The sun., 1891-11-08

They had comfort In tt for this reason. ana
they freely relied upon It. as In some sort
the advice Of an honest and faithful
encmy. They remembered that the last
evening he was with them their father
had spoken leniently OF Putney's inflrmlty
and sdmiringly OF his wasted ability. Now
each step they took was at his sueges-
hon. They left the great house before tho
creditors were put In possession Of the per-
sonal property. and went to live In the porter's
lodge at the gate Of the avenue. which they
furnished with the few things they could claim
for their own out Of their former belongings.
and from the ready money Susette had re-
naming In her name at the bank. They sban-
doned everything OF value in the house they
had left, even to their richer dresses and their
jewels. They preferred to do this. and Putney
approved: he saw that II saved them more
than II cost them In thoir helpless pride
The Newtons continued In their quarters un-
molested: the furniture was theirs and the
building belonged to the Northwick girls, as
the Newtons called them. Mrs. Newton went
every day to help them to get going in their
new place. and Elbridge and she lived there
for few weeks with them. till they said they
should not be afraid to stay alone. He stood
guard over their rights, as far as he could as
certain them In the spoliation that had to
come. He locked the avenue gate against the
approach Of those who came to the assignee's
sale and made them enter and take away their
purchases by the farm road. and in all lawful
ways he rendered himself obstructive and In
convenient &c. t.." .
His deierenoe to the low was paid entirely
through Putney. whose smartness inspired FL
bridge with a respect he felt for no other vir-
tue in man. Putney arranged with him to
tako the Eorthwick place. and manage 1t on
shares for the Eorthwick girls: he got for him
two Of the old horses which Elbridge wanted
for his work. and one OF the cheaper COWS.
Tho rest OF the stock was sold to gentlemen
farmers round about. who had fancies for cost
ly cattle: tho horses. good. bad. and Indifferent.
were sent to sale stable in Boston. The
greenhouses were stripped Of oil that was val
liable In them. and nothing was left upon the
place. Of its former equipment, except the few
farm Implements. cart or two. and an ancient
carryall that Putney bid of for Newtons use.
Then. when all was finished. he advertised
the house to let for term Of years. and. falling
Q permanent tenant before the season opened.
he rented It to an adventurous landlady. who
proposed to fill 1t with summer boarders and
who engaged to Day rental for It monthly. In
advance. that would enable the Northwick
girls to live on. In the porter's lodge. without
fear Of want For the future Putney imagined
. scheme for selling OF some Of the land next
the villas Of South Hatboro'. In lots to suit
purchasers. That summer sojourn had Ian
guished several years in uncertainty Of It's
own fortunes: but now. BY CAPRICE OF the
fashion which Is sending people more and
moro to the country for tho spring and fall
months. It was looking up decidedly. Prop
erty had so rapidly appreciated there that
Putney thought OF asking so much . foot for
the Northwlck lands. instead OF Offering It By
the acre.
In proposing to become q land operator. I'm
behalf Of his clients. no had to reconcile his
practice with theories he had held concerning
unearned land values: and he justified himself
to his crony. DR.. Morrel. on the ground that
these might be justly taken from such rich and
idle people as wanted to spend the spring and
fall at South Hatboro'. The more land at =
high price you could get into tho hands OF the
class South Hatboro' was now attracting.
and make them pay the bulk Of the town tax.
the better for the land that working mon
wanted to get living on. In help
ing the Northwick girls to keep all
they could out Of the clutches Of their
fathers creditors. he held that he was only do
Tending their rights, and any fight against
corporation was kind Of holy war. He pro-
fessed to be getting on very comfortably with
his conscience. and he promised that he would
not let it worry other people. To Mr.. Gerrish
he made excuses for taking charge Of the af-
fairs of two frlendless women. when he ought
to have Joined Gerrish in Furnishing them for
their fathers sins. as any respectable man
would He asked Gerrish to consider the
sort OF fellow he had always been. drinking up
his own substance. while Gerrish was thriftily
devouring other peoples houses. and begged
him to make allowance for him.
The anomalous relation he held to the
Mouth jol,u N M cd him muCh oYNifaYn ant
and enjoyment that he passed his DEVILS divi-
dend. as he called his quarterly spree. He
kept straight longer than his fellow citizens
had known him to do for many years. But
Putney was one Of those men who could not
be credited BY people generally with tho
highest motives. He too often made q mock
OF what people generally regarded as the
highest motives: he puzzled and affronted
them: and as mono Of his most intimate
friends could claim that he was respectable In
the ordinary sense OF the word. people gen.
orally attributed interested motives. or at least
cynical motives. to him. Adeline Northwick
proflted by call she made upon Dr.. Morreu
for advice about her dyspepsia to sound him
in regard to Putney's management Of her
affairs: and II the DOCTORS powders had not SO
distinctly done her good. she might not have
been able TO- rely upon the assurance he gave
her that Putney was acting wisely and moat
disinterestedly toward her and her aister.
He has such strange way Of talking.
sometimes" she said.
But she clung to Putney. and relied upon
him in everything. not 80 much because she
implicitly trusted him rs because she knew no
one else to trust The kindness that Mr..
Hilary had shown for them In the first OF their
trouble had. Of course. become impossible to
both tho sisters. He had. In fact, necessarily
ceased to offer 1t directly and Sue had steadily
rejected all the overtures Louise made her
since they last met Louise wanted to como
again to see her. but Sue evaded her proposals:
at last she would not answer her letters. and
their friendship outwsrdly ceased Louise did
not blame her; she accounted for her. and
pitied and forgave her: she said It was
what she herself would do In Sues
place. but probably she had con-
tinued herself she would not have done
what Sue did. even In Sues place. She remem-
bered Sue with . tender constancy whom she
could no longer openly approach her without