their lives to lecturing, petitioning, and passing resolutions; indeed, they are probably the happier for having mates who can run in harness with them. But there are only about half-a-dozen such men in England, and you are not one of them.' AN ODD LITTLE BOOK. RUMMAGING Over the contents of a stall in a Wardour Street alley, Charles Lamb lighted upon a ragged duodecimo which had been the delight of his infancy. The price demanded was sixpence, which the owner, a little squab duodecimo of a character himself, enforced with the assurance that his own mother should not have it for a farthing less, supplementing the assertion with an oath, and, Now I have put my soul to it!' Pressed by so solemn an asseveration, which seemed to put him upon a level with the stall-keeper's dearest relations, Elia could resist no longer, and depositing a tester, bore away his tattered prize in triumph. Lamb was rather disappointed with the strange delight of his infancy,' when he came to examine it with his older eyes; and well he might be, seeing the Queen-like Closet, as his treasure was called, proved to be emphatically a lady's book, a heterogeneous collection of medical and culinary receipts, hints on domestic matters, and instructions in decorative needlework. Not very lively reading, it must be owned, but, nevertheless, much more amusing than a modern work of the same kind could possibly be. Mrs Hannah Woolly, the authoress of this quaint compendium, which she fitly terms a mixture of things,' seems to have especially prided herself upon her medical knowledge. She gained some of it from her mother and sisters, who were very well skilled in physic and chirurgery; and learned a great deal more during her seven years' service in the household of a noble lady, who supplied her with medical works, and allowed her the command of her purse to buy whatever she needed in the concoction of balsamis, salves, ointments, waters, oils, and cordials. No wonder Hannah became an adept at compounding cordials comforting to the spirits, and distilled waters of various virtues-among the last-named being a plague water, never failing to work a cure, if taken before the heart was utterly mortified with the disease; a water of life, of which whosoever drank liberally, should live as long as nature continued in him;' a palsy water, strengthening and comforting all the animal, natural, and vital spirits, cheering the external senses, strengthening the memory, and restoring lost speech and appetite; and a very sovereign water, warranted to keep the drinker in good health, and make him appear young very long. With this water Dr Chambers preserved his own life till extreme old age would suffer him neither to go nor stand one whit, and he continued five years after all physicians judged he could not live.' Our authoress did not set up for a doctress all at once. At first she contented herself with treating such common, everyday accidents as cuts and bruises, whitlows and felons, and simple aches and pains. Then, rendered confident by experience, reading, and intercourse with the best physicians and chirurgeons England could afford, she ventured to try her skill upon more complicated ailments. At the age of twenty-four, she married the master of the Saffron-Walden Free School, and doctored கு his boarders and the poor folks for ten miles round with great success, to say nothing of curing herself of the palsy, and her son of consumption. Even hydrophobia did not prove too much for her, for she avers she never failed to cure man or beast by a nine days' inward and outward application of a mixture of rue, garlic, Venice treacle, muscadine, and scraped pewter. There was no society for the prevention of cruelty to animals in Charles II's time, or it might have gone hard with Dr Hannah. One of her recipes begins: Take a red cock, pluck him alive, slit him down the back, take out his entrails, cut him in quarters, and bruise him in a mortar. Another: Take a cat, cut off her ears or her tail, and mix the blood thereof with a little new milk. A kibed heel is to be made whole by slaying a mouse alive, and laying the skin upon the sore while still warm; and when a sufferer from the falling-sickness is under the age of forty, he or she may be absolutely cured by taking a live mole, cutting its throat over a glass of white-wine, and giving the liquor so fortified to the patient at the new and full of the moon; that is, the day before the new moon, the day of the new moon, the day after, and so at the full. There is no better thing in the world for cancer or sore eyes than wood-lice bruised in white-wine, for any drink made with them will carry all evil and venomous humours out of the body. Snails are especially to be recommended in consumptive cases, either in the form of snail syrup, or roasted over a charcoal fire in their shells, and bruised in white-wine, with a pint of slit earthworms and sundry herbs-unless, indeed, one could indulge in the expensive remedy, compounded of roses, coral, pearl, amber, and leaf-gold. If we would have our hair thick and glossy, we cannot desire a nicer pomatum than that made of yellow snails and the caul of a new-killed lamb. If we would keep our face smooth and clear, can we adopt a pleasanter method than that of washing it every night with brandy and flower of brimstone, and next morning wiping it only with a cloth? It is well to know we may rid a house of rats by merely hanging a sponge, previously fried in butter, up in the place they affect; that passion of the heart may be cured with confection of alkermes; and that mithridatewhich we take to be the compound of walnuts, figs, and rue leaves, with which King Mithridates so impregnated his system, that when he wished to poison himself, he failed ignominiously-is so powerful a disinfectant, that, rubbed into the nostrils, it will not suffer any infection to pass that way. We are rather surprised at our lady-doctor's want of faith in remarking: "They who have been touched by His Majesty, ought to do something besides:' the something besides resolving itself into taking a medicine taught her by one who cured himself of the king's evil when the king was absent from us;' but we cannot but admire her manner of concluding her instructions as to the making of oil of charity-Keep the clearest for Christians, and the grounds for beasts.' In her capacity of cook, Mrs Woolly catered for well-to-do people. She gives us bills of fare for banquets, and bills of fare without feasting, only such a number of dishes as are used in great and noble houses for their own family, and familiar friends with them.' A couple of examples will suffice to shew what sort of dinners grand folks sat down to in the days of the Merry Monarch. In summer-time, the first course might be: A boiled or baked pudding; boiled chickens; stewed carp; a Florentine; a calf's head, one half roasted, the other half boiled; haunch of venison; venison pasty; a couple of fat capons, or a pig. The second course: Partridges; artichoke pie; quails; cold pigeon pie; souced pig; salmon; tarts; a Westphalia ham, and dried tongues about it. In winter, the first course might consist of: Collar of brawn; a capon and white broth; two roasted neats' tongues, and an udder between them; a chine of beef roasted; a shoulder of mutton stuffed with oysters; a salad of divers herbs and pickles; eel pie; three young turkeys in a dish; souced fish. The above to be followed by a quarter of lamb roasted; a couple of rabbits; a kickshaw fried; mallard; cold venison pasty; a dish of snipes; warden pie; tarts; sturgeon; pickled oysters-cheeses of all sorts, creams, jellies, and sweetmeats coming upon the table as soon as the meats were cleared away. The total absence of soup, the lack of vegetables, and the substantial nature of the provender altogether, perhaps justifies the outbreak: Who are so weak as our English people? for they eat so much of meat, that they distemper themselves with it; whereas, if they did eat herbs, roots, and plants more freely, it would be better for them. Observe the diet of other nations, they make savoury meat, and do not use half so much meat as we do!' We certainly are an obstinate race in matters of eating and drinking; and we fear all the lecturing in the world will not lessen the consumption of meat in England by a single beefsteak. ever, without a little compunction, for in recording his belief that, to the best of his judgment, he had only taken a mixed compound drink, and not any wine, the worthy Secretary adds: "If I am mistaken, God forgive me!' Servants would seem to have been ill-tutored creatures when the Queen-like Closet was written, or its author would not have thought it necessary to remind cooks they should be quiet in their office, not swearing, cursing, and wrangling; or instruct the cook-maid not to dress herself, especially her head, in the kitchen, or sit up junketing and giggling with fellows when she should be in bed. The butler is told to be careful to set the salts on the table, and to lay a knife, spoon, and fork at every plate; to see that his bread be chipped before he brings it in, and to wash the glasses after any one has used them. The carver is warned against touching the meat with his fingers, and if he should chance to do so, to wipe them upon his napkin, not lick them, which is unhandsome. All other servants, men and maids, are instructed to keep their heads clean 'kembed,' and not to lean upon a chair when waiting at table, for to lean on a chair is a particular favour allowed only to a superior servant. Neither may they hold the plates before them to be defiled with their breath, nor, after removing a dish, set it down for the dogs to eat of it, nor eat of it themselves on their way; and when the master or mistress 'shew the favour to drink to any inferior, and command them to fill for them to pledge them, it is not modesty for them to deny strangers that favour, as they commonly do.' While she is sharp in reproving the faults of servants, Mrs Woolly gives admirable counsel to mistresses as to the way they should treat their dependants; there is a true motherly ring in the advice: If you find a good and faithful nurse, one who hath done her duty to you in the care of your child, cherish her, nourish her, and never think anything too much that you can do for her.' I Swan, sturgeon, umble pie, eels and bacon, hog's liver pudding, pies of carp, herrings, lampreys, reddeer, oysters and parsnips, figure with tansies, marchpanes, and furmity among the delicacies in vogue at good tables at the end of the seventeenth century. Legs of mutton were spiced and eaten with chestnut sauce; currant and parsley sauce was held the correct thing with leg of veal; goose- Believing that if a thing is worth doing, it is berry or grape sauce with chicken and rabbit; worth doing properly, Hannah is very severe upon claret and anchovy sauce with mutton chops; and the abominations produced by workers with the mustard and sugar was the favourite condiment. needle: You may find, in some pieces, Abraham Currants and raisins were necessary ingredients in and Sarah, and many other persons of old time, many fish and meat pies. Cream and eggs were clothed as they go nowadays, and truly sometimes used as lavishly as though every house had its worse; for they most resemble the pictures in dairy and poultry yard, and, to quote Lamb, 'every- ballads. Let all ingenious women have regard, thing, to the meanest of meats, is sopped in claret, that when they work any image, to represent it steeped in claret, basted with claret, as if claret aright: first, let it be drawn well, and then observe were as cheap as ditch-water.' Even chocolate could the directions which are given by knowing men. not be made without it, for our instructress tells us do assure you I never durst work any Scripture to boil half a pint of claret, scrape some chocolate story without informing myself from the ground of into it with the yolks of two eggs, and stir all it; nor any other story, or single person, without together over a slow fire till it is thick, and then informing myself both of the visage and habit.' sweeten it with sugar. Our ancestors were fond of That her clients may avoid all such blunders, the sweets. How many sorts of marmalade can we get enthusiastic dame appends instructions respecting now at the shops? When housewives did their the portrayal of the gods and goddesses of old time. own preserving, their cupboards held marmalades Jupiter must have long, black, curled hair, a purple made from oranges, lemons, apricots, wardens, dam- garment trimmed with gold, and sit upon a golden sons, cherries, quinces, pippins, and cornetians.' throne, with bright yellow clouds about him. The For winter dessert they had dried pears and pippins, Months are to be represented in this wise: January, candied oranges and lemons, citrons and eringo clad all in white, blowing his nails; in his left arm roots, raisins, figs, prunes, pistachio nuts, blanched a billet. February, clothed in dark sky-colour. almonds, and blanched walnuts; nor had they lost March, with a fierce aspect, a helmet upon his head, the art of making metheglin and hippocras. Mr and leaning on a spade; a basket of garden-seeds Pepys was once mightily pleased with a draught of in his left hand. April, in green, with a garland of iced metheglin prepared for the king's own drink- myrtle and hawthorn buds; winged; in one hand ing, and ventured to indulge in hippocras at the primroses and violets. May, with a sweet and Guildhall during one of his abstinent fits, not, how- | lovely countenance, in a robe of white and green, upon his head a garland of roses; in the one hand a nightingale, in the other a lute. June, in a mantle of dark grass green; garlanded with bents, kingcups, and maidenhair; in his hand an angle and a box of cantharides; upon his arms a box of seasonable fruits. July, in a jacket of light yellow, eating cherries, on his head a wreath of centaury and wild thyme; a scythe on his shoulders, and a bottle at his girdle. August, a young man of choleric aspect, in a flame-coloured garment, garlanded with wheat and rye, and carrying a basket of ripe fruits. September, in a purple robe, with a merry countenance, upon his head a wreath of red grapes, in his hand a handful of oats. October, in yellow and carnation, with a garland of acorns and oak-leaves, bearing a basket of medlars, services, and chestnuts. November, in changeable green and black; his head decked with an olive garland, bunches of parsnips and turnips in his right hand. December, with a horrid and fearful aspect, clad in | Irish rags; upon his head three or four night-caps, and over them a Turkish turban; his nose red, his mouth and beard clogged with icicles, at his back a bundle of holly, ivy, or mistletoe; on his hands, furred mittens. As two editions, at least, were published of the Queen-like Closet-for our copy is dated 1685, and Elia's find 1681-it is evident that the writer's labours were appreciated by the ladies; at any rate she fully appreciated them herself, telling her readers, if they failed to profit by her book, it was their own fault. HIS OWN EXECUTOR. CHAPTER XVI.-WOMAN'S WIT. THERE was nothing for it but that Ellen should swallow her grief as quietly as she could, and go home to Costicle Grove. William walked with her to the corner of the lane, and put her into an omnibus; then he walked slowly back to his office, thinking over what he had just heard. 'And so Sam would come in for five thousand pounds, under the terms of Harry's will. Well, that would be a good thing for the family; they would be relieved of any further claims on Sam's behalf; and if anything happened to Sam, and he died unmarried, there would be a nice little fund for his mother and sister. In the meantime, as he and his father were trustees, all the conduct of affairs would fall upon him. He must get Budgeon to see to the funeral and all that. It was very strange that he should have been coming back to St Cuthbert's when he was killed, and that the Budgeons should have the care of his body. He had always seemed fond of St Cuthbert's, and-yes, it would be a very nice thing to have him buried in St Cuthbert's Church in the tomb of the Porkingtons. He would get the Home Secretary's order to that purpose. Ellen would like it, he knew. It would seem that the stranger had found a resting-place among friends. Then he must communicate with Mr Procul Porkington. It would be necessary that he should at once take steps to shew his son's legitimacy; that the entries in the Registrar's book might be made in the right name and then there was the coffin-plate to be engraved. Trivial matters these, which must, however, be attended to. And behind all this were the terms of Harry's will, which necessitated proof of his legitimacy.' Pondering on these things, William reached his office. Mrs Asphodel was still there. 'The poor Harry! It is too true; he is dead!' she cried as he entered. You will see him? No! his friends should not wish to see him.' William shuddered: he hated the sight and thought of death. 'Ah, no! better not,' said Mrs Asphodel. Now I want to talk to you about the poor boy's affairs.' 'Are you a relative of his? Or are you acquainted with his affairs?' 'I will tell you,' said Mrs Asphodel, 'what I know of poor Harry. I must recount to you a little bit of my own life, to begin with; it is not much to tell, but you may as well hear it from the beginning. I was born in America; my father was a Greek, my mother an Italian. He was a great rogue, my father-a gambler, and he taught me to play all kinds of games, yes, and to cheat also! My mother, who was a singer, toiled to support him; but, after a while, she got tired, and we ran away, she and I; we went to California; my mother took an engagement at the theatre of San Francisco; but there my father followed us again; we went still farther, to Hong-kong, where there was a theatre then; and to Australia; and there my mother died, and I took to singing for my bread-at concert-rooms, and hotels, and gambling saloons also. One night I had been singing at a tavern where half-a-dozen rough men were playing cards, and they were angry with me for the noise I was making, and made game of me, and would have insulted me still more, but for one young man who was with them, who said that if any one of them touched me he would send a bullet into his head. He was brave and strong as a young lion, and they were afraid of him, and slunk back to their seats. It was a wild, rough night: I had earned no money, and did not know where to go; and I staid there and watched the men playing, and the brave young all he had, all but a little piece of gold I saw man kept continually losing, and in the end he lost him put into his waistcoat pocket. And when he had lost all his money, he scowlingly went out. I followed him. He went on till he came to a chemist's shop; but as he was going in, he turned round and saw me. And he said: "My dear, what are you doing here?" And I told him that I And he gave me the piece of gold he had in his didn't know where to go, for I had no money. waistcoat pocket. And I thanked him, and I said: "What will you do, now you have spent all your money? Keep half of it." "No," he said; "I've had enough of it, and I am going to finish. I was going to buy some laudanum; but it doesn't matter; I can do it just as well otherwise." "But what folly,' said I. 66 You, so grand, and strong, and powerful, and you wish to die because you have lost some money! Bah for you!" "Ah," he said, "it is because I cannot help this horrid play; it consumes me like a fever, and I cannot escape from it, and I had rather die than live any longer." And with that he was going away, but I said: "At least not now; after supper; and then, if I have no fortune, I will die with you." So we agreed that we would spend this last money in a supper. Well, we went to sup at a large café, where there was a platform for singing; and we supped, and drank wine, and then there arose a great disturbance. A female singer was to have sung a song-a song they very much admired; and the master of the house came forward and said she had a cold. And it seemed as though they would pull down the house. I went to the master of the house, and I said: "I will sing for you; I know the song. Come on!" And the people thought, when they saw my rags, that it was done for sport, and they laughed, and were in great good-humour; and then I sang, and sang with such fire and force, that they all burst out cheering, shouting; and they made a great gathering of money for me, so that the man of the house gave me much praise, and asked me to come again to sing the next night. "Well, behold," I said to my friend, "I have been lucky now; we will divide." But he said: "No! I won't divide with a woman; but, for all that, I'm not going to kill myself, when I see what a turn of luck will do." But I said: "Then you shall promise me that you will never touch these abominable cards, or gamble any more;" for I knew what they were, and how the honest could never win at them. And he promised me. He was always good at promising, my Harry!It was at that café I met my husband,' said Mrs Asphodel. 'Oh, indeed!' said William Costicle. But, you'll excuse me a most interesting narrativebut it doesn't enlighten me upon the point I want to clear up.' 'One moment,' said Mrs Asphodel, who only permitted William to speak whilst she gathered volume for a fresh oration. "This young man I met again some years after; but I didn't know him; he was introduced to me by two perfidious rascals; the one you know-Porkington. Well, I own I play, and I love to meet with some rich fellow whom I can fleece; and I entered greedily into their plan of making this young man to play, and winning his money. But something that he said when he first began to play startled me. He said: "It is perjury I am committing ;" and I asked him afterwards: "What do you mean? Perjury; what is that?" And he told me of the promise he had made to the young girl, and how he had kept it all these years. And the scales fell from my eyes, and I was ashamed of what I'd done, and I would have saved him; but I was too late; that rogue Porkington had robbed him of everything.' 'Impossible!' said William. 'Why, he had securities at his bankers' to the amount of eighty thousand pounds.' 'I tell you, it is all gone. He drew out the securities, and gave them to Porkington; and Porkington contrived that his son should lose them all to Lord King; and now the two are on the continent to divide the spoil.' "That's awkward,' said William, gnawing his pen, if it is true. I'll go to Harry's bankers and see if that is the case. Pray, stay here, madam, till I return; I shall only be away for a few minutes.' When he returned, his face wore a curious puzzled expression. 'Well, was it not so?' cried Mrs Asphodel. 'It was so, madam; but, curiously enough, there was one lot of securities Harry did not take away: that was a bundle of Sierra Nevada mining shares. Fifty hundred-pound shares. Harry bought them for an old song: the mine was thought to be a failure; and there was a call impending, so that they were unsaleable; but now they have come across a vein, and the shares will probably be worth as much as has been paid upon them.' 'Well, that is good,' said Madam Asphodel. 'Yes; it relieves my mind immensely,' muttered William; there will be something to pay costs, at all events.' 'Yes, and moreover, we will get it all backall he has robbed poor Harry of.' 'How?' said William. 'Listen! Harry has made a will. He told me so; and you have the care of it.' Admitting that to be the case.' Well, he has left his money to his father.' 'I don't know whether I'm justified in telling you, but you seem to know so much about his affairs that perhaps your advice will be of service to the estate. The conditions are, that he shall prove himself to be the legitimate father of the testator."' "Meaning Harry?' 'Precisely.' 'Oh, that is famous!' cried Mrs Asphodel. 'And if he cannot prove this, and I know he cannot' 'Then to his mother and her relations, if they can be found.' 'Better and better. Now, don't you see, Mr Costicle' 'But, in that case,' said William, 'the legacy will probably lapse. It is hardly likely any one will be found to claim it.' 'She is found already,' said Mrs Asphodel. 'How is it possible?' 'In this way: Harry was brought home to die. It was his mother who received his last breath. It seems she had suspected for a long time, and now she looks and finds a mark on his shouldera birth-mark! They recognise each other before he dies. Hélas, it is sad!' William got up, and paced up and down the room in great agitation. He believed the story without further evidence. His own knowledge confirmed it. Mrs Budgeon's name had been Emma Butt. There was some story about her life before she married. And then there was a look of Harry about Sally. How these light, impalpable things had brought about this strange concatenation! No doubt Sam had been imperceptibly drawn to Harry by his resemblance to one of the people he had known from childhood. His friendship to Sam had brought him to St Cuthbert's Lane, and then some hidden feeling of affinity had made him so kind to Sally and her mother. 6 Then the thought flashed upon him: All this fortune, if we can recover it, goes to Mrs Budgeon, and then to Sally? For he was convinced now that Procul had lied when he said that he had been married to Harry's mother. If he could only recover it! But how? when the fortune was in the form of securities, the mere passage of which from hand to hand was sufficient transfer, and these securities in the possession of an unprincipled rogue, who was out of all English jurisdiction! William was in despair. 'I will shew you how!' cried Mrs Asphodel. But where is he?' cried William, after the two had whispered together for some minutes. 'I know,' said Mrs Asphodel triumphantly. had it from Antoine, his servant.' CHAPTER XVII-DONE. I in the face sternly. What did you say about my poor unfortunate boy?' Mr Porkington and Lord Sertayne King had not gone to Baden, after all; they had not travelled farther than Paris. The Baden season had hardly commenced; Paris was very enjoyable, and besides, the facilities for the sale of foreign securities were much greater. But Porkington wasn't at all in a hurry; he didn't apprehend any danger from Harry. He had made himself sufficiently safe, and he wasn't going to part with his bonds in a hurry, and in a suspicious, informal way. All the transactions should be open and above board, and he would get the extreme market price for what he had to dispose of. The pair are sitting in a pleasant apartment au premier, looking out on the Champs-Elysées. It is a fine sunshiny morning, and Paris is looking its best. They are smoking, and drinking a mild agreeable compound made of champagne and seltzer water. 'Did Antoine bring any letters?' said Lord Sertayne. 'No,' said Porkington. 'I told him not to bring any they only worry me. With my fortune, I can afford to give up writing and reading letters for ever.' There's no danger of the young savage appearing and tomahawking us?' He won't be able to find us. Antoine is faithful. Besides, our young gentleman has no money. He overdrew his account at his bank to give me some money which I required for my journey here. Ha, ha!' 'Poor simpleton,' said King. 'Don't you feel rather sorry for him?' 'Not I. Let him go back to his congenial diggings.' Antoine here entered with a telegram. If it had been a thunderbolt, it could not have startled them more. Robinson Crusoe's horror at the footprint was nothing to theirs. They expected that the next moment the burly form of the man they had robbed would appear in the doorway. 'That we hadn't got half his money.' What do you mean? Oh, I understand,' said Porkington, with a melancholy laugh. Shall I ever forgive myself for the foolish hoax I have played him! I thought to wean him, once for all, from that wretched passion of his for play. I intended to shew him, by leaving him for a moment almost destitute, what possible wretchedness he was preparing for himself. I wanted to sever his connections with that designing woman, Madam Asphodel. And now he is dead, my boy, my boy! And what's more,' cried Porkington, with a chuckle, that he couldn't repress, he's left me all his money!' Lord Sertayne, who had listened to the first part of this harangue in blank astonishment, gave a fiendish yell as he heard this last sentence. He saw it all now-how it was in his friend's interest to keep the whole of the money, and ignore the gambling transaction altogether. Porkington had kept all the bonds in his own hands; they were his now, in right of inheritance. Would he part with a stiver to Lord Sertayne King? No, no; he was DONE! CHAPTER XVIII.-SECURING A LEGACY. Porkington hurried back to London as fast as himself now to go on wings, almost spurning the steam and tide could carry him. He seemed to ground on which he walked. The sense of freedom and power, and the knowledge that he had not, after all, forfeited his hold on the world's good opinion, seemed to give him a double heart. His happiness was not to be marred by any thought more than was necessary of the poor victim to whom he owed this wonderful change of fortune. He had telegraphed to Costicle and Costicle that he was coming; and they, very considerately, had sent a clerk to meet him at London Bridge, to ask if he had any objection to come at once to St Cuthbert's Lane. 'Certainly at once,' said Porkington. 'I like this active way, so different from those old-fashioned lawyers who keep you waiting for years. I'll go and see Costicle and Costicle at once, before I shew myself to anybody. Poor King, I wonder how he feels by this time!' up, Procul was the first to recover himself, and snatched up the telegram and read it. Then he gave a great gasp of real emotion, and stood pacing across the room with his arms folded above his head. Sertayne picked up the telegram, and read it. 'From COSTICLE and COSTICLE, London, to the HON. P. PORKINGTON, M.P., Paris. 'We regret to advise sudden death by accident of Henry Butt, alias Porkington. His will, in our possession, leaves the whole of his large personal estate to you. Estimated at L.150,000. Certain bonds are missing, which form a portion of the estate. We have telegraphed to the chief commercial centres to stop payment of coupons. you know the place of deposit? Return, if possible, at once. The funeral cannot be long delayed, and your presence is indispensable.' Do 'Good heavens!' cried Sertayne, alive only to the figures; then we only got half his money. It's lucky, too, as it happens; eh, Porkington? This puts everything in velvet.' 'What were you saying just now?' cried Porkington, coming forward, and looking Lord Sertayne For King was coming back vid Dieppe and Newhaven, for economy's sake, in a most disconsolate state, to the dwelling of Lady Jane, and to the had lent him five pounds for the purpose. torture of her righteous indignation. Porkington So, at about 11 A.M. Mr Porkington presented himself at the offices of Costicle and Costicle, St Cuthbert's Lane. He hadn't as yet shewn himself at any of his usual haunts at the West End, as he had not made any arrangement with his creditors; and although he did not apprehend that, under present circumstances, they would take any hostile measures against him, he thought it would be more prudent that he should remain incognito for the present. He had therefore put up at the Charing Cross Hotel, and none of his friends knew of his arrival in town. He first saw Mr Orlando Costicle, and shook hands warmly with him. 'Sad, very sad, about our young friend,' said Orlando; but, alas! in the midst of life; and so on. I must congratulate you on the magnificent inheritance. William has got the affair in hand |