It could not have remained
for ever outside the political life of the country--if those convulsions
may be called life. The thing is--can it be touched? The moment was
bound to come when neutrality would become impossible, and Charles Gould
understood this well. I believe he is prepared for every extremity. A
man of his sort has never contemplated remaining indefinitely at the
mercy of ignorance and corruption. It was like being a prisoner in a
cavern of banditti with the price of your ransom in your pocket, and
buying your life from day to day. Your mere safety, not your liberty,
mind, doctor. I know what I am talking about. The image at which you
shrug your shoulders is perfectly correct, especially if you conceive
such a prisoner endowed with the power of replenishing his pocket by
means as remote from the faculties of his captors as if they were magic.
You must have understood that as well as I do, doctor. He was in the
position of the goose with the golden eggs. I broached this matter to
him as far back as Sir John's visit here. The prisoner of stupid and
greedy banditti is always at the mercy of the first imbecile ruffian,
who may blow out his brains in a fit of temper or for some prospect of
an immediate big haul.
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