He had made up his mind that his experiment, while a success in one way, were not what he expected in another way.  He had found Jack’s energy very energetic indeed, but not suited for adult use, and he even found himself wondering why he had not thought of that before.  However, the thing to do now was to get rid of that spirit as soon as possible.  If it had become permanently a part of him, he had reached his second childhood, which for a man of thirty-five is a disturbing thought.  So disturbing was it that Jarley resolved upon a heroic measure to cure himself. Similia similibus struck him as being the only possible cure, and so, regardless of the possible consequences to his physical being, he “permitted” Jack to be with him up-stairs “while he worked,” as he put it to Mrs. Jarley, though all others were forbidden to approach.

The result was as he had foreseen.  Jack’s energy in Jack, pure and unadulterated, had very little trouble in wearing out the diluted energy which his father had acquired from his superfluous stores, and night coming on found Jarley, after a three hours’ steady circus with his son, in his normal condition mentally.  But physically!  What a poor wreck of a human system was his when the last bit of the boyish spirit was consumed!  Had he worked at brick-laying for a week without rest Jarley could not have been more prostrated physically.  But he was happy.  His tests had proved that he could do certain things, but the results he had expected as to the value of those things were not what he had hoped for.  At any rate, his experiment gave him greater sympathy with his boy than he had ever had before, and they have become great chums.  The greatest disappointment of the whole affair is Jack’s, who wonders why it is that he and his father have no more afternoon acrobatics such as they had in the play-room that day, but until he is a good many years older his father cannot tell him, for the boy could not in the present stage of his intellectual development understand him if he tried.

As for Mr. Baker and the people at the office, they were not at all astonished to hear the next day that Jarley was laid up, and would probably, not appear at the office again for a week, although they were a little surprised when they learned that his trouble was rheumatism, and not softening of the brain.

JARLEY’S THANKSGIVING

Jarley was in a blue mood the night before Thanksgiving.  Things hadn’t gone quite to suit him during the year.  He had lost two of his most profitable clients—­men upon whom for two years previously he had been able to count for a steady income.  It is true that he had lost them by winning their respective suits, and had made two strong friends by so doing; but, as he once put it to Mrs. Jarley, the worst position a man could possibly get himself into was that of one who is long on friends and short on income.  He did not underestimate the value of friends, but he didn’t want too many of them; because beyond a certain number they became luxuries rather than necessities, and his financial condition was such that he could not afford luxuries.