w, if you come to me, I will give you a sum of
money sufficient to keep you for several years. I do not specify the
amount at this moment, I shall think it over before you come."

The boy had no words. He simply stared at his chance companion in
blank astonishment.

"My offer seems to surprise you," Rochester remarked, pleasantly.
"It need not. You can go and tell the whole world of it, if you like,
although, as a reputation for sanity is quite a valuable asset,
nowadays, I should suggest that you keep your mouth closed. Still,
if you do speak of it, no one will be in the least surprised.
My friends--I haven't many--call me the most eccentric man in
Christendom. My enemies wonder how it is that I keep out of the
asylum. Personally, I consider myself a perfectly reasonable mortal. I
have whims, and I am not afraid to indulge them. I give you this money
on one--or perhaps we had better say two conditions. The first is that
you make a _bona fide_ use of it. When I say that, I mean that you
leave immediately your present employment, whatever it may be, and go
out into the world with the steadfast purpose of finding for yourself
the things which you saw a few minutes ago down in the valley there.
You may not find them, but still I pledge you to the search. The
second condition is that some day or other you find your way back into
this part of the country, and tell me how my experiment has fared."

The boy realized with a little gasp.

"Am I to thank you?" he asked.

"It would be usual but foolish," Rochester answered. "I need no
thanks, I deserve none. I yield to a whim, nothing else. I do this
thing for my own pleasure. The sum of money which I propose to put
into your hands will probably represent to me what a five-shilling
piece might to you. This may sound vulgar, but it is true. I think
that I need not warn you never to come to me for more. You need not
look so horrified. I am quite sure that you would not do that. And
there is one thing further."

"Yes?" the boy asked. "Another condition?"

Rochester shook his head.

"No!" he said. "It is not a condition. It is just a little advice. The
way through life hasn't been made clear for everyone. You may find
yourself brought up in the thorny paths. Take my advice. Don't be
content with anything less than success. If you fail, strip off your
clothes, and swim out to sea on a sunny day, swim out until your
strength fails and you must sink. It is the pleasantest form