That, however, was not the end of David's misfortunes. Shortlyafter, he was drawn by lot as a militiaman; and according to thelaw of that time (for this was in 1807, during the somewhat height ofthe wars against Napoleon) he must either serve in person or elsepay heavily to secure a substitute. David chose regretfully thelatter course--the only one open to him if he wished still tosupport his parents and his infant son. But in order to do so, hehad to pay away the whole remainder of his carefully hoardedsavings, and even to borrow 6 pounds to make up the payment for thesubstitute. It must have seemed somewhat hard to him to do this, andmany men would have sunk under the blow, become hopeless, or takento careless rowdy drinking habits. David Stephenson felt itbitterly, and gave way for a while to a natural despondency; hewould hardly have been human if he had not; but still, he livedover it, and in the end worked on again with fuller resolution andvigour than ever.