n heard all the friendly criticisms passed upon him and
his career, and he suffered more than anybody guessed; for the truth
that was at the bottom of the gossip filled him with the sharp regret
and impotent wrath against himself as well as others, which drives many
a proud fellow, so placed, to destruction, or the effort that redeems
boyish folly, and makes a man of him.

Now that he had lost his heritage, Tom seemed to see for the first
time how goodly it had been, how rich in power, pleasure, and gracious
opportunities. He felt its worth even while he acknowledged, with the
sense of justice that is strong in manly men, how little he deserved
a gift which he had so misused. He brooded over this a good deal, for,
like the bat in the fable, he did n't seem to find any place in the new
life which had begun for all. Knowing nothing of business, he was not
of much use to his father, though he tried to be, and generally ended
by feeling that he was a hindrance, not a help. Domestic affairs were
equally out of his line, and the girls, more frank than their father,
did not hesitate to tell him he was in the way when he offered to lend
a hand anywhere. After the first excitement was over, and he had time to
think, heart and energy seemed to die out, remorse got hold of him, and,
as generous, thoughtless natures are apt to do when suddenly confronted
with conscience, he exaggerated his faults and follies into sins of the
deepest dye, and fancied he was regarded by others as a villain and an
outcast. Pride and penitence made him shrink out of sight as much as
possible, for he could not bear pity, even when silently expressed by a
friendly hand or a kindly eye. He stayed at home a good deal, and loafed
about with a melancholy and neglected air, vanished when anyone came,
talked very little, and was either pathetically humble or tragically
cross. He wanted to do something, but nothing seemed to appear; and
while he waited to get his poise after the downfall, he was so very
miserable that I 'm afraid, if it had not been for one thing, my poor
Tom would have got desperate, and been a failure. But when he seemed
most useless, outcast, and forlorn, he discovered that one person needed
him, one person never found him in the way, one person always welcomed
and clung to him with the strongest affection of a very feeble nature.
This dependence of his mother's was Tom's salvation at that crisis of
his life; and the gossips, who said softly