EXERCISE 171 



which the years of life in the open air had equipped 

 him, and his continued devotion to brisk daily rides 

 and walks. 



At the age of fifty-five, through the failure of a pub- 

 lishing house with which he was connected, a debt of 

 $600,000 was suddenly thrust upon him. Many friends 

 urged that he relieve himself of this crushing load by 

 going into bankruptcy, and depend upon his popu- 

 larity to cause people soon to forgive such action. 

 But Sir Walter Scott said, "No !" The years of devo- 

 tion to out-of-door exercise had equipped him with 

 rugged honesty as well as nigged health. With the 

 lofty courage of the most chivalric knight in his own 

 stories, he declared that if God gave him health, 

 the debt should be paid in full, and that no one 

 should lose one penny on his account. Henceforth his 

 great aim in life was to pay this vast sum of money by 

 the work of his pen. During the ensuing years almost 

 every waking moment was spent in writing, story after 

 story being published and gaining wide popularity. 



An ordinary man could not have endured such 

 strenuous mental labor. His constitution had grown 

 so strong, however, through years of devotion to active 

 exercise in the bracing air, that he was able to keep up 

 this terrible pace nearly five years, before paralysis 

 compelled him to stop. He died a few months later, 

 happy in the thought that the sale of his books would 

 soon wipe out the debt ; but leaving his friends and 

 admirers sad in the belief that, had the old habits 



