Page 47 - erewhon

was wet upon the outside, and I was myself dripping; but I
had gained my point, and knew that my difficulties were for
a time over. I then lit my fire and dried myself; having done
so I caught some of the young ducks and sea- gulls, which
were abundant on and near the river-bed, so that I had not
only a good meal, of which I was in great want, having had
an insufficient diet from the time that Chowbok left me, but
was also well provided for the morrow.
I thought of Chowbok, and felt how useful he had been
to me, and in how many ways I was the loser by his ab-
sence, having now to do all sorts of things for myself which
he had hitherto done for me, and could do infinitely better
than I could. Moreover, I had set my heart upon making
him a real convert to the Christian religion, which he had
already embraced outwardly, though I cannot think that
it had taken deep root in his impenetrably stupid nature.
I used to catechise him by our camp fire, and explain to
him the mysteries of the Trinity and of original sin, with
which I was myself familiar, having been the grandson of
an archdeacon by my mother’s side, to say nothing of the
fact that my father was a clergyman of the English Church.
I was therefore sufficiently qualified for the task, and was
the more inclined to it, over and above my real desire to
save the unhappy creature from an eternity of torture, by
recollecting the promise of St. James, that if any one con-
verted a sinner (which Chowbok surely was) he should hide
a multitude of sins. I reflected, therefore, that the conver-
sion of Chowbok might in some degree compensate for
irregularities and short-comings in my own previous life,

Erewhon