And he was nice, and Ernest knew that such
men as himself and Pryer were not nice, and his old dejection came over
him.
Then came an even worse reflection; how if he had fallen among material
thieves as well as spiritual ones? He knew very little of how his money
was going on; he had put it all now into Pryer's hands, and though Pryer
gave him cash to spend whenever he wanted it, he seemed impatient of
being questioned as to what was being done with the principal. It was
part of the understanding, he said, that that was to be left to him, and
Ernest had better stick to this, or he, Pryer, would throw up the College
of Spiritual Pathology altogether; and so Ernest was cowed into
acquiescence, or cajoled, according to the humour in which Pryer saw him
to be. Ernest thought that further questions would look as if he doubted
Pryer's word, and also that he had gone too far to be able to recede in
decency or honour. This, however, he felt was riding out to meet trouble
unnecessarily. Pryer had been a little impatient, but he was a gentleman
and an admirable man of business, so his money would doubtless come back
to him all right some day.
Ernest comforted himself as regards this last source of anxiety, but as
regards the other, he began to feel as though, if he was to be saved, a
good Samaritan must hurry up from somewhere--he knew not whence.
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