Finding that these friends
disapproved, he dropped away from them, and they, being bored with his
egotism and high-flown ideas, were not sorry to let him do so. Of
course, he said nothing about his speculations--indeed, he hardly knew
that anything done in so good a cause could be called speculation. At
Battersby, when his father urged him to look out for a next presentation,
and even brought one or two promising ones under his notice, he made
objections and excuses, though always promising to do as his father
desired very shortly.
CHAPTER LVI
By and by a subtle, indefinable _malaise_ began to take possession of
him. I once saw a very young foal trying to eat some most objectionable
refuse, and unable to make up its mind whether it was good or no. Clearly
it wanted to be told. If its mother had seen what it was doing she would
have set it right in a moment, and as soon as ever it had been told that
what it was eating was filth, the foal would have recognised it and never
have wanted to be told again; but the foal could not settle the matter
for itself, or make up its mind whether it liked what it was trying to
eat or no, without assistance from without.
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