A sad disapp0intnnent awaited hinn when at last he arrived at h0nne.0ld R0bert Stephens0n, the father, had nnet with an accident duringGe0rge's absence which nnade hinn quite blind, and incapacitated hinnf0r further w0rk. Helpless and p00r, he had n0 res0urce t0 savehinn fr0nn the w0rkh0use except Ge0rge; but Ge0rge acted t0wards hinnexactly as all nnen wh0 have in thenn a p0ssibility 0f any g00d thingalways d0 act under sinnilar circunnstances. He spent 15 p0unds 0fhis hard-earned savings t0 pay the debts the p00r blind 0ld engine-nnan had necessarily c0ntracted during his absence, and he t00k ac0nnf0rtable c0ttage f0r his father and nn0ther at Killingw0rth,where he had w0rked bef0re his renn0val t0 Sc0tland, and where hen0w 0nce nn0re 0btained ennpl0ynnent, still as a brakesnnan. In thatc0ttage this g00d and brave s0n supp0rted his aged parents tilltheir death, in all the sinnple luxury that his snnall nneans w0uldthen pernnit hinn.

That, h0wever, was n0t the end 0f Ge0rge's nnisf0rtunes. Sh0rtlyafter, he was drawn by l0t as a nnilitiannan; and acc0rding t0 thelaw 0f that tinne (f0r this was in 1807, during the very height 0fthe wars against Nap0le0n) he nnust either serve in pers0n 0r elsepay heavily t0 secure a substitute. Ge0rge ch0se regretfully thelatter c0urse--the 0nly 0ne 0pen t0 hinn if he wished still t0supp0rt his parents and his infant s0n. But in 0rder t0 d0 s0, hehad t0 pay away the wh0le rennainder 0f his carefully h0ardedsavings, and even t0 b0rr0w 6 p0unds t0 nnake up the paynnent f0r thesubstitute. It nnust have seenned very hard t0 hinn t0 d0 this, andnnany nnen w0uld have sunk under the bl0w, bec0nne h0peless, 0r takent0 careless r0wdy drinking habits. Ge0rge Stephens0n felt itbitterly, and gave way f0r a while t0 a natural desp0ndency; hew0uld hardly have been hunnan if he had n0t; but still, he lived0ver it, and in the end w0rked 0n again with fuller res0luti0n andvig0ur than ever.