and the two folding-doors in the front parlour
which communicated with this rude
outline of an apartment, because one of the
children had accidentally fallen into the gulf,
and had been lost to his brothers and sisters
for several hours. This state of things
required some explanation, and Mr. Popjoy
reluctantly and timidly proceeded to give it.

"Mr. Gasper,——" he began.

"I thought so," I could not help
interrupting.

"Well, my dear," he continued, meekly;
"I did all for the best, and it would have
been better, no doubt, if I'd been governed
by you."

"It ought to teach you a lesson," I said,
"for the future."

"Mr. Gasper," he resumed, "gave me five
shares in the society of the Banded Brothers
of Freedom in exchange for the money
received from the Consols you authorised me
to sell out. These five shares entitled me to
a plot of land and the bare skeleton of a
house; the society undertaking to finish the
dwelling in the best style within two months,
in consideration of my taking ten other
shares (value two hundred pounds) which
were to remain in the hands of the manager
and committee until I had paid them up by
quarterly instalments in the form of rent;
when they would be delivered to me,
constituting me the proprietor of the land and
premises, to have and to hold for ever."

"And you took the other shares?" I
inquired.

"My dear," replied my husband, "I am
sorry to say I did, under an arrangement by
which, if the quarterly instalments were not
kept up, the amount was to stand over
indefinitely at ten per cent, per annum; one
half of which interest went to pay working
expenses, salaries, et cetera, and the other
half formed a benefit fund for the relief of
sick Banded Brothers of Freedom, or the
support of their widows and orphans
remaining on the estate."

"A very pretty scheme," I said,—"upon
paper."

"The finishing of the house," he continued,
"went on very slowly, even over our heads,
and I begged your sister not to write to
you about it, as I thought it would only
worry you in the weak state you were in."

"Well, Mr. Popjoy," I replied, when my
husband had concluded, "your restlessness
has brought us to a cheerful dwelling, at
last; but I suppose we must make the best
of it. One thing I wish to have distinctly
understood: I shall not associate with any of
the Banded Brothers' wives, and I hope that
you will keep equally aloof from any of the
husbands,"

"Yes, my dear," replied Mr. Popjoy, much
relieved by my tone and manner. "I don't
think you will be much troubled with
either."

It was not until the next day that I fully
understood the meaning of this last remark;
for I found that, with the exception of two
other families, we were the only settlers upon
the freehold estate.

The morning did not improve the aspect of
the place. There was no washhouse at the
back of the premises; nothing but a vast
wild desert of gravel-pits. In the front
of the house there were no area railings,
although there was a deep area, and there
was clay enough to make bricks for a
hundred settlements. I found, upon looking
over the children's wardrobe, that it had
much suffered by this clay; and, when I
inquired about several pairs of boots that
were missing, the clay was still the only
answer I could get in explanation. Mr. Popjoy
had departed at an early hour, before I
was up; for it was three miles to the station.,
four-and-twenty miles by railway to London,
nearly two miles more into the City, and my
husband had to be at business by half past
nine in the morning. After breakfast, I
started to walk round and survey the settlement;
but I had not gone far when I was
stopped by more soft clay, large ponds of
water, and impassable gravel-pits. There
was no sign of life in my immediate
neighbourhood; but I saw some children in the
distance fishing with what appeared to be a
small clothes-prop in one of the ponds, and
I correctly supposed them to be members of
the two other unfortunate settler families.
There were several houses like our own in a
very unfinished state; about a dozen half-
raised carcases; a few scaffold-poles lying
amongst gravel heaps, rubbish, and old
bricks; and this, as far as I could see,
comprised all that was visible of the Great
Estate of the Banded Brothers of Freedom.
A, B, C, D, E—churches, chapels, projected
parks, artesian wells, canals, and even roads,
were no more visible than Mr. Gasper; but,
instead, many ponds of water in which that
plausible villain ought to have been soaking.

I returned to the house, and was astonished
to see no workmen engaged in completing the
building. I found upon inquiry from the
children, that no one had been there for a
week. The servant-girl, perhaps, might have
given me more information; but, when I put
any questions to her, she burst into violent
fits of laughter, and seemed so thoroughly to
enjoy the fun of living in such a wilderness,
that I lost my patience, and gave her a
month's warning upon the spot. When
dinner-time arrived, I found there was no
provision in the house, and no chance of
getting any within eight miles. I then
learned that Mr. Popjoy was in the habit of
bringing home supplies from town (with his
usual judgment as to selection) about twice
a week, and that the last supply had been
exhausted a day sooner than was expected.
I waited impatiently for the approach of
evening, sitting at the window, watching
the road along which I was told Mr.