THE WEIRD SISTERS.

A ROMANCE,

Jly KICHARD DOWLING, AuTnou of " The M-stuby of Killabd."

PAKT I,

A PLAIN GOLD GUARD.

CHAP i'KR 111. THK MAHOE HOUSE,

Til- house occupied by Mr Grey was very old. It ha«l been tho Manor House, ana was still called tho Manor House, or the Mauor, although it had long ago ceasod to be the property of tho original owner's descendants. For years before_ Mr Grey bought, it I ho house had been uninhabited. It boro a bad name—why, no one could toll. Tlio fortunes of the lords of the manor had -..■•dually mouldered away, and the old hduso had been allowed to fall into decay and dilapidation. During the ti »oio was «htil, up peoplespoke of it as a kind of phantom house ; some re garded it as a myth, and oihcis treated it with a superstitious respect as a thing which might exercise an ovil influence over those who fell under the shadow of its dis pleasure. Suukeu deeply fioin iliu road, surrounded by a wild taugle of rugged oaks, its grounds girt with walls ten luul high, there wcro few pninis open to tliu publio from which a glimpse of it could be caught, and no spot fiou. which a full view could be obtained.

Boys had scaled tho walls aud penetrated into the laugled mazes of the neglected undergrowth, Uitt the briars uud brambles and bushes wcro too rough even for boys, and tltey came away soon. No boy oi Dttucford—aud there were high-hearted, hrttv*?, adventurous boys thero—could nay he had penetrated aa far as tho house. Although those who had once boon boys u£ Daueford had faced the enemies ot their country in uveiy clime, by day aud by night, on land ami aoa, and although the boys of that city, at the timo spokeu of, were made of as etout stuff and inspired bj as gallant hearts as tho boys who had fought and fallen in Spain, India, Amotion, Belgium, Egypt, where you will, not one of ail oi ilium would dare, alone and by nigh', to broaK through that juuglo, and penetrate to that bouse. The .-oil oi the Manor Park was low and full of rich juices, aud feitile with long rest, so ihe vegetation beneath the gnarled boughs of the intcriacin*. oaks could hold moisture well wheu the sua was hot, and from that -round 10 the sun they never saw clearly rose huge green aud red and yellow slimy weeds among the brambles and shrubs.

From ilio uoats ot many generations of birds which had built iv those distorted troes, seeds ol ail things that grow ou this land had fallen, aud taken root and pros-

pered in the ii.ii yrouutl of the sultry glens and cavoius formed by the scraggy arms •i.d folia.*- vi the u„ks; year after year ibis disorderly growth had uurat up out ot tho fat, greasy soil iv unwholesome pro fusion, uuoieau luxury, and had lotted dowu a&oiu into the over-lush earth, So that the spring-root and ground-fruit, and all niannoi of green tilings, jostled and crushed one another, and ihe weaker were Strangled and eateu up by the stronger. Thousands of birds yearly built in the trees of the Manor Park ; for here came no guns to kill o. scare, no boys to pilfer the eggs or young ones; aud this republic of buds over-head was a source of great profit to the si il bcio'.i. often bird-, fell from the trees dead of cold in the tvintor nights, and when the sunshoiioo.il the Industrious ntolo came and buried ihotu decently, and their boues were of service to tho soil, The mole, too, was useful in another way, for he turned up the clay now aud then, hero and there, aud opened avenues into the earth for water burdeued with fructifying juices. Aud her., too, was that ever-active sex ton of the vegetable world, the fungus. In the vast wiuds of the winters, when the oaks gored one auother, aud tore oil the fau"s of their autlors, great boughs fell witFi shriek*, to the earth. Later the sexton fungus crept over to ihe shattered limbs and lodged on thorn, and ata them up silently and slowly, aud then the fun.its itself melted iuio the earth. Here were worms of enormous growth, and frogs aud toads, and snails and lizards, and all other kinds oi slimy insect* und rep tiles, and the boys said snakes were pat forward iv excuse of fosr on tho part of the boys. There wore no hares, no labbits, uo deer, no cows, uo sheep, no goats, nor any of the gentle creatures that put grass aud green things to u>es profitable to man. Heie in those vaults of sickly twilight vegetable nature held high saturnalia, un disturbed save by tho seasons and worms and Bnails and caterpillara aud slugs. This was not a prosperous Geld, n pruueut grove, a stately wood, a tltserect garden; It was a robber's cave of the green world, in whicb the plunder of all tho fields lay heaped without uesigu, for no good or use ful end. At night tha darkness was thick and hot lthoso blind alleys and inexplorable aisles. When the foot was put dowu some thing slipped beneath it a greasy branch, a viscous fruit, a reptile, or the fat stalk of some largo-leafed ground-plant, Tho trunks of the trees and the branches of the shrubs weic damp with gelatinous dew*. If there was a moon, something might always be seen sliding silently through tho grass or leaves and pulpy roots. Strange uud depressing odours of decay came stealthily upon tho sense now and then, and filled tho mind with hints of uu. utterable tear». If in the branches above a sleeping bird chirped or fluttered, it seemed as though the last bira loft was stealing away from tho fearful place. The fat rop tiles that glided and slipped in the ghostly moonlignt were fleeing, and leaving you alone to behold some spectacle, encounter some fate, too repulsive for the contem plation of reason. Within this belt of rank vegetation and oaks*the Manor House stood. The honse had a plain stone front with small narrow windows, three on each side of the main door. At the rear was a large paved court yard, with a pump and horse-trough in the middle.

The chief building consisted of a ground floor, on which were the reception-rooms, a first floor of bedrooms; and a second floor, the windows of which were dormar, in tended for the servants of the establish ment.

The walls of the house were of great thickness and strength, On tho ground and first floors moat of the doorways into the passages had double doors. Owing to the great thickness of the walls, aud the double doors, and tbe massive floorings and partition walls, sounds, even tho loud est, traveled with great diiliculty through that house. In front of the house stretched a broad gravelled drive, which narrowed into a gravollcd toad as it set off to tbe main road, a considerable distance farther on, This carrihge-road wound in and out through the oaks ot the Park. Between the gravelled open iv front of the house and the trees stretched a narrow band of

shaven grass. This narrow band of grass fallowed the oarriago-road up to the lolge-

g<Around the paved yard in the rear stood the coachhouse, stubles, kitchen, laundry, scullery larder, and ottier offices, and still farther to the rear of the house, behind the yard, weie tltc flower and kitchen Hardens. To the rear of all, surrounding all and binding all in like suffocating bondage, was tho Park of gnarled oaks and rank lush uudergrowth and slimy soil. t in looking at ihe house you were not conscious of anything uncanny or repulsive At tbe left-hand end-that is, the end of the house nearest to Danef old—there rosei a tower, mounting only one story above the dot'tnar floor. Upontheitopof this tower was a huge iron tank, corroded into a skeleton of its former self. Looking at that weather battered and rusted tank, with the under growth in the Hark behind you, the former resembled the decay of the indomitable natives of Amorica, who perished slowly iv opposing thomselver to fate; the over ripe prosperity of the latter looked like the destructi-n ot the Komans. who ate aud drank and slept, their simplicity aud their manhood away. One peculiarity of this house was that no green plaut or creeper could get a living out of its dry walls. Neither on the house nor on the tower had over been scon one leaf native to tho place. Here was another thing iv strong contrast to the teeming vegetation environing hi-* home. It was uot while looking at the Manor you felt its unpleasant influence. In sun shine nothing disturbed your peace while you contemplated its dry, cold fro it. But wlicu you had gone away ; when you wuie sitting in your own bright room ; whom >ou were walking along a lonoly road ; when you awoko in the middle of tho night, and heard the toirents ot tho storm roar as they whistled round your window ; then, if the thought of that house came up before your mind , you shrank back troni iis image as from an apparition of evil mission, in your mental vision the hotiso itself seorued seined and atoared.

The intense groeit life that dwelt beneath those oaks stood out, in' Startling contrast with the absolute nudity of those uiutp purelled stones. Tha house seemed to shrink instinctively from any contact with verdure, ns though it tclt assured of evil from moss or leaf or blade. It appeared to dtead that the oaks would creep up ou it aud overwhelm it in their portentous shadows, beat it down with their gaint arms.

That tosver Blood out in the imagination like an arm uplifted iv appeal ; that shattered tank became a lattercd lla_ of distress. Tito windows looked like seared eyes, the broad doorway a mouth gapiua with terror, ihe whole building quiveicd with human horror, was sileut with frozen awo. In tho year ISSC Henry Walter Grey s father died, and the son became sole pro prietor of the Daneford liank. Up to .hut him the sou had lived, with his wife, 10 whom he had then been' married six- years, iv the Bank-house as manager under his father. More wore only a few years' leaio of hia father's suburban residence to run, and a likelihood arose that tho laud lord would not roue—, so young Grey had to look out for v home, an he inteuded appointing a manager aud living away from tho oilice. At that time the Manor House was in the market, ttnd Mr. Circy bought it for, as he said, " a song, aud a very poor song, tio," considering the extent of the l Jurk, the value of ilio timber, and the spacious ol '< house. As a matter oi fact, no on*.- valued tho dwelling at a penny beyond what tho sale of its stones would briu.;; for the itn pressiou of the seller was that, owing to its uncanny aspect uud b.ul name, no one would thick of buying it to I've in. All Daueford was taken by surprise when it heard that young Grey, Wat Grey, --vat had bought tho fearlnl Manor -louse in which no family had lived ior gener ations, aud from which even the furniture and servants bad been long since with drawn. Did he nuvti to take it down, build a new house, aud effect a wholesome clenrauce of theso od ous groves ? No, he had answered, with a light laugh, ho harboured no intention of knocking down the old house to please the neigh bours ; of course ho was going to repair the house, and when it was fully restored he would ask his friends to come aud try if beef and mutton tasted worse, cr wiuo was less cheerioar, under that roof because nervous people bad been pleased to f .-ighten themselves iuto fits over the Bark and Manor House.

Iv a year the house had been put into thorough order, and even the tower had uot beeu wholly neglected, for one room of it, that ova level with Mr Grey's own bedroom, had been completely renovated into a kind of extra dressing room to Mr Grey's bedroom, from which a short passage led to it Nothing wet done to the gtound-floor of the tower ; nothing was done to the lloor on a level with the dormar; nothing was done with the lloor above tho dormar.

Nothing was done to the unsightly tank on the top of tho tower. With respect to tbe rooms of the tower, Mr Grey said he had no need of more thau the one.

With respect to the tank, he said he would in no way try to diminish the unpre possessing aspect of the exterior of the house ; he would rely upon tho Interior, the good cheer and the welcome beneath the roof, to countervail the ill-onioned outer walls. There was another reason, too, Mr Grey said, why he had made up his mind to alter nothing in tho surrounding grounds or out ward aspect of the house—he wanted to see whether that house was going to beat bim, or he was gointi. to beat that house. So when all was in order, he set about house-warming ova prodigious scale—a scale that was a revelation to the people of Daneford. He filled all tbe bedrooms with guests, and had a couple of dozen men to dine with him every day for a fortnight. He tola his set vents, as long as they did their work punctually and satisfactorily, they might have friends to see them, and might make their friends welcome to the best things in the servants' hall every day for a fortnight. There wore bonfires iv the courtyard, and fiddlers and danciug. A barrel of beer was placed on the horse-trough, and mugs and cans appeared in glittering rows on a table beside tho cask, and painted on the butt end of tho cask the words, " Help your self." ~ , When he lived in town his establish ment had consisted of three servants. For the fete * dozen additional servants were ongaged and a French cook. Thero were a lodge aud gate to the Manor Park, but there was no lodge-man or woman; and during tho festivities the gate always stood open until midnight, and all passers-by were free to come iv and join the dancers and partake of the ale. One day bo had all tha clerks of his own bank to dine with him; and.Whilo they were over their wine aud cigars ho informed them their salaries were from that hour ad vanced twenty per oent. He was then a simple member iof the. Chamber of Commerce; he had not yet been elected chairman. He entertained

the whole Chamber another evening, and then told the members he had that day written to the secretary, declaring his re solution not to charge lutercst on the money advanced by his bank-three thousand pounds-for the completion of tbe new building in course of construction by the Chamber, A third evening he asked all the members of the Hatbour Board, and told them that he had made up his mind to abandon the old cUim for interest on their overdrafts set up by his father. Then he gave a Commercial Club even ing, to which were bidden all his friends aud acquaintances, who were also members of th; clnb. After roast beef came two large silver dishes, on one of which was, plainly enough, plum-pudding; on the other, Fomething that was plainly not plum pudding. The host nodded to the servants, and both dishes burst into flame ; the dish that contained the plum pudding standing opposite the treasurer of the club, at the foot of tho table; the thing that was not plum-oudding standing oppo ita the banker, Whatever had been before l.mi was, when the brandy ceased to burn, all consumed, except a little black mutter that floated about on the surface of the fluid io tho dish.

" Everyone must have some of my new sauce. I inveuied tt, myself, and I will take it a- a nwour if all will taste it with the puodinc."

All partook of it and praised it highly, aud many said they ndd never tasted its like before, and several began elaborate analyses of it, and minute coni,.,ai'i.S'ms be tween It and a huudred of wetl-known sauces. After a wh'le he said : " The roast beef and plum-pudding of Old England forever I" Then pointing to tho dish containing tho floating black matter betore him, " And the ashes of my mortgage on the club pro perty once I". Tile Boat Club were his guests another evening, and a large gold loving-cup was brought iv and carried about with a rich compound ot dark wines and stimulating spices, and out of this all were to drink. When all had tailed and toasted ill the common cup the object of their common solicitude, the last man after drinking culled out that there was something which rattled and jingled and slid about in the bottom of the cup. The master of the house seemed more inquisitive than any others, hade the finder spill out the contents of the cup on a Silver, and, behold, ono hundred and live new sovereigns frush from the Mint 1 Upon this discovery the host rose and said that love was the rarest of aichomy, and that the touch of a score of loyal lips, all having tho one interest at heart, had changed the liquor, into gold for the good of the club, aud that tho gold and the cup must go togmher to the club. When he had the organisers and directors ot the Poor's Christinas Coal Fund to dinner, each member round, folded up iallis napkin, twenty orders, each order for live shillings' W.rtll of coal.

ciueli generous and kindly deeds, and such cordial hospitality, could not but on doar hiui to the people of Daueford ; and by reason <,f his knowing bo many men intimately, and each one of tue3emeii being mote or less proud of the acquaintance, thoy all culled him " VVat," to show how very intimatx they were with him, and to show that in the noit commercial sot In Daneford there wits uu one else known by the name of Wat. They called him Wat in preference to Henry or Harry, because tliore is not perhaps among all tho Chti-tiau names one which admits of such an inti mately familiar contraction na Walter.

But all the banqueting and largess did null disenchant the ominous mansion.

I'hos ,* who had been at the prodigal house wanning always remembered the exterior a-pect ot the house when the revels were at their height as cveu worse tltau the or dinary appearance ; for the small red win dows in the thick dark walls looked at night like the eyes of a desperate man who hail drank deeply to keep up his courage in some supreme ordeal, And by day ever afterwards, to those who had been in the hous-ipt the;festival, it seemed m though tho house looked more aghast than over, like the face of one who, having slept off tliu artificial courage, bad awaked to re duced resources ana incrertod dangers.

CHAPTBK IV. AN UN-EuFISUMOTHryi, Alt. the parties given by Mr Grey at the Manor House wete men's parties. Mrs Grey rarely or never was to be found in the drawing-room after dinner; and, indeed, the drawing-room was seldom lighted up. Mrs Grey wai a pretty, low-sized, dark eyed, nervous woman, a few years the junior of her husband. He had met her first in Loudon, iv n house where she was staying on a visit with friends. She was alone in the world, had a small fortune, which, while it made her no object of pursuit in the circle alio frequented, kept her independent. There wae a little mystery and a little doubt about her, and while neither tho mystery nor the doubt was sufficient to dis quiet anyone, it served to keep interest in her alive, and the more prudent and calcu lating of suitors from love-making. In dividually she was popular; but while those who know her spoke well of her in her absence, the good things said of her always began in superlatives, and, as the conversation went on, diminished to positives, and the talk usually ended with a vague "but" aad an unfinished sentence. __''~ ,; ' Perhaps she was a little odd, they said. Perhaps she had French blood in her veins. Perhaps the strange blood was Spanish, ehe had a look not wholly Knglish-a look denoting no close kinship witn any other people. Her name was Muir, which seemed to indicate that she came of a stock north of the Tweed. Yet she had never been in Scotland, nor her father before her, nor aoy oue of his side, aafar as he could trace back. Her mother had been the daughter of a Truro solicitor, her father a member of tho Equity bar of London. Those who had known her father and mother declared that she resembled neither in her face nor her manner. She was dark, low-sized, and odd; they had both been tall, fair, and models of conventional insipidity. ' When Walter Grey married Miss Muir she was twenty-four years of a-.e, he twenty nine. The women judged her to be' thirty four, the men allowed that she might be twenty-Seven; but'all agreed that young Grey, with his prospects, might have done much butter as fat as money went. But among the young and chivalrio of Daneford, youu.. Grey helped forward his nascent popularity by marrying a poor wife and risking his father's displeasure for his sweetheart's sake. The youn<j aud chivalrio of Daneford were never tired of pointing to the pleasantest aud most prosperous man in the city as one who had made his love paramount above all other considerations in tho selection of a wife. From the time he won his wife until he ost her his manner towards her gained him ldaily increase of respect among tne people of tho city. Every indulgence and luxury which his position could afford were lavished upon her. Wives who had cause of di. • pleasure or dissatisfaction with, their husbands always cited Mr Grey as a shining contrast to their own too economical or ex acting lords. It was not alone that she was

never denied anything for which she could reasonably care, but, notwithstand ing the clubs and the institutions and the boards of which Mr Grey was a member, no more domestic man lived in Daueford. He always dined at home, except on occasions of &reat public interest ; and when he had no guests he sat reading or conversing With her, or they both went for a sttoll in the fine twilight, or visited the theatre, or any other form of public amuse ment afforded by the town. As the years of their married life glided by, and no child came to make aU endear ing interruption to the smooth course of 'Wedded sweethearts, the attachment be tween the husband and wife seemed to borrow a greater depth froni the soft melan oholy arising out of their childless condition. It was. the town said, a thousand, pities the rich, amiable, amusing, good-looking Wat Grey had no.one to leave his fine busi ness and his vast foitune to. if- a friend alluded to the fact of his childlessness he always put the subject aside with as little humour and as much geutleuess as the character of the speaker allowed of. To his wife, who often made tearful allusions to the circumstance, ho re plied with cheerful hopefulness, and bide her set hergiief for him away, as he was quite content and happy with the blessiugs Heavtu had already scut him, chief among which was a wife he loved.

Although Mrs orey did not go into society, and had no lades to dinner, she had a tew visiting friends upon whom she called in turn, and who learned from her the uniform kindliness of her husband, and the great gentleuess with which he accepted the absence of an heir or heiress.

In fact, the more people heard of Mr Grey, the more he grew in popular esteem, and behind all this amiability on his part there was a factor which hugely multiplied its value. At first, when he brought bis wife home to Danefurd, and the people of his sec began to know her a little, they all declared that she was pretty, very pretty, and a trifle odd. Time went on, and although she lost mine ot her prettiuess with her yeirs— hers being the beauty that depends on bone and om linc, and Lot on suiface and colour—her peculiarities gained upon her; and whether, the Daueford folk said, it was the foreign blood that darkened her eyes and her hair aud her ways, or a slight strain of madness, they could not decide, but she was, beyond all doubt, not in manner like the average Englishwoman of her"class. first her peculiarities defied definition. People said ahe was very nice, but a little queer, cracked, crazy. She was very im pulsive, and sometimes incoherent. No action of hers seemed the result ot fore thought or preparation, ahe ordered the servants to bring this, that, or the other thing; and when they came with it she told them they might take it away again, as she had changed her mind. She ordered the brougham for four, went out - walking at a quarter to four, and stayed out till six, without countermanding tha brougham.

About the time that Mr Urey bought the Manor House, . Mrs Grey bad a difference with her cook, aud bet* cook left her in a violent temper. The cook had been with her ever* since Mrs Grey had first come to Daneford, and was the confidental servant of her mistress. Soon after the cook had left, it reached the eats of a few acquain tances of Mt Grey that a dreadful Spectre had appeared in his household. The fact that Mrs Grey had now been married some years and was still childless had preyed vety deeply on her excitable temperament, and, dreadful to say, she not uufrequently took more wine than was good tor her.

Those who heard tuts now saw a reason, unguessed by others, why the banker bought that odious house swathed round with that fearful wood. There his wife would be secluded, free from prying eyes and guarded against any clo=c daily contact with neighbours. How had it been kept secret so long ? The cook, vow discharged, had obtained for the unhappy woman what she wanted, and the poor lady was wonder fully discreet ana cautious, and until that servant went no one but the cook and the afflicted husbaud ever dreamed of such a thing. It was dreadful. But the most intimate friend of Grey never knew from him, by even the faintest hint, there was a single cloud over his domestic happiness. He always spoko of his wife in terms of the most tender consideration and kindli ucss. He was by no means weak or ux orious ; but there was a loyal trust, an ever active sympathy in him towards her, that won greatly on the young aud old men and women of Daneford.

The evil circumstance under which Mrs Grey laboured was never an open scandal in the town. In the first place, owing to her own great prudence ana circumspection, no one had auy suspicion of the melancholy fact from herself. If she was the victim of a debasing weakness, she never betrayed herself publicly, and those who heard of it through Indirect ways had kept the secret closely, out of respect to the man whose fame and name aud popularity stood so high among his fellow-citizens. Indeed, some who heard the rumour disbelieved it it wholly, and * declared their conviction that it was the malioious invention of a dis* charged servant, based on tho eccentric habits and unfamiliar Ways of the poor lady. But the fact remained that, even to the spacions Manor House, no lady guests were invited to dinner; no lady guests stayed for twenty-four hours ; and, beyond a few after noon callers, no ladies visited the house at all. But perhaps in Daneford there were not a dozen families in possession of the fact that would account for the strict retire ment iv which the mistress of the Manor lived, and the young and the chivalric con tinued to look on Grey and his wife aa not only the most prosperous, bnt also the most happy, couple in the whole county. Very soon after Henry Grey's marriage with Miss —ttir, he found out that she did not possess the solid good sense and grave discernment essential in the confidant; of a banker. low She not only lacked the golden faculty of silence, but dealt with facts communi cated to her in a most imaginative and in judicious manner, He told her that a sub stantial and solvent merchant of the ton a had overdrawn bis acoount five hundred pounds, shortly after, the merchant's wife called on Mrs Grey, aud the latter, in a moment of communicativeness, said to the former that business was in a bad way, and that she understood the former's hus band owed the Bonk, over and above or dinary business, no less a sum than five thousand pounds. The merchant's wife re latedthis to her husband, and he came in great indignation to Grey. Mr Grey said his wife's talk had been only woman's gossip, aud that, he had most certainly never told his wife or any one else the merchant, owed the Bank five thousand pounds overdraft. Tbe uetchant si?id he was quite sure Mr Grey had not, but urged that something of the over-draft must have been com municated to Mrs Grey, and that a woman's gossip was quite capable of raining « solvent man. • -.*• < ■'■ - ■

On another occasion the hanker told hex the Bank had not. made as much money that year as the year, before, and, sh. in formed* some chance callei. that the Bank' was losing.,heavily. This rumour might have shaken the credit of an institution

less solidly established than^?^ ing the city the bank was looklS** much more safe than the bZ'9»»_ land, insomuch as the Thread*,^. Daneford did not mortgaee*•_*' ttn capital by such an issue, and „_J:«< it temptation to diminish its stocff A to overstep safety. . Wj ™ These two experiences of Orßv. with a few others ot leß aj imp&plrj, similar nature, convinced h^S more general and abstract _U__,"*l£ business matters to his wife thalS. from the moment he arrived at M elusion he carried it into effect, «_*'». no talent for the particular, didnM miss his conßdence, aud rem_b_JS_s». content with commonplace _«„#% to business matters. Indeed ls"^i little of the highly feminine'Sp *. quisitiveness, she was not _to___|it in business statements of any __?**. Most men will talk more f2i-^ woman whom they trust thau'to _?'*l no matter how dear to ft-_n'v 'J****, nature or affection. Henry __?"«. exception to the rule, and when 1 *S he durst no longer confiruj't . secrets to his wife, he unbnj^-JPP.fhiit to another woman, a wido»: *s*s seventy, but still straight aod'-i!« and sympathetic and hale, .»!?%. had won and retained a mostj_3j_-*») upon his esteem, affection, anErl*. his mother. ' aMIM%. Whilst all the world of B M _ „ calculating the enormous fort _.*&■» ford Bank must be making for ite and was bemoaning the fact.t_ii.S_*. had no child to leave his fineAni^*. his vast savings to, there weieS^ the nature of whose anrietj __?* Grey's affairs did not tako*the __?'*■■ : These two people were the-__,__* possessing knowleda c of.the co___3" Grey's private fottune and tlieW1* For years he had kept tha _*£_ affairs from his mother, but«_S i * I blow succeeded blow, he coalite 13 I bear the burden of his secret taS 8 folded it to her. He did m|2£* wi'.h detail, but informed httfflgHgS had backed the South in the 4__j_^'!|, i —that not only bad he lostSh?*"1 private fortune, but all of Sj* money as well. ..T^"™ At first she was over»_|_y _.„ surprise and hurror to thinks ~y!j business and reputation madeErfff? i by her dead husband and h____s* 1 him should be ; uined) by her. _» _T. I not only had the Bank beeu r*r__2f I son's fortune and position _jjjeii. the moneys of the clients haiajjUj' J eluded in the horrible disaster,, .' I But, despite her seventy vein.'_,'_.' brave old lady, full of fanSßg ' and courage. Once the first _tf!™ over, she set,all her faculties afjir^! and sustain the drooping eiterria.S only son. 'jitViajK She knew he was not free frombrAte_ home ; she ktiew he 'gave none &%J ness confidences to his „■__,,V,_fioii___ i deplored these facts, she *__■} j_._^£j"" help for them; and.if at first reluc__ _ X assist him in councils which ought il held between him andhiowife,in,tbj. j she saw it would be; thr; wiiest"cotu_ b j her to listen, to , encourage, him to rial and to aid him viilh any advice s„"2 think it wise to give. , , *;'.* Apparently,- however, 't_':_____j, 19 Bank were beyond the aid.of ikix, Si ! efcry interview between motteiuj m he assured her he saw no opaiig ji _j clouds ; that, in fact, they got iiacje: mi blacker as time wore on. jsfe Towards the beginning oi__tMnri had, the son told the mother,, cone to tie worst. "All is lost," he said; ''all_j_t, i have been staving off and stay .jitj__ everything has got into a _opcleas tangle, out of which I can find bat mis teg- j ruin !" "Then, Henry, I supposej'yiK antt shut the door; and as you.ses _§ig else for it, tha sooner you" stopl __j better." " Mother, the day I shut tWJtakdMt ; I'll open another door." tw "What do you mean?" " I'll open the door into thrJititH world with a charge of gunpowder."™* " Don't say such a foolish, tail :: thing t You are not, I hope, Bu_ai_«ri as to fly from the comeqnenws'" if.jp own act, If you have lost ie'f-omf a fair trading you need nbt.'be ashamed" t : meet them all; others Wade "m. lo*. that unfortunate South; \w !sik would have stood, his ground aid U the city," said the old woman, with ipirif : and pride. ••. ■■ ",*''. vfeL ' " No doubt, mother, no apajtnp|. j would have bad the manliness to iiuiiil face the break; but he.was'a«tfpfi endurance and nerve; yon know l Mitt I would do anything rather tiia_fn~ a crash and live after it Yoatalte 1 been much more out,'in, the.pHdttajij m father. lammixedupwlth(n^ii~-« 1 of things, am closely wnnectMwali ■ number of institutions and l*mw>& 1 ing, no consideration, could jiIMBB to I outlive bankruptcy. The.pwkrp , not believe facts; they .w.ojis:*ffl« i any statement, however pUraj;tWl' v insolvent They would mU ...;» ' appropriated the money of Wfm made a fraudulent pretence $f?pJi . and concealed the money for^m" I know the world better than _=_*»! I know the world, and what.|lW I may be popular now; butJlffl*» street-hoys might. kick me tha*** , gutter and no one would take Of Fi" try to get me lair play," , , _c dropped his head Into.-****? 1 | shuddered. , J_|___;_i The old woman looked at gjr»g_s. | sympathy, which was not- whi-j.'Wl" °f™Youko'ow, Henry, *>&}% have had to face such WHOR ,„ come out of their difficulties WW"'1" or a hard word-—" .. '_, tg "In'my case that is ™lsSmfc '. you, mother, they would Jgßm mercy on me than on a snaWRHUi | is a private ore, the property 9l»r^ and on that one person all thJiW'', M fall. It is'not like a.joMI*L f! limited liability, where maniiS If as principals or shareholders K^v, H It would be a case between tf»W| ■ and Ms creditors. It wouldm^ B had borrowed money,privateiraSj^ ■ people I knew, and speut it MK.^ | dangerous foreign speculation'.'^J. j dissipated their last pehaies ani ■ , people beggars. No, ™&&\?Ji shut the Bank door I open IMP, Uternity with a bullet." ~fl •_, He was walking up «?. d h SJU mother's drawing-room,. jM^y-i clasped behind his coat, hisi.fljjjj, the ground, and ._'lopk..d M^ thought upon his usuaUy placid ing features. *.. • '.« iwiJ* "I wiU not heW'jW'WrjgS Henry," cried his mother, m&t,] fbot impatiently on the fl<»r']Jpj me. You know my two tliousaw i is clear of the Bank —■ . ,|_ "Thank Heaven and my "^ that1I" said Grey earnestly.. . p ".Can't you shut tip to_]ta%Mi aud Bee"-Beatrice-hiSiWffc-^ to! ( stay with me for a while J '"•JSjii ISnglandandUveouathouMiiii^

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, MAY 26, IBBS.

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