Year: 1873

s1on considerable change from what l had noticed on the previous Sunday. All anxiety had now vanished, and in it's place was look of calm sorrow.

 .A great change has come the appear ance of the house since you saw it, ' he said. 'I suppose you can guess the req son."

 'Indeed cannot" I replied with per feet good faith

 "Wen. I will tell you then" he said. ''Do you remember during our converse ton on Sunday told you that to remove the exciting cause of the malady you i'm aglned was laboring under, would cost three times the whole fortune possess. You evidently at the moment appeared to consider there was something like sb- surdity Tn my remark. am now about to prove to you it's perfect truth. lam hopelessly bankrupt, and fear my es- tate will not pay seven shillings in the pound. After I have given up every far thing possess in the world, with the ex- ception of the interest on five thousand pounds which has been settled on my wife, about two hundred year will be for the future all We and our seven child ren have to live upon. My wife and the children have now gone to friend in the country who has kindly taken them in. I 1OH1hkA HI tOWu SOIu0 tlu0 longer in a small lodging on the other side of the water till my affairs are wound up. The lease and furniture of the house will be sold by auction next week"

 I was aghast at the information. and l remained for some moments silent, Mir. l X. all the while watching me attentively

 Il always thought you were a man of large fortune, said to hlm at last

 ''So did most others" he replied. 'sYou must, however, clearly understand never was man of large fortune-one of good property, would have been the mora cor rect term. My income never exceeded E1 300 8 year, and in fact was generally nearer f1 200. Till I had come into the property you heard of, we lived in very modest manner in the country, and the first step to my ruin was taking this house and furnishing 1t in the very expensive manner Idid. At the time did not cal culate that the larger the house the great CT would be the contingent expenses con- nected with 1t. We had more expensive servants, more expensive ideas, numerous luxuries to which we had hitherto been totally indifferent, and possibly were so when we had them, only We were inform ed they were necessary to keep up an ap- pearance. We were obliged to have a carriage, although believe my wife and myself cared but little about it. The din- ners we gave became the more expensive in proportion as the friends we made were the wealthier. They gave us most luxurious dinners, and 1t would have been derogatory on our part not to have returned them.

 Beyond that, the good and economi- cal school to which we had hitherto sent our younger boys, was discovered to be beneath their future position in society. They must be sent to Harrow and Eton to make acquaintances who, as my wife argued, would, as they grew up, be of great use to them. I attempted to prove to her that both Kings College and the London University were excellent schools, where the education was at least quite equal to either Eton or Harrow, and the expense would be one-fourth. Mrs. X. was, however, inexolable. All her friends told her that if the education was not su- perior, the boys acquired at Harrow and Eton tone which 1t would be perfectly impossible for them to get either at the Kings College or the London University. My wife, as usual, had her own way in the matter, and the cost of the two boys education was little less than four hun- dred year.

 s'We had not been settled in London more than two years before I perceived that my income was not equal to my ex- penditure. It was some time after I had discovered this unpleasant fact before I had the courage to submit 1t to my wife. At last l perceived the moral cowardice of keeping 1t longer a secret, and re- solved to tell her all. The disclosure took place one morning after breakfast,

 when she had asked me for an unusually large check for household expenses. demurred somewhat at the amount, say

 ing, that instead of increasing our ex- pend!ture we must diminish it. told her that, unpleasant as the truth might appear, my current expenses were greater than my income. Instead of being, as 1 had expected, overwhelmed with sorrow at the intelligence, she merely replied, 'Then why don't you do something to in crease it?' I told her would willingly if

 I saw the way. See the wayr she ex- clamed. If I were man would soon see the way. Look at many of our friends There's A, and B, and c; you don't SUD- pose that their private incomes are great CT than yours? and yet they live in twice the style we do, and pay thelr way, too

 But men in business have way of mak- ing money that those who are out of if , have not replied. But these are not

 men of business, said my wife; at least B. and c. are not. T don't see how they

 can make their money then,' I remarked

 to her. Why by going into the City, said my wife; that's the way. Oh! you may shrug your shoulders, If you like,

 she continued; but what say is fact. Now I'll give you an example. Look at

 w., whose house we are going to dine at , to-day. He was never what you call reg , ularly in business. Why, I am told he

 spends more thanthree hundred year in , raising early strawberries, and you know

 his place at Clapham is more like apaIace than a gentleman's house. If you have an opportunity after dinner to-day, why !. not speak to him about the best way of making money? I am sure he will tell } you, and give you very good advice, too;

 he is so kind-hearted and liberal

 Although, " continued Mr. K, 'I had

 generally paid but very little attention to

 my wife's opinions, resolved for once to follow her advice; for certainly W.'s ca-

 reer was mystery to me- He was very plausible, good-tempered fellow, of no particular ability, had not been brought up, l believe, to either trade or profes-

 sion, was possessed of small independ- ent income, and had taken to City fnan- cial operations merely by way of occupy

 ing his time. He had been so successful

 that he was now man of immense wealth. Moreover, no one ever whisper ed a word against the manner in which he had acquired it.

 ''There was no dinner party the day we dined at W.'s house. He had mere ly invited few friends, and of these two had disappointed him. When the ladies } had retired after dinner, of course finance operations were brought forward The conversation was commenced by one o1 the guests saying to ". (who had been l unusually silent during dinner) that he did not seem very we'll TO say the truth, said w., it is rather anxiety than iii health that is weighing on me just now At the European Credit Association to day, of which I am chairman, we have