WhenfirstthenewshadreachedthemthatMrHardingwasgoingtoleavethehospital，ithadbeenreceivedwithakindoftriumph——hisdeparturewas，asitwere，apreludetosuccess。Hehadadmittedhiswantofrighttothemoneyaboutwhichtheyweredisputing；andasitdidnotbelongtohim，ofcourse，itdidtothem。Theonehundredayeartoeachofthemwasactuallybecomingareality；andAbelHandywasahero，andBunceafaint-heartedsycophant，worthyneitherhonournorfellowship。Butothertidingssoonmadetheirwayintotheoldmen’srooms。ItwasfirstnotifiedtothemthattheincomeabandonedbyMrHardingwouldnotcometothem；andtheseaccountswereconfirmedbyattorneyFinney。TheyweretheninformedthatMrHarding’splacewouldbeatoncefilledbyanother。Thatthenewwardencouldnotbeakindermantheyallknew；thathewouldbealessfriendlyonemostsuspected；andthencamethebitterinformationthat，fromthemomentofMrHarding’sdeparture，thetwopenceaday，hisownpeculiargift，mustofnecessitybewithdrawn。
Andthiswastobetheendofalltheirmightystruggle——oftheirfightfortheirrights——oftheirpetition，andtheirdebates，andtheirhopes！Theyweretochangethebestofmastersforapossiblebadone，andtolosetwopenceadayeachman！
No；unfortunateasthiswas，itwasnottheworst，ornearlytheworst，aswilljustnowbeseen。
’Sitdown，sitdown，myfriends，’saidthewarden；’Iwanttosayawordtoyouandtodrinkyourhealths，beforeIleaveyou。Comeuphere，Moody，hereisachairforyou；come，JonathanCrumple’——andbydegreeshegotthementobeseated。Itwasnotsurprisingthattheyshouldhangbackwithfainthearts，havingreturnedsomuchkindnesswithsuchdeepingratitude。LastofallofthemcameBunce，andwithsorrowfulmienandslowstepgotintohisaccustomedseatnearthefire-place。
Whentheywereallintheirplaces，MrHardingrosetoaddressthem；andthenfindinghimselfnotquiteathomeonhislegs，hesatdownagain。’Mydearoldfriends，’saidhe，’youallknowthatIamgoingtoleaveyou。’
Therewasasortofmurmurranroundtheroom，intended，perhaps，toexpressregretathisdeparture；butitwasbutamurmur，andmighthavemeantthatoranythingelse。
’Therehasbeenlatelysomemisunderstandingbetweenus。
Youhavethought，Ibelieve，thatyoudidnotgetallthatyouwereentitledto，andthatthefundsofthehospitalhavenotbeenproperlydisposedof。Asforme，Icannotsaywhatshouldbethedispositionofthesemoneys，orhowtheyshouldbemanaged，andIhavethereforethoughtitbesttogo。’
’Weneverwantedtodriveyourreverenceoutofit，’saidHandy。
’No，indeed，yourreverence，’saidSkulpit。’Weneverthoughtitwouldcometothis。WhenIsignedthepetition——
thatisIdidn’tsignit，because——’
’Lethisreverencespeak，can’tyou？’saidMoody。
’No，’continuedMrHarding；’Iamsureyoudidnotwishtoturnmeout；butIthoughtitbesttoleaveyou。Iamnotaverygoodhandatalawsuit，asyoumayallguess；andwhenitseemednecessarythatourordinaryquietmodeoflivingshouldbedisturbed，Ithoughtitbettertogo。Iamneitherangrynoroffendedwithanymaninthehospital。’
HereBunceutteredakindofgroan，veryclearlyexpressiveofdisagreement。
’Iamneitherangrynordispleasedwithanymaninthehospital，’repeatedMrHarding，emphatically。’Ifanymanhasbeenwrong——andIdon’tsayanymanhas——hehaserredthroughwrongadvice。Inthiscountryallareentitledtolookfortheirownrights，andyouhavedonenomore。Aslongasyourinterestsandmyinterestswereatvariance，Icouldgiveyounocounselonthissubject；buttheconnectionbetweenushasceased；myincomecannolongerdependonyourdoings，andtherefore，asIleaveyou，Iventuretooffertoyoumyadvice。’
ThemenalldeclaredthattheywouldfromhenceforthbeentirelyguidedbyMrHarding’sopinionintheiraffairs。
’Somegentlemanwillprobablytakemyplacehereverysoon，andIstronglyadviseyoutobepreparedtoreceivehiminakindlyspiritandtoraisenofurtherquestionamongyourselvesastotheamountofhisincome。Wereyoutosucceedinlesseningwhathehastoreceive，youwouldnotincreaseyourownallowance。Thesurpluswouldnotgotoyou；yourwantsareadequatelyprovidedfor，andyourpositioncouldhardlybeimproved。’
’Godblessyourreverence，weknowsit，’saidSpriggs。
’It’salltrue，yourreverence，’saidSkulpit。’Weseesitallnow。’
’Yes，MrHarding，’saidBunce，openinghismouthforthefirsttime；’Ibelievetheydounderstanditnow，nowthatthey’vedrivenfromunderthesameroofwiththemsuchamasterasnotoneofthemwilleverknowagain——nowthatthey’reliketobeinsorewantofafriend。’
’Come，come，Bunce，’saidMrHarding，blowinghisnoseandmanoeuvringtowipehiseyesatthesametime。
’Oh，astothat，’saidHandy，’wenoneofusneverwantedtodoMrHardingnoharm；ifhe’sgoingnow，it’snotalongofus；andIdon’tseeforwhatMrBuncespeaksupagenusthatway。’
’You’veruinedyourselves，andyou’veruinedmetoo，andthat’swhy，’saidBunce。
’Nonsense，Bunce，’saidMrHarding；’there’snobodyruinedatall。Ihopeyou’llletmeleaveyouallfriends，Ihopeyou’llalldrinkaglassofwineinfriendlyfeelingwithmeandwithoneanother。You’llhaveagoodfriend，Idon’tdoubt，inyournewwarden；andifeveryouwantanyother，whyafterallI’mnotgoingsofaroffbutthatIshallsometimesseeyou’；andthen，havingfinishedhisspeech，MrHardingfilledalltheglasses，andhimselfhandedeachaglasstothemenroundhim，andraisinghisownsaid:
’Godblessyouall！youhavemyheartfeltwishesforyourwelfare。Ihopeyoumaylivecontented，anddietrustingintheLordjesusChrist，andthankfultoAlmightyGodForthegoodthingshehasgivenyou。Godblessyou，myfriends！’
andMrHardingdrankhiswine。
Anothermurmur，somewhatmorearticulatethanthefirst，passedroundthecircle，andthistimeitwasintendedtoimplyablessingonMrHarding。Ithad，however，butlittlecordialityinit。Pooroldmen！howcouldtheybecordialwiththeirsoreconsciencesandshamedfaces？howcouldtheybidGodblesshimwithheartyvoicesandatruebenison，knowing，astheydid，thattheirvilecabalhaddrivenhimfromhishappyhome，andsenthiminhisoldagetoseekshelterunderastrangeroof-tree？Theydidtheirbest，however；theydranktheirwine，andwithdrew。
Astheyleftthehall-door，MrHardingshookhandswitheachofthemen，andspokeakindwordtothemabouttheirindividualcasesandailments；andsotheydeparted，answeringhisquestionsinthefewestwords，andretreatedtotheirdens，asorrowfulrepentantcrew。
AllbutBunce，whostillremainedtomakehisownfarewell。
’There’spooroldBell，’saidMrHarding；’Imustn’tgowithoutsayingawordtohim；comethroughwithme，Bunce，andbringthewinewithyou’；andsotheywentthroughtothemen’scottages，andfoundtheoldmanproppedupasusualinhisbed。
’I’vecometosaygood-byetoyou，Bell，’saidMrHarding，speakingloud，fortheoldmanwasdeaf。
’Andareyougoingaway，then，really？’askedBell。
’IndeedIam，andI’vebroughtyouaglassofwine；sothatwemaypartfriends，aswelived，youknow。’
Theoldmantooktheprofferedglassinhisshakinghands，anddrankiteagerly。’Godblessyou，Bell！’saidMrHarding；’good-bye，myoldfriend。’
’Andsoyou’rereallygoing？’themanagainasked。
’IndeedIam，Bell。’
Thepooroldbed-riddencreaturestillkeptMrHarding’shandinhisown，andthewardenthoughtthathehadmetwithsomethinglikewarmthoffeelingintheoneofallhissubjectsfromwhomitwastheleastlikelytobeexpected；forpooroldBellhadnearlyoutlivedallhumanfeelings。’Andyourreverence，’saidhe，andthenhepaused，whilehisoldpalsiedheadshookhorribly，andhisshrivelledcheekssanklowerwithinhisjaws，andhisglazyeyegleamedwithamomentarylight；’andyourreverence，shallwegetthehundredayear，then？’
HowgentlydidMrHardingtrytoextinguishthefalsehopeofmoneywhichhadbeensowretchedlyraisedtodisturbthequietofthedyingman！Oneotherweekandhismortalcoilwouldbeshuffledoff；inoneshortweekwouldGodresumehissoul，andsetitapartforitsirrevocabledoom；sevenmoretediousdaysandnightsofsenselessinactivity，andallwouldbeoverforpoorBellinthisworld；andyet，withhislastaudiblewords，hewasdemandinghismoneyedrights，andassertinghimselftobetheproperheirofJohnHiram’sbounty！
Notonhim，poorsinnerashewas，betheloadofsuchsin！
MrHardingreturnedtohisparlour，meditatingwithasickheartonwhathehadseen，andBuncewithhim。Wewillnotdescribethepartingofthesetwogoodmen，forgoodmentheywere。Itwasinvainthatthelatewardenendeavouredtocomforttheheartoftheoldbedesman；pooroldBuncefeltthathisdaysofcomfortweregone。Thehospitalhadtohimbeenahappyhome，butitcouldbesonolonger。Hehadhadhonourthere，andfriendship；hehadrecognisedhismaster，andbeenrecognised；allhiswants，bothofsoulandbody，hadbeensupplied，andhehadbeenahappyman。Heweptgrievouslyashepartedfromhisfriend，andthetearsofanoldmanarebitter。’Itisalloverformeinthisworld，’
saidhe，ashegavethelastsqueezetoMrHarding’shand；
’Ihavenowtoforgivethosewhohaveinjuredme——andtodie。’
Andsotheoldmanwentout，andthenMrHardinggavewaytohisgriefandhetooweptaloud。