Here is a man who has been through hard times and has come through not only alive and well, but extremely successful. He was taken out of school at 12 to work in a bootblacking factory, earning only six shillings a week; and now he a renowned author of fifteen novels and numerous short stories and articles.

He is sitting on the edge of the bride, dropping stones into the river below.

He seems distraught. Maybe you should ask him what's wrong?