VI.

CAST DOWN, BUT NOT DESTROYED.





"_TRIPPED_ again!"

"Who?"

"Brantley."

"Poor fellow! He has a hard time of it. Is he all the way down?"

"I presume so. When he begins to fall, he usually gets to the bottom
of the ladder."

It was true; Brantley had tripped again; and was down. He had been
climbing bravely for three or four years, and was well up the ladder
of prosperity, when in his eagerness to make two rundles of the
ladder at a step instead of one, he missed his footing and fell to
the bottom. My first knowledge of the fact came through the
conversation just recorded. From all I could hear, Brantley's
failure was a serious one. I knew him to be honorable and
conscientious, and to have a great deal of sensitive pride.