He thought of the Australian gold and how those who
lived among it had never seen it though it abounded all around them:
"There is gold everywhere," he exclaimed inwardly, "to those who look for
it." Might not his opportunity be close upon him if he looked carefully
enough at his immediate surroundings? What was his position? He had
lost all. Could he not turn his having lost all into an opportunity?
Might he not, if he too sought the strength of the Lord, find, like St
Paul, that it was perfected in weakness?
He had nothing more to lose; money, friends, character, all were gone for
a very long time if not for ever; but there was something else also that
had taken its flight along with these. I mean the fear of that which man
could do unto him. _Cantabil vacuus_. Who could hurt him more than he
had been hurt already? Let him but be able to earn his bread, and he
knew of nothing which he dared not venture if it would make the world a
happier place for those who were young and loveable. Herein he found so
much comfort that he almost wished he had lost his reputation even more
completely--for he saw that it was like a man's life which may be found
of them that lose it and lost of them that would find it.
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