for their society,
and before I had been a week in the office there was a sort of
antagonism between these clerks and myself.

My uncle did not seem displeased that I had not become very intimate
with these clerks. He asked me one day how I liked them. I replied
that I found nothing really to dislike, but they seemed to me
particularly foolish, and to be too fond of trifles.

My uncle smiled, and said, "The fact is, Julius, you are very old,
though young in years. The scenes through which you have passed have
aged you, and you look for realities in life. The clerks in my office
are thoughtless and superficial."

It would not interest the reader if I were to describe in detail the
life I led during the next three years. It was passed without any
important events. I learned the details of my father's life in India
from letters received nearly every month from him. I had become
thoroughly acquainted with my uncle's business, and obtained a knowledge
of the largeness of his transactions. Considering what must have been
his wealth, I should have been surprised at the quiet way in which he
lived, had I not discovered that he had a great dislike to display. He
had often expressed the opinion that a man should be more than he
seemed, instead of seeming more than he was. This he carried out
practically. He lived very comfortably, but even with me in the house
could not have spent much more than a thousand pounds a year, whereas
his annual income must have been seven or eight times that amount.

I had become acquainted with several people in London, all friends of my
uncle. To the houses of these I was frequently asked, and great
attention was shown me. It seemed to be understood that I should be my
uncle's heir; and I knew enough of the ways of the world, to be aware
that this fact, had probably more to do with the attention paid me, than
any special qualities in myself. I was not, therefore, carried away by
such attentions, nor did I become vain in consequence, both dangers to
which some young people are liable. I visited everything in London
worth seeing, my uncle putting no restrictions on me. He was fond of
the opera, and we often attended it together, as also some of the
principal theatres. He allowed me an income for my work at the office,
and told me that although he did not wish to restrict me as regards
anything essential, yet he thought I ought to live within this income.
After two years' experien