the story. Well, the difference is not much, nor
shall it be for long."

"No, no," said the captain, in eager protest,
"nothing of the kind; only I was so sorry to
see things going in this poor sort of way. It's
a miserable state of things."

"It is," said she; " but it is none of my
doing. Some miserable spirit has come between
him and me. I shall do my duty now, as I
always have done by him. But after he is
restored to health and strength, it shall all end.
I cannot endure this treatment—-these suspicions
—-when I am conscious of having done no
wrong. I have friends, thank God, who will
receive me. I have tried everything, even to
the surmounting of what few women would
have surmounted. Suppose, indeed, I were the
injured one. But, as I say, it must all end
now. I see it is hopeless to combat what is
on his mind."

The captain was aghast, and could not say a
word.

She went on: " I know what I owe to myself
and to my dignity. I am secure in the
knowledge of my own faith and honour. I
should not condescend to comply with that cruel
order not to speak to that poor outcast, Ross.
While my husband is ill, I shall be all he wishes;
but when he is restored, he has no title to
expect that I should be so harsh and unkind.
I cannot do it!"

The captain was amazed. He had never
heard her speak in that independent style
before.

Grainger, too, came at times, and Mrs. Tillotson
received him with kindness. " I have been
seeing Ross," he said, " and keeping him quiet.
He shall not trouble you, don't be afraid. I
have talked to him again and again, and I think
he rather looks forward to the prospect of going
out into this wild life, if he would only take
care of himself. But at this moment he is
leading a strange existence, and, I suppose, will
kill himself ultimately. However, that we
can't control. I hope, if I can be of the slightest
profit, you will make use of me."

Still Tillotson mended slowly. His wife
watched over him night and day. His hot fierce
eyes followed her about the room, uncertain who
she was. Sometimes his faint voice called her
over to him, and in a whisper he said, " I depend
on you, Martha. Do not let her out of your
sight. I know what she is planning. It is
cruel, isn't it? It is she who has reduced me to
this. Promise me. Watch her, Martha; put
everything down; never let her out of your sight
till I get well. Then I can watch for myself."

During this illness of Mr. Tillotson's, which
lasted for some weeks, the bank seemed to be
proceeding to yet greater prosperity. Its shares
were quoted at higher and higher premiums.
This prosperity—-there could be no mistake—-
was all owing to the great Lackson, whose
influence at the board since Mr. Tillotson's illness
had become much more felt. His advice was
always put forward with many apologies, and
in a deprecatory way. He had his own concerns
to look after, which he said were enough
for any one's head; but he could not bear to
"see money lying in the street at his feet,
and not pick it up." Part of this windfall was
that project of the Universal Railway Roofing
Company, whose contract for the Central Railways
was now signed, and sealed, and " brought
out." Concessions for roofing in other gigantic
works had already been granted. The wretched
foreigners wanted money—-wanted energy—-
wanted everything, in fact, that the British
capital would supply them with. Lucky Roofing
Company! More lucky Foncier Company
that " brought out" the Roofing Company!
And still more fortunate Lackson, disinterested
too, who had generously " put in
the way" of the Foncier one of the best
jobs known on the Stock Exchange! Mr.
Lackson commented forcibly on each successful
stage of the undertaking. " Our good friend
Tillotson," he said, " would have been against
all this. Not that I blame his caution. I think
he was right in looking at the matter as he did;
but if we had gone on in his way, we should
have been left behind, high and dry. The
difference is between a beggarly five per cent,
which is really not worth picking up, and
twenty-five. We shall work the thing up to that
yet, or my name is not Lackson. I say, how
surprised our poor sick friend will be when he
recovers, and finds us twenty per cent better
than when he went to bed!"

The members of the board went about with
an open complacency, rubbing their hands at
having got such " a good thing." The great
Lackson promised, indeed, to put them up to
many " a good thing" before he was "done with
them." Their old rival was furious at this known
success; but the old rival's secretary, looking
out sharply, pooh-poohed and pished the whole
affair, and kept saying, " Only wait!"

Shares in the New Roofing Company were
to be allotted by a certain day. Not a single
application, it was sternly hinted, would be
entertained after that day, even from Majesty
itself. When this work was done, men went
about cruelly bewailing themselves as if they had
been treated with injustice. They had asked for
five hundred, and been "put off" with two hundred;
they had applied for five thousand shares,
and had been " fobbed off" with one thousand.
The grand speculator, with his hand in his
breeches-pocket, made a contemptuous protest
against the high-handed behaviour of the great
Lackson. The fellow was losing his head, he said.

The success of the Foncier was the more remarkable,
as at this season there was the crash
of earthquakes going on among many financial
undertakings. Some of them were standing in
the morning, new, fresh, brilliant, and by the
setting sun were only a heap of ruins. When
a great tower fell, it had a fatal influence that
spread far and wide, and the shock shattered
innumerable little banking cottages miles away
up and down the country. But the great Foncier
towered above them all; and this extraordinary
luck was the more remarkable, as trade was
much disturbed, and strikes were being