Part 28 (1/2)

Mr Selincourt nodded his head thoughtfully, then he answered: ”I h, of course, it is against my own interest to admit it, because I wanted to buy But it is a very hard life for a girl”

”It will be easier in a few years, when Miles grows up; and he gets bigger and more capable every day Oh, I shall have a very easy time, I can assure you, when h

”I trust you will, and a good tiirl ever deserved it more than you do,” he replied warmly Then he went on: ”I had a very hard tithat sometimes I wonder that I did not lose faith and hope entirely”

”But don't you think that faith and hope are given to us in proportion to our need of them?” asked Katherine, a little unsteadily Her heart was beating with painful throbs, for she guessed only too well to what period of his life Mr Selincourt was referring

”Perhaps so Yes, indeed I think it must be so, otherwise I don't see how I could have pulled through I have recalled a good deal about that tie, and have seen how you have had to work, and to sacrifice yourself for the good of others; and I have often thought that I should like to tell you the story of le Would you care to hear it?”

”Yes, very h,the story of her father's wrong-doing told by other lips than his own

”When I was a very young ood salary, and, as I believed, with an unble sisters, and I was rather proud of being, as it were, the keystone of the home Then one day an old friend of my father's came to see me, and paid me fifty pounds, which he said he had owed to ed and implored me to say no word about it to anyone, especially to my father”

”Why not, if it was your father's debt?” asked Katherine, as keenly interested

”Because h twenty years before he had paid the fifty pounds out of his own pocket, to save this friend of his from exposure and ruin At first I was disposed not to take it either; but, as the man represented to me, I had others dependent on me, and for their sakes I was in duty bound to take it, and to do the best I could for them with it”

”I think so too,” murmured Katherine; but Mr Selincourt continued almost as if he had not heard her speak

”I took therather proud of having such a nest-egg, and irls and the old man such a holiday as they had never even dreamed of before Then the blow fell I was called into the rooambler Of course I said no, and that with a very clear conscience, for I had never been addicted to betting nor card playing in my life Then I was asked to explain the lu account in the previous week”

”But I thought that banking accounts were very private and confidential things,” said Katherine

”So they are supposed to be; but the private affairs of a fellow in et closely overhauled, and a shrewd bank ht deem it only his duty to enquire how anyone withsums like that,” Mr Selincourt replied ”Of course I could not explain how I had come by the money, and to my amazement I was curtly dismissed, and without a character”

”How horribly cruel!” panted Katherine, whose hands were pressed against her breast, and whose face was deathly white No one kne terribly she suffered then, as she stood there bearing, as it were, the punishuilty silence, while she listened to the story of what his victim had had to endure

”It did seerey hardness spreading over his kindly face, as if the memory of the bitter past was more than he could bear ”The two years that folloere crammed with poverty and privation; there was alet no work except occasional jobs of manual labour, at which any drayman or navvy could have beaten th I left Bristol and went to Cardiff, hoping that I ht lose my want of a character in the crowd But it was of no use 'Give a dog a bad naot What is the matter, child?” he asked, as an involuntary sob broke fro; only I a down a little, in spite of her efforts after self-control

”You need not be, as you will hear in a moment; and, at any rate, I don't look h ”I was on the docks one winter evening, wet, dark, and late, when I saw a man robbed of his purse I chased the thief, collared the purse, and took it back to its owner, who proved to be one of the richest ive me money I told hied reputation, and my inability to clear erly

”He did; or if he didn't then, he did afterwards Years later he admitted that for the first twelve months of my time with him he paid to have e, as I caood of him to take so much interest in you,” said Katherine

”So I have always felt,” Mr Selincourt answered ”Christopher Ray stood to me for employer and friend In course of tihter, Mary's mother, and when he died he left me his wealth”

”It was not all a misfortune for you, then, that for a tierly

”Rightly speaking it was not ood fortune that came to me when I lost position and character at one blow I have often thought that perhaps I owed my downfall to someone who either said about ht have put ood friend, and it is to him, or to her, that I owe the first step to the success which came after”

Poor Katherine! One desperate effort sheher face with her hands, she burst into tears

CHAPTER XXV

The Rift in the Clouds