deal sharper in his sight than either Mr.
Popjoy, or myself.

When we were seated at the tea-table, Mr.
Gasper opened the conversation, my husband
remaining very quiet, and appearing more
nervous than usual, as if he had something
upon his mind.

"Mrs. Popjoy," said Mr. Gasper, "I am
indebted to a very unexpected circumstance
for the pleasure of your esteemed acquaintance:
Mr. Popjoy has this day expressed a
wish—in fact, I may say, has made arrangements—
to participate in the many advantages
to be derived from the General Freehold
Society of the Banded Brothers of
Freedom."

I hate to be addressed with anything
like an oration; it shows me plainly that the
speaker is not straightforward.

"Mr. Gasper," I said, "my husband, Mr.
Popjoy, has joined many absurd societies in
his time, to his children's cost. He has walked
in a procession with a band of music in front
of him, and a ridiculous sash round his waist,
to dine with his company at Hornsey Wood,
or some other remote tavern; but I never
yet knew him want to join any society that
sounded so much like a family of acrobats as
the one you mention."

"It's a very beneficial investment, my
dear," broke in Mr. Popjoy.

"My dear madam," returned Mr. Gasper,
laughing in a forced manner, "Mr. Popjoy
very properly does not like to do anything
without consulting you, and hence my present
visit. The Banded Brothers of Freedom
is not, in any way, a convivial society. We
never had such a thing as a public dinner,
and we never shall. We exist only for plain
and profitable business purposes."

"I'm very glad to hear it," I replied, "for
your own sakes; but profitable business, on
his own account, is what my husband is least
fitted for. He makes an excellent servant,
but a very bad master."

"My dear," said Mr. Popjoy, meekly, "you
know I never failed in anything but for want
of capital."

"My dear Mrs. Popjoy," continued Mr.
Gasper, becoming more bland and familiar
every moment; "I need not point out to
you, as a woman of the world, the necessity
of providing for a rising family, by seeking
the most favourable investment for any little
money it may have pleased fortune, in its
bounty to bestow upon us."

"I don't believe in anything but the funds,"
I replied shortly.

"You will pardon me for saying that is a
very great mistake. Suppose, for example,
you have five hundred pounds in consols. It
brings you in fifteen pounds a-year—safe, it
is true; but what is it?"

"A comfortable little sum," I replied, "and
one which some people find very convenient,
at times."

I said this rather warmly and pointedly to
my husband—for I now began to see the
object of Mr. Gasper's visit.

Mr. Popjoy, wanting the courage himself,
had doubtless brought home his new friend
to persuade me into supplying the funds for
shares in the Banded Brothers' Society, of
which, I afterwards learned, Mr. Gasper was
the manager.

Mr. Popjoy winced under my remark, and
said nothing; but Mr. Gasper continued his
argument.

"There are other duties which we owe to
society, Mrs. Popjoy, and, through that, to our
families, besides seeking for large dividends.
Your esteemed husband has now lived in the
world for five-and-forty years, without knowing
what it is to enjoy a vote in the government
of his country."

"He's none the worse for that," I
returned.

"Pardon me," replied Mr. Gasper, "a vote
is money; and even if it was not, no intelligent
man should be without it."

"I quite feel that," echoed Mr. Popjoy.

"The General Freehold Society of the
Banded Brothers of Freedom," continued Mr.
Gasper, "gives you that vote in the proportion
of one to every five shares; besides
creating in you that ennobling feeling of
satisfaction and independence which every
man must experience who digs in his own
garden, and lives in his own house."

"That depends very much," I replied,
"upon the character of the house and
garden, and where they are situated."

"Very true, Mrs. Popjoy," said Mr. Gasper,
"very true, and in that remark I at once
recognise the woman of experience. The
position and prospects of the property
belonging to the Banded Brothers of Freedom
(whom I have the honour to represent,) I am
happy to say, cannot be assailed by any man
with justice; and are only attacked by those
who envy our social and political advantages."

Mr. Popjoy nodded approval at this speech,
but I said nothing, allowing Mr. Gasper to
enlarge upon the details of his society
without further interruption. Mr. Popjoy
was evidently bitten with the idea of
becoming a small freeholder. It seemed to him
to be the very thing he had been in search of
for so many years, without success. We had
moved restlessly from house to house,—taking
no permanent root anywhere; but now we
had come within sight of the promised land,
and there seemed to be rest and happiness
for us in the future. This was Mr. Popjoy's
feeling, fostered by the judicious statements
of the plausible Mr. Gasper. I listened to
the explanation of the complicated system
under which the Banded Brothers of Freedom
worked, without understanding half
of what I heard; and I am afraid that my
husband was no wiser than myself, although
he nodded assent to every assertion, and
seemed to be highly delighted with the whole