The Life of Thomas Hardy
be fatal to the self-esteem and family pride of his mother. London was far off, and opportunities in that city extremely rare. The father's building-business was progressing fairly well, but not well enough to support another master. Ambition, besides, prompted the Hardys to discover some sort of stepping-stone for the advancement of their son.
Now in Dorchester there lived a Mr. John Hicks, an architect, who occasionally placed small contracts in Mr. Hardy's way. The two men talked things over one day. A country architect was a step above a country builder. Dorsetshire architecture was indeed more than a mere trade, yet it was not quite a profession or an art. Still, it was a convenient wedge with which to pierce the wall that stood across the path of ambition. It might, given a fair amount of luck, lead on to better things. And Hicks thought he might well use an apprentice. Many ecclesiastical commissions were coming his way, for it was said that churches all over the country were in sore need of "restoration."
Young Hardy, facile enough with his pencil, readily accepted the suggestion. He entered Hicks's draughting office at Dorchester. Papers of indenture were duly signed. The boy was launched into a career which was to provide him with experiences and opportunities as yet undreamed of. The first definite turn in his life had been taken.
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In London, meanwhile, there was buzzing a-plenty in the civilized world which awaited the young man, still
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