It's a comfort to me to think of those few years spent in quiet and goodwill with my eldest boy.

His own lad would have given trouble, I'm afraid, if he'd lived; Michael used to talk to me uneasily about him, poor fellow! But they both came to their end before the world had parted them.
'If I'd been a young man, I dare say I should have felt different when they told me how rich I was; it gave me no pleasure at first, and when I'd had time to think about it I only grew worried.

I even thought once or twice of getting rid of the burden by giving all the money to a hospital in Sydney or Melbourne.

But then I remembered that the poor in the old country had more claim on me, and when I'd got used to the idea of being a wealthy man, I found myself recalling all sorts of fancies and wishes that used to come into my head when I was working hard for a poor living.

It took some time to get all the lawyer's business finished, and by when it was done I began to see a way before me.