and that is vanity. It is a failing which is only too plainly perceptible in
most boys of your age, and--do not be angry, Dick, if I touch the sore
spot with a heavy hand; it is for your own good that I do it--you have it
in a very marked degree. Like most of your compeers you think that,
having passed your fourteenth birth-day, you are now a man, and in
many points I notice that you have already begun to ape the ways of
men. Don't do it, Dick. Manhood comes not so early; and of all
disagreeable and objectionable characters, save me, I pray you, from a
boy who mistakes himself for a man. Manhood, with its countless cares
and responsibilities, will come soon enough; whilst you are a boy be a
boy; or, if you insist on being a man before your time, cultivate those
attributes which are characteristic of true manhood, such as fearless
truth, scrupulous honour, dauntless courage, and so on; but don't, for
Heaven's sake, adopt the follies and vices of men. As I have said, Dick,
vanity is certainly your great weakness, and I want you to be especially
on your guard against it. It will tempt you to tamper with the truth, even
if it does no worse," (I thought involuntarily of Lady Mary and my tacit
admission of the justice of Lord Fitz-Johnes' impeachment of me with
regard to her), "and it is quite possible that it may lead you into a
serious scrape.
"Now, Dick, my boy--my dear son--I have said to you all that I think,
even in the slightest degree, necessary by way of caution and advice. I
can only affectionately entreat you to remember and ponder upon my
words, and pray God to lead you to a right understanding of them.
"And now," he added, rising from his seat, "I think it is time you were
on the move. Go and wish Eva good-bye, and then I will drive you
down to the Hard--I see Edwards has brought round the carriage."
I hurried away to the drawing-room, where I knew I should find my
sister, and, opening the door gently, announced that I had come to say
good-bye. The dear girl, upon hearing my voice, rose up from the sofa,
in the cushion of which she had been hiding her tear-stained face, and
came with unsteady steps toward me. Then, as I looked into her eyes--
heavy with the mental agony from which she was suffering, and which
she bravely strove to hide for my sake--I realised, for the first time in

my life, all the horror which lurks in that dreadful word "Farewell."
Meaning originally a benediction, it has become by usage the word
with which we cut ourselves asunder from all that is nearest and dearest
to us; it is the signal for parting; the last word we address to our loved
ones; the fatal spell at which they lingeringly and unwillingly withdraw
from our clinging embrace; the utterance at which the hand-clasp of
friendship or of love is loosed, and we are torn apart never perhaps
again to meet until time shall be no more.
My poor sister! It was pitiful to witness her intense distress. This was
our first parting. Never before had we been separated for more than an
hour or two at a