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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of True Riches, by T.S. Arthur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: True Riches
+       Or, Wealth Without Wings
+
+Author: T.S. Arthur
+
+Release Date: March 16, 2005 [EBook #15389]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE RICHES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua Hutchinson,
+S.R.Ellison and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+          TRUE RICHES;
+
+              OR,
+
+      WEALTH WITHOUT WINGS.
+
+         BY T.S. ARTHUR.
+
+
+             BOSTON:
+  L.P. CROWN & CO., 61 CORNHILL.
+
+              1852.
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in
+and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
+
+STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
+
+PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The original title chosen for this book was "Riches without Wings;"
+but the author becoming aware, before giving it a permanent form, that
+a volume bearing a similar title had appeared some years ago, of which
+a new edition was about to be issued, thought it best to substitute
+therefor, "True Riches; or, Wealth without Wings," which, in fact,
+expresses more accurately the character and scope of his story.
+
+The lessons herein taught are such as cannot be learned too early, nor
+dwelt on too long or too often, by those who are engaged in the
+active and all-absorbing duties of life. In the struggle for natural
+riches--the wealth that meets the eye and charms the imagination--how
+many forget that _true_ riches can _only_ be laid up in the heart; and
+that, without these true riches, which have no wings, gold, the god
+of this world, cannot bestow a single blessing! To give this truth
+a varied charm for young and old, the author has made of it a new
+presentation, and, in so doing, sought to invest it with all the
+winning attractions in his power to bestow.
+
+To parents who regard the best interests of their children, and to
+young men and women just stepping upon the world's broad stage of
+action, we offer our book, in the confident belief that it contains
+vital principles, which, if laid up in the mind, will, like good seed
+in good ground, produce an after-harvest, in the garnering of which
+there will be great joy.
+
+
+
+
+TRUE RICHES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+"A fair day's business. A _very_ fair day's business," said Leonard
+Jasper, as he closed a small account-book, over which he had been
+poring, pencil in hand, for some ten minutes. The tone in which he
+spoke expressed more than ordinary gratification.
+
+"To what do the sales amount?" asked a young man, clerk to the dealer,
+approaching his principal as he spoke.
+
+"To just two hundred dollars, Edward. It's the best day we've had for
+a month."
+
+"The best, in more than one sense," remarked the young man, with a
+meaning expression.
+
+"You're right there, too," said Jasper, with animation, rubbing his
+hands together as he spoke, in the manner of one who is particularly
+well pleased with himself. "I made two or three trades that told
+largely on the sunny side of profit and loss account."
+
+"True enough. Though I've been afraid, ever since you sold that piece
+of velvet to Harland's wife, that you cut rather deeper than was
+prudent."
+
+"Not a bit of it--not a bit of it! Had I asked her three dollars a
+yard, she would have wanted it for two. So I said six, to begin with,
+expecting to fall extensively; and, to put a good face on the matter,
+told her that it cost within a fraction of what I asked to make the
+importation--remarking, at the same time, that the goods were too
+rich in quality to bear a profit, and were only kept as a matter of
+accommodation to certain customers."
+
+"And she bought at five?"
+
+"Yes; thinking she had obtained the velvet at seventy-five cents a
+yard less than its cost. Generous customer, truly!"
+
+"While you, in reality, made two dollars and a half on every yard she
+bought."
+
+"Precisely that sum."
+
+"She had six yards."
+
+"Yes; out of which we made a clear profit of fifteen dollars. That
+will do, I'm thinking. Operations like this count up fast."
+
+"Very fast. But, Mr. Jasper"--
+
+"But what, Edward?"
+
+"Is it altogether prudent to multiply operations of this character?
+Won't it make for you a bad reputation, and thus diminish, instead of
+increasing, your custom?"
+
+"I fear nothing of the kind. One-half the people are not satisfied
+unless you cheat them. I've handled the yardstick, off and on, for the
+last fifteen or twenty years, and I think my observation during that
+time is worth something. It tells me this--that a bold face, a smooth
+tongue, and an easy conscience are worth more in our business than
+any other qualities. With these you may do as you list. They tell far
+better than all the 'one-price' and fair-dealing professions, in which
+people have little faith. In fact, the mass will overreach if they
+can, and therefore regard these 'honest' assumptions with suspicion."
+
+The young man, Edward Claire, did not make a reply for nearly a
+minute. Something in the words of Mr. Jasper had fixed his thought,
+and left him, for a brief space of time, absorbed in his own
+reflections.
+
+Lifting, at length, his eyes, which had been resting on the floor, he
+said--
+
+"Our profit on to-day's sales must reach very nearly fifty dollars."
+
+"Just that sum, if I have made a right estimate," replied Jasper; "and
+that is what I call a fair day's business."
+
+While he was yet speaking, a lad entered the store, and laid upon the
+counter a small sealed package, bearing the superscription, "Leonard
+Jasper, Esq." The merchant cut the red tape with which it was tied,
+broke the seal, and opening the package, took therefrom several
+papers, over which he ran his eyes hurriedly; his clerk, as he did so,
+turning away.
+
+"What's this?" muttered Jasper to himself, not at first clearly
+comprehending the nature of the business to which the communication
+related. "Executor! To what? Oh! ah! Estate of Ruben Elder. Humph!
+What possessed him to trouble me with this business? I've no time to
+play executor to an estate, the whole proceeds of which would hardly
+fill my trousers' pocket. He was a thriftless fellow at best, and
+never could more than keep his head out of water. His debts will
+swallow up every thing, of course, saving my commissions, which I
+would gladly throw in to be rid of this business."
+
+With this, Jasper tossed the papers into his desk, and, taking up his
+hat, said to his clerk--"You may shut the store, Edward. Before you
+leave, see that every thing is made safe."
+
+The merchant than retired, and wended his way homeward.
+
+Edward Claire seemed in no hurry to follow this example. His first
+act was to close the window-shutters and door--turning the key in the
+latter, and remaining inside.
+
+Entirely alone, and hidden from observation, the young man seated
+himself, and let his thoughts, which seemed to be active on some
+subject, take their own way. He was soon entirely absorbed.
+Whatever were his thoughts, one thing would have been apparent to
+an observer--they did not run in a quiet stream. Something disturbed
+their current, for his brow was knit, his compressed lips had a
+disturbed motion, and his hands moved about at times uneasily. At
+length he arose, not hurriedly, but with a deliberate motion, threw
+his arms behind him, and, bending forward, with his eyes cast down,
+paced the length of the store two or three times, backward and
+forward, slowly.
+
+"Fifty dollars profit in one day," he at length said, half audibly.
+"That will do, certainly. I'd be contented with a tenth part of the
+sum. He's bound to get rich; that's plain. Fifty dollars in a single
+day! Leonard Jasper, you're a shrewd one. I shall have to lay aside
+some of my old-fashioned squeamishness, and take a few lessons from so
+accomplished a teacher. But, he's a downright cheat!"
+
+Some better thought had swept suddenly, in a gleam of light, across
+the young man's mind, showing him the true nature of the principles
+from which the merchant acted, and, for the moment, causing his whole
+nature to revolt against them. But the light faded slowly; a state of
+darkness and confusion followed, and then the old current of thought
+moved on as before.
+
+Slowly, and now with an attitude of deeper abstraction, moved the
+young man backward and forward the entire length of the room, of which
+he was the sole occupant. He _felt_ that he was alone, that no human
+eye could note a single movement. Of the all-seeing Eye he thought
+not--his spirit's evil counsellors, drawn intimately nigh to him
+through inclinations to evil, kept that consciousness from his mind.
+
+At length Claire turned to the desk upon which were the account-books
+that had been used during the day, and commenced turning the leaves of
+one of them in a way that showed only a half-formed purpose. There was
+an impulse to something in his mind; an impulse not yet expressed in
+any form of thought, though in the progress toward something definite.
+
+"Fifty dollars a day!" he murmurs. Ah, that shows the direction of his
+mind. He is still struggling in temptation, and with all his inherited
+cupidities bearing him downward.
+
+Suddenly he starts, turns his head, and listens eagerly, and with a
+strange agitation. Some one had tried the door. For a few moments he
+stood in an attitude of the most profound attention. But the trial was
+not repeated. How audibly, to his own ears, throbbed his heart! How
+oppressed was his bosom! How, in a current of fire, rushed the blood
+to his over-excited brain!
+
+The hand upon the door was but an ordinary occurrence. It might now
+be only a customer, who, seeing a light within, hoped to supply some
+neglected want, or a friend passing by, who wished for a few words of
+pleasant gossip. At any other time Claire would have stepped quickly
+and with undisturbed expectation to receive the applicant for
+admission. But guilty thoughts awakened their nervous attendants,
+suspicion and fear, and these had sounded an instant alarm.
+
+Still, very still, sat Edward Claire, even to the occasional
+suppression of his breathing, which, to him, seemed strangely loud.
+
+Several minutes elapsed, and then the young man commenced silently to
+remove the various account-books to their nightly safe deposite in
+the fire-proof. The cash-box, over the contents of which he lingered,
+counting note by note and coin by coin, several times repeated, next
+took its place with the books. The heavy iron door swung to, the key
+traversed noiselessly the delicate and complicated wards, was removed
+and deposited in a place of safety; and, yet unrecovered from his mood
+of abstraction, the clerk left the store, and took his way homeward.
+From that hour Edward Claire was to be the subject of a fierce
+temptation. He had admitted an evil suggestion, and had warmed it in
+the earth of his mind, even to germination. Already a delicate root
+had penetrated the soil, and was extracting food therefrom. Oh! why
+did he not instantly pluck it out, when the hand of an infant would
+have sufficed in strength for the task? Why did he let it remain,
+shielding it from the cold winds of rational truth and the hot sun of
+good affections, until it could live, sustained by its own organs of
+appropriation and nutrition? Why did he let it remain until its lusty
+growth gave sad promise of an evil tree, in which birds of night find
+shelter and build nests for their young?
+
+Let us introduce another scene and another personage, who will claim,
+to some extent, the reader's attention.
+
+There were two small but neatly, though plainly, furnished rooms, in
+the second story of a house located in a retired street. In one of
+these rooms tea was prepared, and near the tea-table sat a young
+woman, with a sleeping babe nestled to-her bosom. She was fair-faced
+and sunny-haired; and in her blue eyes lay, in calm beauty, sweet
+tokens of a pure and loving heart. How tenderly she looked down, now
+and then, upon the slumbering cherub whose winning ways and murmurs of
+affection had blessed her through the day! Happy young wife! these are
+thy halcyon days. Care has not thrown upon thee a single shadow from
+his gloomy wing, and hope pictures the smiling future with a sky of
+sunny brightness.
+
+"How long he stays away!" had just passed her lips, when the sound of
+well-known footsteps was heard in the passage below. A brief time, and
+then the room-door opened, and Edward Claire came in. What a depth of
+tenderness was in his voice as he bent his lips to those of his young
+wife, murmuring--
+
+"My Edith!" and then touching, with a gentler pressure, the white
+forehead of his sleeping babe.
+
+"You were late this evening, dear," said Edith, looking into the face
+of her husband, whose eyes drooped under her earnest gaze.
+
+"Yes," he replied, with a slight evasion in his tone and manner; "we
+have been busier than usual to-day."
+
+As he spoke the young wife arose, and taking her slumbering child into
+the adjoining chamber, laid it gently in its crib. Then returning, she
+made the tea--the kettle stood boiling by the grate--and in a little
+while they sat down to their evening meal.
+
+Edith soon observed that her husband was more thoughtful and less
+talkative than usual. She asked, however, no direct question touching
+this change; but regarded what he did say with closer attention,
+hoping to draw a correct inference, without seeming to notice his
+altered mood.
+
+"Mr. Jasper's business is increasing?" she said, somewhat
+interrogatively, while they still sat at the table, an expression of
+her husband's leading to this remark.
+
+"Yes, increasing very rapidly," replied Claire, with animation. "The
+fact is, he is going to get rich. Do you know that his profit on
+to-day's sales amounted to fifty dollars?"
+
+"So much?" said Edith, yet in a tone that showed no surprise or
+particular interest in the matter.
+
+"Fifty dollars a day," resumed Claire, "counting three hundred
+week-days in the year, gives the handsome sum of fifteen thousand
+dollars in the year. I'd be satisfied with as much in five years."
+
+There was more feeling in the tone of his voice than he had meant to
+betray. His young wife lifted her eyes to his face, and looked at him
+with a wonder she could not conceal.
+
+"Contentment, dear," said she, in a gentle, subdued, yet tender voice,
+"is great gain. We have enough, and more than enough, to make us
+happy. Natural riches have no power to fill the heart's most yearning
+affections; and how often do they take to themselves wings and fly
+away."
+
+"Enough, dear!" replied Edward Claire, smiling. "O no, not enough, by
+any means. Five hundred dollars a year is but a meagre sum. What does
+it procure for us? Only these two rooms and the commonest necessaries
+of life. We cannot even afford the constant service of a domestic."
+
+"Why, Edward! what has come over you? Have I complained?"
+
+"No, dear, no. But think you I have no ambition to see my wife take a
+higher place than this?"
+
+"Ambition! Do not again use that word," said Edith, very earnestly.
+"What has love to do with ambition? What have we to do with the world
+and its higher places? Will a more elegant home secure for us a
+purer joy than we have known and still know in this our Eden? Oh,
+my husband! do not let such thoughts come into your mind. Let us be
+content with what God in his wisdom provides, assured that it is best
+for us. In envying the good of another, we destroy our own good. There
+is a higher wealth than gold, Edward; and it supplies higher wants.
+There are riches without wings; they lie scattered about our feet;
+we may fill our coffers, if we will. Treasures of good affections and
+true thoughts are worth more than all earthly riches, and will bear
+us far more safely and happily through the world; such treasures are
+given to all who will receive them, and given in lavish abundance. Let
+us secure of this wealth, Edward, a liberal share."
+
+"Mere treasures of the mind, Edith, do not sustain natural life, do
+not supply natural demands. They build no houses; they provide not
+for increasing wants. We cannot always remain in the ideal world; the
+sober realities of life will drag us down."
+
+The simple-hearted, true-minded young wife was not understood by her
+husband. She felt this, and felt it oppressively.
+
+"Have we not enough, Edward, to meet every real want?" she urged. "Do
+we desire better food or better clothing? Would our bodies be more
+comfortable because our carpets were of richer material, and our
+rooms filled with costlier furniture? O no! If not contented with such
+things as Providence gives us to-day, we shall not find contentment in
+what he gives us to-morrow; for the same dissatisfied heart will beat
+in our bosoms. Let Mr. Jasper get rich, if he can; we will not envy
+his possessions."
+
+"I do not envy him, Edith," replied Claire. "But I cannot feel
+satisfied with the small salary he pays me. My services are, I know,
+of greater value than he estimates them, and I feel that I am dealt by
+unjustly."
+
+Edith made no answer. The subject was repugnant to her feelings,
+and she did not wish to prolong it. Claire already regretted its
+introduction. So there was silence for nearly a minute.
+
+When the conversation flowed on again, it embraced a different theme,
+but had in it no warmth of feeling. Not since they had joined hands at
+the altar, nearly two years before, had they passed so embarrassed and
+really unhappy an evening as this. A tempting spirit had found its way
+into their Paradise, burning with a fierce desire to mar its beauty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+"Oh, what a dream I have had!" exclaimed Mrs. Claire, starting
+suddenly from sleep, just as the light began to come in dimly through
+the windows on the next morning; and, as she spoke, she caught hold of
+her husband, and clung to him, frightened and trembling.
+
+"Oh, such a dream!" she added, as her mind grew clearer, and she felt
+better assured of the reality that existed. "I thought, love, that
+we were sitting in our room, as we sit every evening--baby asleep, I
+sewing, and you, as usual, reading aloud. How happy we were! happier,
+it seemed, than we had ever been before. A sudden loud knock startled
+us both. Then two men entered, one of whom drew a paper from his
+pocket, declaring, as he did so, that you were arrested at the
+instance of Mr. Jasper, who accused you with having robbed him of a
+large amount of money."
+
+"Why, Edith!" ejaculated Edward Claire, in a voice of painful
+surprise. He, too, had been dreaming, and in his dream he had done
+what his heart prompted him to do on the previous evening--to act
+unfaithfully toward his employer.
+
+"Oh, it was dreadful! dreadful!" continued Edith. "Rudely they seized
+and bore you away. Then came the trial. Oh, I see it all as plainly
+as if it had been real. You, my good, true, noble-hearted husband,
+who had never wronged another, even in thought--you were accused
+of robbery in the presence of hundreds, and positive witnesses were
+brought forward to prove the terrible charge. All they alleged was
+believed by those who heard. The judges pronounced you guilty, and
+then sentenced you to a gloomy prison. They were bearing you off,
+when, in my agony, I awoke. It was terrible, terrible! yet, thank God!
+only a dream, a fearful dream!"
+
+Claire drew his arms around his young wife, and clasped her with a
+straining embrace to his bosom. He made no answer for some time. The
+relation of a dream so singular, under the circumstances, had startled
+him, and he almost feared to trust his voice in response. At length,
+with a deeply-drawn, sighing breath, nature's spontaneous struggle for
+relief, he said--
+
+"Yes, dear, that was a fearful dream. The thought of it makes me
+shudder. But, after all, it was only a dream; the whispering of a
+malignant spirit in your ear. Happily, his power to harm extends no
+further. The fancy may be possessed in sleep, but the reason lies
+inactive, and the hands remain idle. No guilt can stain the spirit.
+The night passes, and we go abroad in the morning as pure as when we
+laid our heads wearily to rest."
+
+"And more," added Edith, her mind fast recovering itself; "with a
+clearer perception of what is true and good. The soul's disturbed
+balance finds its equilibrium. It is not the body alone that is
+refreshed and strengthened. The spirit, plied with temptation after
+temptation through the day, and almost ready to yield when the night
+cometh, finds rest also, and time to recover its strength. In the
+morning it goes forth again, stronger for its season of repose. How
+often, as the day dawned, have I lifted my heart and thanked God for
+sleep!"
+
+Thus prompted, an emotion of thankfulness arose in the breast of
+Claire, but the utterance was kept back from the lips. He had a
+secret, a painful and revolting secret, in his heart, and he feared
+lest something should betray its existence to his wife. What would he
+not have given at the moment to have blotted out for ever the memory
+of thoughts too earnestly cherished on the evening before, when he was
+alone with the tempter?
+
+There was a shadow on the heart of Edith Claire. The unusual mood of
+her husband on the previous evening, and the dream which had haunted
+her through the night, left impressions that could not be shaken off.
+She had an instinct of danger--danger lurking in the path of one in
+whom her very life was bound up.
+
+When Edward was about leaving her to go forth for the day, she
+lingered by his side and clung to him, as if she could not let him
+pass from the safe shelter of home.
+
+"Ah! if I could always be with you!" said Edith--"if we could ever
+move on, hand in hand and side by side, how full to running over would
+be my cup of happiness!"
+
+"Are we not ever side by side, dear?" replied Claire, tenderly. "You
+are present to my thought all the day."
+
+"And you to mine. O yes! yes! We _are_ moving side by side; our mutual
+thought gives presence. Yet it was the bodily presence I desired. But
+that cannot be."
+
+"Good-bye, love! Good-bye, sweet one!" said Claire, kissing his wife,
+and gently pressing his lips upon those of the babe she held in her
+arms. He then passed forth, and took his way to the store of Leonard
+Jasper, in whose service he had been for two years, or since the date
+of his marriage.
+
+A scene transpired a few days previous to this, which we will briefly
+describe. Three persons were alone in a chamber, the furniture
+of which, though neither elegant nor costly, evinced taste and
+refinement. Lying upon a bed was a man, evidently near the time of his
+departure from earth. By his side, and bending over him, was a woman
+almost as pale as himself. A little girl, not above five years of age,
+sat on the foot of the bed, with her eyes fixed on the countenance of
+her father, for such was the relation borne to her by the sick man.
+A lovely creature she was--beautiful even beyond the common beauty of
+childhood. For a time a solemn stillness reigned through the chamber.
+A few low-spoken words had passed between the parents of the child,
+and then, for a brief period, all was deep, oppressive silence. This
+was interrupted, at length, by the mother's unrestrained sobs, as she
+laid her face upon the bosom of her husband, so soon to be taken from
+her, and wept aloud.
+
+No word of remonstrance or comfort came from the sick man's lips. He
+only drew his arm about the weeper's neck, and held her closer to his
+heart.
+
+The troubled waters soon ran clear: there was calmness in their
+depths.
+
+"It is but for a little while, Fanny," said he, in a feeble yet steady
+voice; "only for a little while."
+
+"I know; I feel that here," was replied, as a thin, white hand was
+laid against the speaker's bosom. "And I could patiently await my
+time, but"----
+
+Her eyes glanced yearningly toward the child, who sat gazing upon her
+parents, with an instinct of approaching evil at her heart.
+
+Too well did the dying man comprehend the meaning of this glance.
+
+"God will take care of her. He will raise her up friends," said he
+quickly; yet, even as he spoke, his heart failed him.
+
+"All that is left to us is our trust in Him," murmured the wife and
+mother. Her voice, though so low as to be almost a whisper, was firm.
+She realized, as she spoke, how much of bitterness was in the parting
+hours of the dying one, and she felt that duty required her to sustain
+him, so far as she had the strength to do so. And so she nerved her
+woman's heart, almost breaking as it was, to bear and hide her own
+sorrows, while she strove to comfort and strengthen the failing spirit
+of her husband.
+
+"God is good," said she, after a brief silence, during which she was
+striving for the mastery over her weakness. As she spoke, she leaned
+over the sick man, and looked at him lovingly, and with the smile of
+an angel on her countenance.
+
+"Yes, God is good, Fanny. Have we not proved this, again and again?"
+was returned, a feeble light coming into the speaker's pale face.
+
+"A thousand times, dear! a thousand times!" said the wife, earnestly.
+"He is infinite in his goodness, and we are his children."
+
+"Yes, his children," was the whispered response. And over and over
+again he repeated the words, "His children;" his voice falling lower
+and lower each time, until at length his eyes closed, and his in-going
+thought found no longer an utterance.
+
+Twilight had come. The deepening shadows were fast obscuring all
+objects in the sick-chamber, where silence reigned, profound almost as
+death.
+
+"He sleeps," whispered the wife, as she softly raised herself from
+her reclining position on the bed. "And dear Fanny sleeps also," was
+added, as her eyes rested upon the unconscious form of her child.
+
+Two hours later, and the last record was made in Ruben Elder's Book of
+Life.
+
+For half an hour before the closing scene, his mind was clear, and
+he then spoke calmly of what he had done for those who were to remain
+behind.
+
+"To Leonard Jasper, my old friend," said he to his wife, "I have left
+the management of my affairs. He will see that every thing is done
+for the best. There is not much property, yet enough to insure a small
+income; and, when you follow me to the better land, sufficient for the
+support and education of our child."
+
+Peacefully, after this, he sank away, and, like a weary child falling
+into slumber, slept that sleep from which the awakening is in another
+world.
+
+How Leonard Jasper received the announcement of his executorship has
+been seen. The dying man had referred to him as an old friend; but, as
+the reader has already concluded, there was little room in his sordid
+heart for so pure a sentiment as that of friendship. He, however, lost
+no time in ascertaining the amount of property left by Elder, which
+consisted of two small houses in the city, and a barren tract of about
+sixty acres of land, somewhere in Pennsylvania, which had been taken
+for a debt of five hundred dollars. In view of his death, Elder had
+wound up his business some months before, paid off what he owed, and
+collected in nearly all outstanding accounts; so that little work
+remained for his executor, except to dispose of the unprofitable tract
+of land and invest the proceeds.
+
+On the day following the opening of our story, Jasper, who still felt
+annoyed at the prospect of more trouble than profit in the matter of
+his executorship, made a formal call upon the widow of his old friend.
+
+The servant, to whom he gave his name, stated that Mrs. Elder was so
+ill as not to be able to leave her room.
+
+"I will call again, then, in a few days," said he. "Be sure you give
+her my name correctly. Mr. Jasper--Leonard Jasper."
+
+The face of the servant wore a troubled aspect.
+
+"She is very sick, sir," said she, in a worried, hesitating manner.
+"Won't you take a seat, for a moment, until I go up and tell her that
+you are here? Maybe she would like to see you. I think I heard her
+mention your name a little while ago."
+
+Jasper sat down, and the domestic left the room. She was gone but a
+short time, when she returned and said that Mrs. Elder wished to see
+him. Jasper arose and followed her up-stairs. There were some strange
+misgivings in his heart--some vague, troubled anticipations, that
+oppressed his feelings. But he had little time for thought ere he was
+ushered into the chamber of his friend's widow.
+
+A single glance sufficed to tell him the whole sad truth of the case.
+There was no room for mistake. The bright, glazed eyes, the rigid,
+colourless lips, the ashen countenance, all testified that the hour
+of her departure drew nigh. How strong, we had almost said, how
+beautiful, was the contrasted form and features of her lovely child,
+whose face, so full of life and rosy health, pressed the same pillow
+that supported her weary head.
+
+Feebly the dying woman extended her hand, as Mr. Jasper came in,
+saying, as she did so--
+
+"I am glad you have come; I was about sending for you."
+
+A slight tremor of the lips accompanied her words, and it was plain
+that the presence of Jasper, whose relation to her and her child she
+understood, caused a wave of emotion to sweep over her heart.
+
+"I am sorry, Mrs. Elder, to find you so very ill," said Jasper,
+with as much of sympathy in his voice as he could command. "Has your
+physician been here to-day?"
+
+"It is past that, sir--past that," was replied. "There is no further
+any hope for me in the physician's art."
+
+A sob choked all further utterance.
+
+How oppressed was the cold-hearted, selfish man of the world! His
+thoughts were all clouded, and his lips for a time sealed. As the
+dying woman said, so he felt that it was. The time of her departure
+had come. An instinct of self-protection--protection for his
+feelings--caused him, after a few moments, to say, and he turned
+partly from the bed as he spoke--
+
+"Some of your friends should be with you, madam, at this time. Let me
+go for them. Have you a sister or near relative in the city?"
+
+The words and movement of Mr. Jasper restored at once the conscious
+self-possession of the dying mother, and she raised herself partly up
+with a quick motion, and a gleam of light in her countenance.
+
+"Oh, sir," she said eagerly, "do not go yet. I have no sister, no near
+relative; none but you to whom I can speak my last words and give my
+last injunction. You were my husband's friend while he lived, and to
+you has he committed the care of his widow and orphan. I am called,
+alas, too soon! to follow him; and now, in the sight of God, and
+in the presence of his spirit--for I feel that he is near us now--I
+commit to you the care of this dear child. Oh, sir! be to her as a
+father. Love her tenderly, and care for her as if she were your own.
+Her heart is rich with affection, and upon you will its treasures be
+poured out. Take her! take her as your own! Here I give to you, in
+this the solemn hour of my departure, that which to me is above all
+price."
+
+And as she said this, with a suddenly renewed strength, she lifted
+the child, and, ere Jasper could check the movement, placed her in his
+arms. Then, with one long, eager, clinging kiss pressed upon the
+lips of that child, she sank backward on the bed; and life, which had
+flashed up brightly for a moment, went out in this world for ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Leonard Jasper would have been less than human had he borne such an
+assault upon his feelings without emotion; less than human had his
+heart instantly and spontaneously rejected the dying mother's wildly
+eloquent appeal. He was bewildered, startled, even deeply moved.
+
+The moment he could, with propriety and a decent regard for
+appearances, get away from the house where he had witnessed so painful
+a scene, he returned to his place of business in a sobered, thoughtful
+state of mind. He had not anticipated so direct a guardianship of
+Ruben Elder's child as it was evident would now devolve upon him,
+in consequence of the mother's death. Here was to be trouble for
+him--this was his feeling so soon as there was a little time for
+reaction--and trouble without profit. He would have to take upon
+himself the direct charge of the little girl, and duly provide for her
+maintenance and education.
+
+"If there is property enough for this, well and good," he muttered
+to himself; he had not yet become acquainted with the real state of
+affairs. "If not," he added, firmly, "the loss will be hers; that is
+all. I shall have sufficient trouble and annoyance, without being put
+to expense."
+
+For some time after his return to his store, Jasper refrained from
+entering upon any business. During at least fifteen or twenty minutes,
+he sat at his desk, completely absorbed in thought. At length he
+called to Edward Claire, his principal clerk, and said that he wished
+to speak a few words with him. The young man came back from the
+counter to where he was sitting, wondering what had produced the very
+apparent change in his employer's state of mind.
+
+"Edward," said Mr. Jasper, in a low, serious voice, "there is a
+little matter that I must get you to attend to for me. It is not very
+pleasant, it is true; though nothing more than people are required to
+do every day. You remember Mr. Elder, Ruben Elder, who formerly kept
+store in Second street?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+"He died last week."
+
+"I noticed his death in the papers."
+
+"He has appointed me his executor."
+
+"Ah?"
+
+"Yes; and I wish to my heart he had appointed somebody else. I've too
+much business of my own to attend to."
+
+"Of course," said Claire, "you will receive your regular commissions
+for attending to the settlement of his estate."
+
+"Poor picking there," replied Jasper, shrugging his shoulders. "I'd
+very cheerfully give up the profit to be rid of the trouble. But that
+doesn't signify now. Elder has left his affairs in my hands, and I
+must give them at least some attention. I'm not coming to the point,
+however. A little while ago I witnessed the most painful scene that
+ever fell under my eyes."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Yes, truly. Ugh! It makes the chills creep over me as I think of
+it. Last evening I received regular notification of my appointment as
+executor to Elder's estate, and to-day thought it only right to call
+upon the widow, and see if any present service were needed by the
+family. Such a scene as I encountered! Mrs. Elder was just at the
+point of death, and expired a few moments after my entrance. Besides
+a single domestic and a child, I was the only witness of her last
+extremity."
+
+"Shocking!"
+
+"You may well say shocking, Edward, unprepared as I was for such an
+occurrence. My nerves are quivering yet."
+
+"Then the widow is dead also?"
+
+"Yes; both have gone to their long home."
+
+"How many children are left?"
+
+"Only one--a little girl, not, I should think, above four years of
+age."
+
+"Some near relative will, I presume, take charge of her."
+
+"In dying, the mother declared that she had no friend to whom she
+could leave the child. On me, therefore, devolves the care of seeing
+to its maintenance."
+
+"No friend. Poor child! and of so tender an age!"
+
+"She is young, certainly, to be left alone in the world."
+
+Jasper uttered these words, but felt nothing of the sad meaning they
+involved.
+
+"What disposition will you make of her?" asked Claire.
+
+"I've had no time to think of that yet. Other matters are first to be
+regarded. So let me come to the point. Mrs. Elder is dead; and, as far
+as I could see, there is no living soul, beyond a frightened servant,
+to do any thing. Whether she will have the presence of mind to call in
+the neighbours, is more than I can say. I left in the bewilderment of
+the moment; and now remember me that something is to be done for the
+dead. Will you go to the house, and see what is needed? In the next
+block is an undertaker; you had better call, on your way, and ask him
+to go with you. All arrangements necessary for the funeral can be left
+in his hands. Just take this whole matter off of me, Edward, and I
+will be greatly obliged to you. I have a good many things on my mind,
+that must receive close attention."
+
+The young man offered no objection, although the service was far from
+being agreeable. On his return, after the absence of an hour, Jasper
+had, of course, many inquiries to make. Claire appeared serious. The
+fact was, he had seen enough to touch his feelings deeply. The grief
+of the orphaned child, as he was a witness thereto, had brought tears
+upon his cheeks, in spite of every manly effort to restrain them. Her
+extreme beauty struck him at the first glance, even obscured as it was
+under a vail of sorrow and weeping.
+
+"There were several persons in, you say?" remarked Jasper, after
+Claire had related a number of particulars.
+
+"Yes, three or four."
+
+"Ladies, of course?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did any of them propose to take the child home with them?"
+
+"Not directly. One woman asked me a number of questions about the
+little girl."
+
+"Of what nature?"
+
+"As to whether there were any relatives or particular friends who
+would take charge of her?"
+
+"And you told her there were none?"
+
+"Yes; none of whom I had any knowledge."
+
+"Well? What had she to say to that?"
+
+"She wanted to know if there would be any thing for the child's
+support. I said that there would, in all probability."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Then she gave me to understand, that if no one took the child, she
+might be induced to board her for a while, until other arrangements
+were made."
+
+"Did you give her to understand that this was practicable?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Why not? She will have to be boarded, you know."
+
+"I neither liked the woman's face, manner, nor appearance."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Oh, she was a vulgar, coarse, hard-looking creature to my eyes."
+
+"Kind hearts often lie concealed under unpromising externals."
+
+"True; but they lie not concealed under that exterior, be well
+assured, Mr. Jasper. No, no. The child who has met with so sad a loss
+as that of a mother, needs the tenderest guardianship. At best, the
+case is hard enough."
+
+Jasper did not respond to this humane sentiment, for there was no pity
+in him. The waves of feeling, stirred so suddenly a few hours before,
+had all subsided, and the surface of his heart bore no ripple of
+emotion. He thought not of the child as an object claiming his regard,
+but as a trouble and a hinderance thrown in his way, to be disposed of
+as summarily as possible.
+
+"I'm obliged to you, Edward, for the trouble you have taken in my
+stead," he remarked, after a slight pause. "To-morrow, I may wish
+you to call there again. Of course, the neighbours will give needful
+attention until the funeral takes place. By that time, perhaps, the
+child will have made a friend of some one of them, and secure, through
+this means, a home for the present. It is, for us, a troublesome
+business at best, though it will soon be over."
+
+A person coming in at the moment, Claire left his employer to attend
+at the counter. The new customer, it was quickly perceived by the
+clerk, was one who might readily be deceived into buying the articles
+for which she inquired, at a rate far in advance of their real value;
+and he felt instantly tempted to ask her a very high price. Readily,
+for it was but acting from habit, did he yield to this temptation. His
+success was equal to his wishes. The woman, altogether unsuspicious
+of the cheat practised upon her, paid for her purchases the sum of
+ten dollars above their true value. She lingered a short time after
+settling her bill, and made some observation upon a current topic
+of the day. One or two casually-uttered sentiments did not fall like
+refreshing dew upon the feelings of Claire, but rather stung him like
+words of sharp rebuke, and made him half regret the wrong he had done
+to her. He felt relieved when she retired.
+
+It so happened that, while this customer was in, Jasper left the
+store. Soon after, a clerk went to dinner. Only a lad remained with
+Claire, and he was sent up-stairs to arrange some goods.
+
+The hour of temptation had again come, and the young man's mind was
+overshadowed by the powers of darkness.
+
+"Ten dollars clear gain on that transaction," said he to himself, as
+he drew open the money-drawer in which he had deposited the cash paid
+to him by his late customer.
+
+For some time his thoughts were busy, while his fingers toyed with the
+gold and bills in the drawer. Two five-dollar pieces were included in
+the payment just received.
+
+"Jasper, surely, ought to be satisfied with one of these." Thus he
+began to argue with himself. "I drove the bargain; am I not entitled
+to a fair proportion of the profit? It strikes me so. What wrong will
+it be to him? Wrong? Humph! Wrong? The wrong has been done already;
+but it falls not on his head.
+
+"If I am to do this kind of work for him,"--the feelings of Claire
+now commenced running in a more disturbed channel; there were deep
+contractions on his forehead, and his lips were shut firmly,--"this
+kind of work, I must have a share of the benefit. If I am to sell my
+soul, Leonard Jasper shall not have the whole price."
+
+Deliberately, as he spoke this within himself, did Claire take from
+the drawer a five-dollar gold piece, and thrust it into his pocket.
+
+"Mine, not his," were the words with which he approved the act. At
+the same instant Jasper entered. The young man's heart gave a sudden
+bound, and there was guilt in his face, but Jasper did not read its
+true expression.
+
+"Well, Edward," said he, cheerfully, "what luck did you have with the
+old lady? Did she make a pretty fair bill?"
+
+"So-so," returned Claire, with affected indifference; "about thirty
+dollars."
+
+"Ah! so much?"
+
+"Yes; and, what is better, I made her pay pretty strong. She was from
+the country."
+
+"That'll do." And Jasper rubbed his hands together energetically. "How
+much over and above a fair percentage did you get?"
+
+"About five dollars."
+
+"Good, again! You're a trump, Edward."
+
+If Edward Claire was relieved to find that no suspicion had been
+awakened in the thoughts of Jasper, he did not feel very strongly
+flattered by his approving words. The truth was, at the very moment he
+was relating what he had done, there came into his mind, with a
+most startling distinctness, the dream of his wife, and the painful
+feelings it had occasioned.
+
+"What folly! What madness! Whither am I going?"
+
+These were his thoughts now, born of a quick revulsion of feeling.
+
+"It is your dinner-time, Edward. Get back as soon as possible. I want
+to be home a little earlier than usual to-day."
+
+Thus spoke Mr. Jasper; and the young man, taking up his hat, left the
+store. He had never felt so strangely in his life. The first step in
+crime had been taken; he had fairly entered the downward road to ruin.
+Where was it all to end? Placing his fingers, almost without thought,
+in his pocket, they came in contact with the gold-piece obtained by
+a double crime--the robbery both of a customer and his employer.
+Quickly, as if he had touched a living coal, was the hand of Claire
+withdrawn, while a low chill crept along his nerves. It required some
+resolution for the young man to meet his pure-hearted, clear-minded
+wife, whose quick intuitions of good or evil in others he had over and
+over again been led to remark. Once, as he moved along, he thrust his
+hand into his pocket, with the suddenly-formed purpose of casting the
+piece of money from him, and thus cancelling his guilt. But, ere the
+act was accomplished, he remembered that in this there would be no
+restoration, and so refrained.
+
+Edward Claire felt, while in the presence of his young wife, that she
+often looked into his face with more than usual earnestness. This not
+only embarrassed but slightly fretted him, and led him to speak once
+in a way that brought tears to her eyes.
+
+Not a minute longer than necessary did Claire remain at home. The fact
+that his employer had desired him to return to the store as quickly
+as possible, was an all-sufficient reason for his unusual hurry to get
+away.
+
+The moment the door closed upon him, his wife burst into tears. On
+her bosom lay a most oppressive weight, and in her mind was a vague,
+troubled sense of approaching evil. She felt that there was danger in
+the path of her husband; but of its nature she could divine little
+or nothing. All day her dream had haunted her; and now it reproduced
+itself in her imagination with painful distinctness. Vainly she strove
+to drive it from her thoughts; it would not be gone. Slowly the hours
+wore on for her, until the deepening twilight brought the period
+when her husband was to return again. To this return her mind looked
+forward with an anxiety that could not be repressed.
+
+The dreaded meeting with his wife over, Claire thought with less
+repugnance of what he had done, and was rather inclined to justify
+than condemn himself.
+
+"It's the way of the world," so he argued; "and unless I do as the
+world does, I must remain where I am--at the bottom of the ladder. But
+why should I stay below, while all around me are struggling upward? As
+for what preachers and moralists call strictly fair dealing, it may be
+all well enough in theory, pleasant to talk about, and all that; but
+it won't do in practice, as the world now is. Where each is grasping
+all that he can lay his hands on, fair or foul, one must scramble
+with the rest, or get nothing. That is so plain that none can deny the
+proposition. So, Edward Claire, if you wish to rise above your present
+poor condition, if you wish to get rich, like your enterprising
+neighbours, you must do as they do. If I go in for a lamb, I might as
+well take a sheep: the morality of the thing is the same. If I take a
+large slice off of a customer, why shall not a portion of that slice
+be mine; ay, the whole of it, if I choose to make the appropriation?
+All Jasper can fairly ask, is a reasonable profit: if I, by my
+address, get more than this, surely I may keep a part thereof. Who
+shall say nay?"
+
+Justifying himself by these and similar false reasonings, the young
+man thrust aside the better suggestions, from which he was at first
+inclined to retrace the false step he had taken; and wilfully shutting
+his eyes, resolved to go forward in his evil and dangerous course.
+
+During the afternoon of that day a larger number of customers than
+usual were in, and Claire was very busily occupied. He made three or
+four large sales, and was successful in getting several dollars in
+excess of fair profit from one not very well skilled in prices. In
+making an entry of this particular transaction in the memorandum
+sales-book, the figures recorded were three dollars less than the
+actual amount received. So, on this, the first day of the young
+man's lapse from honesty, he had appropriated the sum of eight
+dollars--nearly equal to his entire week's salary! For such a recent
+traveller in this downward road, how rapid had already become his
+steps!
+
+Evening found him again alone, musing and debating with himself, ere
+locking up the store and returning home. The excitement of business
+being over, his thoughts flowed in a calmer current; and the stillness
+of the deserted room gave to his feelings a hue of sobriety. He was
+not altogether satisfied with himself. How could he be? No man ever
+was satisfied with himself, when seclusion and silence found him after
+his first departure from the right way. Ah, how little is there
+in worldly possessions, be it large or small, to compensate for a
+troubled, self-accusing spirit! how little to throw in the balance
+against the heavy weight of conscious villany!
+
+How tenderly, how truly, how devotedly had Edward Claire loved the
+young wife of his bosom, since the hour the pulses of their spirits
+first beat in joyful unity! How eager had he ever been to turn his
+face homeward when the shadows of evening began to fall! But now he
+lingered--lingered, though all the business of the day was over. The
+thought of his wife created no quick impulse to be away. He felt more
+like shunning her presence. He even for a time indulged a motion of
+anger toward her for what he mentally termed her morbid sensitiveness
+in regard to others' right--her dreamy ideal of human perfection.
+
+"We are in the world, and we must do as it does. We must take it as it
+is, not as it should be."
+
+So he mused with himself, in a self-approving argument. Yet he could
+not banish the accusing spirit; he could not silence the inward voice
+of warning.
+
+Once there came a strong revulsion. Good impulses seemed about to
+gain the mastery. In this state of mind, he took from his pocket his
+ill-gotten gains, and threw them into the money-box, which had already
+been placed in the fire-closet.
+
+"What good will that do?" said he to himself, as the wave of better
+feelings began to subside. "All the sales-entries have been made, and
+the cash balanced; Jasper made the balance himself. So the cash
+will only show an excess to be accounted for; and from this may
+come suspicion. It is always more hazardous to go backward than
+forward--(false reasoner!)--to retrace our steps than to press boldly
+onward. No, no. This will not mend the matter."
+
+And Claire replaced the money in his pocket. In a little while
+afterward, he left the store, and took his way homeward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+As on the previous evening, Mrs. Claire was alone for some time later
+than usual, but now with an anxious, almost fearful looking for her
+husband's return. Suddenly she had taken the alarm. A deep, brooding
+shadow was on her heart, though she could not see the bird of night
+from whose wings it had fallen. Frequently, during the afternoon,
+tears had wet her cheek; and when an old friend of her mother's, who
+lived in the country, and who had come to the city in order to make
+a few purchases, called to see her, it was with difficulty she could
+hide her disturbed feelings from observation.
+
+The absent one came in at last, and with so much of the old, frank,
+loving spirit in his voice and manner, that the troubled heart of Mrs.
+Claire beat with freer pulsations. And yet something about her husband
+appeared strange. There was a marked difference between his state of
+mind now, and on the evening before. Even at dinner-time he was silent
+and abstracted.
+
+In fact, Edward Claire was, for the first time, acting a part toward
+his wife; and, as in all such cases, there was sufficient over-action
+to betray the artifice, or, at least, to awaken a doubt. Still, Edith
+was greatly relieved by the change, and she chided herself for having
+permitted doubt and vague questionings to find a harbour in her
+thoughts.
+
+During tea-time, Claire chatted freely, as was his custom; but he grew
+serious as they sat together, after the table was cleared away, and
+Edith had taken her sewing. Then, for the first time, he thought out
+of himself sufficiently to remember his visit to the house of death in
+the morning, and he said--
+
+"I witnessed something this morning, dear, that has made me feel sad
+ever since."
+
+"What was that, Edward?" inquired the wife, looking instantly into his
+face, with a strongly manifested interest.
+
+"I don't think you knew Mr. Elder or his family--Ruben Elder?"
+
+"I have heard the name, nothing more."
+
+"Mr. Elder died last week."
+
+"Ah! What family did he leave?"
+
+"A wife and one child."
+
+Mrs. Claire sighed.
+
+"Did he leave them comfortably off in the world?" she asked, after a
+brief silence.
+
+"I don't know; but I'm afraid, he's not left much, if any thing. Mr.
+Jasper has been appointed the executor."
+
+"Mr. Jasper!"
+
+"Yes. This morning he called to see Mrs. Elder, and found her in a
+very low state. In fact, she died while he was there."
+
+"Edward! Died?"
+
+"Yes, died; and her only child, a sweet little girl, not five years
+old, is now a friendless orphan."
+
+"How very sad!"
+
+"Sad enough, Edith, sad enough. Mr. Jasper, who has no taste for
+scenes of distress, wished me to look after the funeral arrangements;
+so I went to the house, and attended to matters as well as I could. Ah
+me! It has cast a gloom over my feelings that I find it hard to cast
+off."
+
+"Did you see the child?" inquired Mrs. Claire, the mother's impulse
+giving direction to her thoughts.
+
+"Yes; and a lovely child it is. Poor thing!"
+
+"There are near relatives, I presume?"
+
+"None; at least, so Jasper says."
+
+"What is to become of the child?"
+
+"Dear above knows! As for her legal guardian, she has nothing to hope
+from his humanity. She will naturally find a home somewhere--a home
+procured for money. But her future comfort and well-being will depend
+more on a series of happy accidents than on the good-will of the
+hard-hearted man to whose tender mercies the dying parents have
+committed her."
+
+"Not happy accidents, Edward," said Mrs. Claire, with a tender smile;
+"say, wise providences. There is no such thing as chance."
+
+"As you will, dear," returned the husband, with a slight change in his
+tone. "I would not call that providence wise by which Leonard Jasper
+became the guardian of a friendless child."
+
+"This is because you cannot see the end from the beginning, Edward.
+The Lord's providence does not regard merely the external comfort and
+well-being of his creatures; it looks far beyond this, and regards
+their internal interests. It permits evil and suffering to-day, but
+only that good, a higher than earthly good, may come on the morrow.
+It was no blind chance, believe me, my husband, that led to the
+appointment of Mr. Jasper as the guardian of this poor child. Eternal
+purposes are involved therein, as surely as God is infinitely wise and
+good. Good to one, perhaps to many, will grow out of what now seems a
+deeply to be regretted circumstance."
+
+"You're a happy reasoner, Edith. I wish I could believe in so
+consoling a philosophy."
+
+"Edward!" There was a change in Mrs. Claire's voice, and a look
+blending surprise with a gentle rebuke in her countenance. "Edward,
+how can you speak so? Is not mine the plain Christian doctrine? Is it
+not to be found everywhere in the Bible?"
+
+"Doubtless, Edith; but I'm not one of the pious kind, you know."
+
+Claire forced a smile to his face, but his wife looked serious, and
+remarked--
+
+"I don't like to hear you talk so, Edward. There is in it, to
+me, something profane. Ah, my dear husband, in this simple yet
+all-embracing doctrine of providence lies the whole secret of human
+happiness. If our Creator be infinite, wise, and good, he will seek
+the well-being of his creatures, even though they turn from him to do
+violence to his laws; and, in his infinite love and wisdom, will so
+order and arrange events as to make every thing conspire to the end
+in view. Both bodily and mental suffering are often permitted to take
+place, as the only agencies by which to counteract hereditary evils
+that would otherwise destroy the soul."
+
+"Ah, Edie! Edie!" said Claire, interrupting his wife, in a fond,
+playful tone, "you are a wise preacher, and as good as you are wise.
+I only wish that I could see and feel as you do; no doubt it would be
+better for me in the end. But such a wish is vain."
+
+"Oh, say not so, dear husband!" exclaimed Edith, with unexpected
+earnestness; "say not so! It hurts me almost like words of personal
+unkindness."
+
+"But how can I be as good as you are? It isn't in me."
+
+"I am not good, Edward. There is none good but God," answered the wife
+solemnly.
+
+"Oh yes, yes! You are an angel!" returned Claire, with a sudden
+emotion that he could not control. "And I--and I--"
+
+He checked himself, turned his face partly away to conceal its
+expression, sat motionless for a moment, and then burying his face
+on the bosom of his wife, sobbed for the space of nearly a minute,
+overcome by a passion that he in vain struggled to master.
+
+Never had Edith seen her husband so moved. No wonder that she was
+startled, even frightened.
+
+"Oh, Edward, dear Edward! what ails you?" were her eager, agitated
+words, so soon as she could speak. "What has happened? Oh, tell me, my
+husband, my dear husband!"
+
+But Claire answered not, though he was gaining some control over his
+feelings.
+
+"Oh, Edward! won't you speak to me? Won't you tell me all your
+troubles, all your heart? Am I not your wife, and do I not love you
+with a love no words can express? Am I not your best and closest
+friend? Would I not even lay down my life for your good? Dear Edward,
+what has caused this great emotion?"
+
+Thus urged, thus pleaded the tearful Edith. But there was no reply,
+though the strong tremor which had thrilled through the frame of
+Claire had subsided. He was still bowed forward, with his face hid
+on her bosom, while her arm was drawn lovingly around him. So they
+remained for a time longer. At length, the young man lifted himself
+up, and fixed his eyes upon her. His countenance was pale and sad, and
+bore traces of intense suffering.
+
+"My husband! my dear husband!" murmured Edith.
+
+"My wife! my good angel!" was the low, thrilling response; and Claire
+pressed his lips almost reverently upon the brow of his wife.
+
+"I have had a fearful dream, Edith!" said he; "a very fearful dream.
+Thank God, I am awake now."
+
+"A dream, Edward?" returned his wife, not fully comprehending him.
+
+"Yes, love, a dream; yet far too real. Surely, I dreamed, or was
+under some dire enchantment. But the spell is gone--gone, I trust, for
+ever."
+
+"What spell, love? Oh, speak to me a plainer language!"
+
+"I think, Edith," said the young man, after remaining thoughtfully
+silent for some time, "that I will try and get another place. I don't
+believe it is good for me to live with Leonard Jasper. Gold is the god
+he worships; and I find myself daily tempted to bend my knee in the
+same idolatry."
+
+"Edward!" A shadow had fallen on the face of Edith.
+
+"You look troubled at my words, Edith," resumed the young man; "yet
+what I say is true, too true. I wish it were not so. Ah! this
+passage through the world, hard and toilsome as it is, has many, many
+dangers."
+
+"If we put our trust in God, we need have no fear," said Edith, in a
+gentle yet earnest and penetrating voice, laying her hand lovingly on
+the hot forehead of her husband, and gazing into his eyes.
+
+"Nothing without can harm us. Our worst enemies are within."
+
+"Within?"
+
+"Yes, love; within our bosoms. Into our distrusts and unsatisfied
+desires they enter, and tempt us to evil."
+
+"True, true," said Claire, in an abstracted manner, and as if speaking
+to himself.
+
+"What more do we want to make us happy?" asked Edith, comprehending
+still more clearly her husband's state of mind.
+
+Claire sighed deeply, but made no answer.
+
+"More money could not do it," she added.
+
+"Money would procure us many comforts that we do not now possess,"
+said the young man.
+
+"I doubt this, Edward. It might give more of the elegancies of life;
+but, as I have often said, these do not always produce corresponding
+pleasure. If they come, without too ardent seeking, in the good
+pleasure of Providence, as the reward of useful and honest labour,
+then they may increase the delights of life; but never otherwise.
+If the heart is set on them, their acquirement will surely end in
+disappointment. Possession will create satiety; and the mind too
+quickly turns from the good it has toiled for in hope so long, to fret
+itself because there is an imagined higher good beyond. Believe me,
+Edward, if we are not satisfied with what God gives us as the reward
+of useful toil to-day, we will not be satisfied with what he gives
+to-morrow."
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Edith; I believe you are. My mind has a
+glimpse of the truth, but to fully realize it is hard. Ah, I wish that
+I possessed more of your trusting spirit!"
+
+"We are both cared for, Edward, by the same infinite love--cared for,
+whether we doubt and fear, or trust confidingly."
+
+"It must be so. I see it now, I feel it now--see it and feel it in
+the light of your clearer intuitions. Ah, how different from this pure
+faith is the faith of the world! Men worship gold as their god; they
+trust only in riches."
+
+"And their god is ever mocking them. To-day he smiles upon his
+votary, and to-morrow hides his face in darkness. To-day he gives
+full coffers, that are empty to-morrow. But the true riches offered so
+freely to all by the living God are blessed both in the getting and
+in the keeping. These never produce satiety, never take to themselves
+wings. Good affections and true thoughts continually nourish and
+re-create the mind. They are the soul's wealth, the perennial
+fountains of all true enjoyment. With these, and sufficient for the
+body's health and comfort, all may be happy: without them, the riches
+of the world have no power to satisfy."
+
+A pause ensued, during which the minds of both wandered back a little.
+
+"If you feel," said Edith, recalling the words of her husband, "that
+there is danger in remaining where you are"--
+
+"That was hastily spoken," Edward Claire interrupted his wife, "and in
+a moment of weakness. I must resist the evil that assaults me. I must
+strive with and overcome the tempter. I must think less of this world
+and its riches; and in my thoughts place a higher value upon the
+riches without wings of which you have spoken to me so often."
+
+"Can you remain where you are, and be out of danger?" asked Edith.
+
+"There is danger everywhere."
+
+"Ay; but in some positions more imminent danger. Is it well to court
+temptation?"
+
+"Perhaps not. But I cannot afford to give up my place with Jasper."
+
+"Yet, while remaining, you will be strongly tempted."
+
+"Jasper is dishonest at heart. He is ever trying to overreach in
+dealing, and expects every one in his employment to be as keen as
+himself."
+
+"Oh, Edward, do not remain with him a day longer! There is death to
+the spirit in the very atmosphere around such a man. You cannot serve
+such a master, and be true to yourself and to God. It is impossible."
+
+"I believe you are right in that, Edith; I know you are right," said
+the young man, with a strong emphasis on the last sentence. "But
+what am I to do? Five hundred dollars a year is little enough for our
+wants; I have, as you know, been dissatisfied with that. I can hardly
+get as much in another situation. I know of but one opening, and that
+is with Melleville."
+
+"Go back to him, Edward," said his wife.
+
+"And get but four hundred a year? It is all he can pay."
+
+"If but three hundred, it were a situation far to be preferred to the
+one you now hold."
+
+"A hundred dollars a year, Edith, taken from our present income, would
+deprive us of many comforts."
+
+"Think of how much we would gain in true inward enjoyment, Edward, by
+such a change. Have you grown happier since you entered the store of
+Mr. Jasper?"
+
+The young man shook his head sadly, and murmured, "Alas! no."
+
+"Can anything compensate for the anguish of mind we have both suffered
+in the last few hours, Edward?"
+
+There was a quick flushing of the face, as Edith said this.
+
+"Both suffered!" exclaimed Edward, with a look of surprise.
+
+"Ay, both, love. Can the heart of my husband feel a jar of discord,
+and mine not thrill painfully? Can he be in temptation, without an
+overshadowing of my spirit? Can he be in darkness, and I at the same
+time in light? No, no; that were impossible. You have been in great
+peril; I knew that some evil threatened you, even before you confessed
+it with your lips. Oh, Edward, we have both tasted, in the last few
+hours, a bitterer cup than has yet been placed to our lips. May we not
+be called upon to drink it to the very dregs!"
+
+"Amen!" fell solemnly from the lips of Edward Claire, as a cold
+shudder crept along his nerves. If there had been any wavering in his
+mind before, there was none now. He resolved to make restitution in
+the morning, and, as soon as opportunity offered, to leave a place
+where he was so strongly tempted to step aside from the path of
+integrity. The virtue of his wife had saved him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+"Edward," said Mr. Jasper, on the next morning, soon after he came to
+the store, "Was any time fixed for the funeral yesterday?"
+
+"I believe not."
+
+"That was an oversight. It might as well take place to-day as
+to-morrow, or a week hence, if there are no intimate friends or
+relatives to be thought of or consulted. I wish you would take the
+forenoon to see about this troublesome matter. The undertaker will, of
+course, do every thing according to your directions. Let there be as
+little expense as possible."
+
+While they were yet speaking, the undertaker came in to make inquiry
+as to the funeral arrangements to be observed.
+
+"Is the coffin ready?" asked Jasper, in a cold, business manner.
+
+"It is," was the reply.
+
+"What of the ground? Did you see to her husband's funeral?"
+
+"Yes. I have attended to all these matters. Nothing remains but to fix
+the time, and notify the clergyman."
+
+"Were you at the house this morning?" asked Jasper.
+
+"I was."
+
+"Who did you find there?"
+
+"One or two of the neighbours were in."
+
+"No near relatives of the deceased?"
+
+"Not to my knowledge."
+
+"Was any thing said about the time for burying Mrs. Elder?"
+
+"No. That matter, I suppose, will rest with you."
+
+"In that case, I see no reason for delay," said Jasper. "What end is
+served?"
+
+"The sooner it is over the better."
+
+"So I think. Suppose we say this afternoon?"
+
+"Very well. The time might be fixed at five. The graveyard is not very
+distant. How many carriages shall I order?"
+
+"Not many. Two, I should think, would be enough," replied Jasper.
+"There will not be much left, I presume; therefore, the lighter the
+funeral expenses the better. By the way, did you see the child, when
+you were there this morning?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Some neighbour has, in all probability, taken it."
+
+"Very likely. It is a beautiful child."
+
+"Yes--rather pretty," was Jasper's cold response.
+
+"So young to be left alone in the world. Ah, me! But these things will
+happen. So, you decide to have the funeral at five this afternoon?"
+
+"Yes; unless something that we do not now know of, interferes to
+prevent. The quicker a matter like this is over the better."
+
+"True. Very well."
+
+"You will see to every thing?"
+
+"Certainly; that is my business. Will you be at the house this
+afternoon?"
+
+"At the time of the funeral?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I think not. I can't do any good."
+
+"No,--only for the looks of the thing."
+
+The undertaker was already beginning to feel the heartless
+indifference of Jasper, and his last remark was half in irony, half in
+smothered contempt.
+
+"Looks! Oh! I never do any thing for looks. If I can be of any
+service, I will be there--but, if not, not. I'm a right up-and-down,
+straight-forward man of the world, you see."
+
+The undertaker bowed, saying that all should be as he wished.
+
+"You can step around there, after a while, Edward," said Jasper, as
+soon as the undertaker had retired. "When you go, I wish you would
+ascertain, particularly, what has been done with the child. If a
+neighbour has taken her home, make inquiry as to whether she will be
+retained in the family; or, better still, adopted. You can hint, in a
+casual way, you know, that her parents have left property, which may,
+some time or other, be valuable. This may be a temptation, and turn
+the scale in favour of adoption; which may save me a world of trouble
+and responsibility."
+
+"There is some property left?" remarked Claire.
+
+"A small house or two, and a bit of worthless land in the mountains.
+All, no doubt, mortgaged within a trifle of their value. Still, it's
+property you know; and the word 'property' has a very attractive sound
+in some people's ears."
+
+A strong feeling of disgust toward Jasper swelled in the young man's
+heart, but he guarded against its expression in look or words.
+
+A customer entering at the moment, Claire left his principal and moved
+down behind the counter. He was not very agreeably affected, as the
+lady approached him, to see in her the person from whom he had taken
+ten dollars on the previous day, in excess of a reasonable profit. Her
+serious face warned him that she had discovered the cheat.
+
+"Are you the owner of this store?" she asked, as she leaned upon the
+counter, and fixed her mild, yet steady eyes, upon the young man's
+face.
+
+"I am not, ma'am," replied Claire, forcing a smile as he spoke.
+"Didn't I sell you a lot of goods yesterday?"
+
+"You did, sir."
+
+"I thought I recognised you. Well, ma'am, there was an error in your
+bill--an overcharge."
+
+"So I should think."
+
+"A overcharge of five dollars."
+
+Claire, while he affected an indifferent manner, leaned over toward
+the woman and spoke in a low tone of voice. Inwardly, he was trembling
+lest Jasper should became cognizant of what was passing.
+
+"Will you take goods for what is due you; or shall I hand you back the
+money?" said he.
+
+"As I have a few more purchases to make, I may as well take goods,"
+was replied, greatly to the young man's relief.
+
+"What shall I show you, ma'am?" he asked, in a voice that now reached
+the attentive ears of Jasper, who had been wondering to himself as to
+what was passing between the clerk and customer.
+
+A few articles were mentioned, and, in a little while, another bill of
+seven dollars was made.
+
+"I am to pay you two dollars, I believe?" said the lady, after Claire
+had told her how much the articles came to. As she said this, Jasper
+was close by and heard the remark.
+
+"Right, ma'am," answered the clerk.
+
+The customer laid a ten-dollar bill on the counter. Claire saw that
+the eyes of Jasper were on him. He took it up, placed it in the
+money-drawer, and stood some time fingering over the change and small
+bills. Then, with his back turned toward Jasper, he slipped a five
+dollar gold piece from his pocket. This, with a three dollar bill from
+the drawer, he gave to the lady, who received her change and departed.
+
+Other customers coming in at the moment, both Jasper and his clerk
+were kept busy for the next hour. When they were alone again, the
+former said--
+
+"How large a bill did you sell the old lady from the country, who was
+in this morning?"
+
+"The amount was seven dollars, I believe."
+
+"I thought she said two dollars?"
+
+"She gave me a ten-dollar bill, and I only took three from the
+drawer," said the young man.
+
+"I thought you gave her a piece of gold?"
+
+"There was no gold in the drawer," was replied, evasively.
+
+Much to the relief of Claire, another customer entered, thus putting
+an end to the conference between him and Jasper.
+
+The mind of the latter, ever suspicious, was not altogether satisfied.
+He was almost sure that two dollars was the price named for the
+goods, and that he had seen a gold coin offered in change. And he
+took occasion to refer to it at the next opportunity, when his clerk's
+positive manner, backed by the entry of seven dollars on the sales'
+book, silenced him.
+
+As for Claire, this act of restitution, so far as it was in his power
+to make it, took from his mind a heavy burden. He had, still, three
+dollars in his possession that were not rightfully his own. It was by
+no means probable that a similar opportunity to the one just embraced
+would occur. What then was it best for him to do? This question was
+soon after decided, by his throwing the money into the cash-drawer of
+Jasper.
+
+On his way home to dinner that day, Claire called into the store of a
+Mr. Melleville, referred to in the conversation with his wife on the
+previous evening. This gentleman, who was somewhat advanced in years,
+was in the same business with Jasper. He was known as a strictly
+upright dealer--"Too honest to get along in this world," as some said.
+"Old Stick-in-the-mud," others called him. "A man behind the times,"
+as the new-comers in the trade were pleased to say. Claire had lived
+with him for some years, and left him on the offer of Jasper to give
+him a hundred dollars more per annum than he was getting.
+
+"Ah, Edward! How do you do to-day?" said Mr. Melleville, kindly, as
+the young man came in.
+
+"Very well in body, but not so well in mind," was the frank reply, as
+he took the proffered hand of his old employer.
+
+"Not well in mind, ah! That's about the worst kind of sickness I know
+of, Edward. What's the matter?"
+
+"As I have dropped in to talk with you a little about my own affairs,
+I will come at once to the point."
+
+"That is right. Speak out plainly, Edward, and you will find in me,
+at least, a sincere friend, and an honest adviser. What is the matter
+now?"
+
+"I don't like my present situation, Mr. Melleville!"
+
+"Ah! Well? What's the trouble? Have you and Jasper had a
+misunderstanding?"
+
+"Oh no! Nothing of that. We get on well enough together. But I don't
+think its a good place for a young man to be in, sir!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I can be plain with you. In a word, Mr. Jasper is not an honest
+dealer; and he expects his clerks to do pretty much as he does."
+
+Mr. Melleville shook his head and looked grave.
+
+"To tell the truth," continued Edward, "I have suffered myself to
+fall, almost insensibly, into his way of doing business, until I have
+become an absolute cheat--taking, sometimes, double and treble profit
+from a customer who happened to be ignorant about prices."
+
+"Edward!" exclaimed the old man, an expression of painful surprise
+settling on his countenance.
+
+"It is all too true, Mr. Melleville--all too true. And I don't think
+it good for me to remain with Mr. Jasper."
+
+"What does he give you now?"
+
+"The same as at first. Five hundred dollars."
+
+The old man bent his head and thought for a few moments.
+
+"His system of unfair dealing toward his customers is your principal
+objection to Mr. Jasper?"
+
+"That is one objection, and a very serious one, too: particularly as
+I am required to be as unjust to customers as himself. But there is
+still another reason why I wish to get away from this situation. Mr.
+Jasper seems to think and care for nothing but money-getting. In his
+mind, gold is the highest good. To a far greater extent than I was,
+until very recently, aware, have I fallen, by slow degrees, into his
+way of thinking and feeling; until I have grown dissatisfied with
+my position. Temptation has come, as a natural result; and, before I
+dreamed that my feet were wandering from the path of safety, I have
+found myself on the brink of a fearful precipice."
+
+"My dear young friend!" said Mr. Melleville, visibly moved, "this is
+dreadful!"
+
+"It is dreadful. I can scarcely realize that it is so," replied
+Claire, also exhibiting emotion.
+
+"You ought not to remain in the employment of Leonard Jasper. That,
+at least, is plain. Better, far better, to subsist on bread and water,
+than to live sumptuously on the ill-gotten gold of such a man."
+
+"Yes, yes, Mr. Melleville, I feel all the truth of what you affirm,
+and am resolved to seek for another place. Did you not say, when
+we parted two years ago, that if ever I wished to return, you would
+endeavour to make an opening for me?"
+
+"I did, Edward; and can readily bring you in now, as one of my young
+men is going to leave me for a higher salary than I can afford to pay.
+There is one drawback, however."
+
+"What is that, Mr. Melleville?"
+
+"The salary will be only four hundred dollars a year."
+
+"I shall expect no more from you."
+
+"But can you live on that sum now? Remember, that you have been
+receiving five hundred dollars, and that your wants have been
+graduated by your rate of income. Let me ask--have you saved any thing
+since you were married?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"So much the worse. You will find it difficult to fall back upon a
+reduced salary. How far can you rely on your wife's co-operation?"
+
+"To the fullest extent. I have already suggested to her the change,
+and she desires, above all things, that I make it."
+
+"Does she understand the ground of this proposed change?" asked Mr.
+Melleville.
+
+"Clearly."
+
+"And is willing to meet privation--to step down into even a humbler
+sphere, so that her husband be removed from the tempting influence of
+the god of this world?"
+
+"She is, Mr. Melleville. Ah! I only wish that I could look upon life
+as she does. That I could see as clearly--that I could gather, as she
+is gathering them in her daily walk, the riches that have no wings."
+
+"Thank God for such a treasure, Edward! She is worth more than the
+wealth of the Indies. With such an angel to walk by your side, you
+need feel no evil."
+
+"You will give me a situation, then, Mr. Melleville?"
+
+"Yes, Edward," replied the old man.
+
+"Then I will notify Mr. Jasper this afternoon, and enter your service
+on the first of the coming month. My heart is lighter already. Good
+day."
+
+And Edward hurried off home.
+
+During the afternoon he found no opportunity to speak to Mr. Jasper
+on the subject first in his thoughts, as that individual wished him
+to attend Mrs. Elder's funeral, and gather for him all possible
+information about the child. It was late when he came back from
+the burial-ground--so late that he concluded not to return, on that
+evening, to the store. In the carriage in which he rode, was the
+clergyman who officiated, and the orphan child who, though but half
+comprehending her loss, was yet overwhelmed with sorrow. On their way
+back, the clergyman asked to be left at his own dwelling; and this was
+done. Claire was then alone with the child, who shrank close to him in
+the carriage. He did not speak to her; nor did she do more than lift,
+now and then, her large, soft, tear-suffused eyes to his face.
+
+Arrived, at length, at the dwelling from which they had just borne
+forth the dead, Claire gently lifted out the child, and entered the
+house with her. Two persons only were within, the domestic and the
+woman who, on the day previous, had spoken of taking to her own home
+the little orphaned one. The former had on her shawl and bonnet, and
+said that she was about going away.
+
+"You will not leave this child here alone," said Edward.
+
+"I will take her for the present," spoke up the other. "Would you like
+to go home with me, Fanny?" addressing the child. "Come,"--and she
+held out her hands.
+
+But the child shrank closer to the side of Edward, and looked up into
+his face with a silent appeal that his heart could not resist.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am," he returned politely. "But we won't trouble you
+to do that. I will take her to my own home for the present. Would you
+like to go with me, dear?"
+
+Fanny answered with a grateful look, as she lifted her beautiful eyes
+again to his face.
+
+And so, after the woman and the domestic had departed, Edward Claire
+locked up the house, and taking the willing child by the hand, led her
+away to his own humble dwelling.
+
+Having turned himself resolutely away from evil, already were the
+better impulses of his nature quickened into active life. A beautiful
+humanity was rising up to fill the place so recently about to be
+consecrated to the worship of a hideous selfishness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Edward Claire was in no doubt as to the reception the motherless child
+would receive from his kind-hearted wife. A word or two of explanation
+enabled her to comprehend the feeling from which he had acted.
+
+"You were right, Edward," said she in hearty approval. "I am glad
+you brought her home. Come, dear," speaking to the wondering, partly
+shrinking orphan, "let me take off your bonnet."
+
+She kissed the child's sweet lips and then gazed for some moments into
+her face, pleased, yet half surprised, at her remarkable beauty.
+
+Little Fanny felt that she was among friends. The sad expression of
+her face soon wore off, light came back to her eyes, and her prattling
+tongue released itself from a long silence. An hour afterward, when
+she was laid to sleep in a temporary bed, made for her on the floor,
+her heavy eyelids fell quickly, with their long lashes upon her
+cheeks, and she was soon in the world of dreams.
+
+Then followed a long and serious conference between Edward and his
+wife.
+
+"I saw Mr. Melleville to-day," said the former.
+
+"Did you? I am glad of that," was answered.
+
+"He will give me a place."
+
+"Glad again."
+
+"But, Edith, as I supposed, he can only pay me a salary of four
+hundred dollars."
+
+"No matter," was the prompt reply; "it is better than five hundred
+where you are."
+
+"Can we live on it, Edith?" Edward spoke in a troubled voice.
+
+"Why not? It is but to use a little more economy in our expenses--to
+live on two dollars a week less than we now spend; and that will not
+be very hard to do. Trust it to me, dear. I will bring the account
+out even. And we will be just as happy. As happy? Oh, a thousand times
+happier! A hundred dollars! How poorly will that compensate for broken
+peace and a disquieted conscience. Edward, is it possible for you to
+remain where you are, and be innocent?"
+
+"I fear not, Edith," was the unhesitating reply. "And yet, dear, I
+should be man enough, should have integrity enough, to resist the
+temptations that might come in my way."
+
+"Do not think of remaining where you are," said the young wife
+earnestly. "If Mr. Melleville will pay you four hundred dollars a
+year, take his offer and leave Mr. Jasper. It will be a gain rather
+than a loss to us."
+
+"A gain, Edith?"
+
+"Yes, a gain in all that is worth having in life--peace of mind
+flowing from a consciousness of right action. Will money buy this? No,
+Edward. Highly as riches are esteemed--the one great good in life as
+they are regarded--they never have given and never will give this
+best of all blessings. How little, how very little of the world's
+happiness, after all, flows from the possession of money. Did you ever
+think of that, Edward?"
+
+"Perhaps not."
+
+"And yet, is it not worth a passing thought? Mr. and Mrs. Casswell are
+rich--we are poor. Which do you think the happiest?"
+
+"Oh, we are happiest, a thousand times," said Edward warmly. "I
+would not exchange places with him, were he worth a million for every
+thousand."
+
+"Nor I with his wife," returned Edith. "So money, in their case, does
+not give happiness. Now look at William Everhart and his wife. When
+we were married they occupied two rooms, at a low rent, as we now do.
+Their income was just what ours has been. Well, they enjoyed life. We
+visited them frequently, and they often called to see us. But for a
+little ambition on the part of both to make some show, they would have
+possessed a large share of that inestimable blessing, contentment.
+After a while, William's salary was raised to one thousand dollars.
+Then they must have a whole house to themselves, as if their two nice
+rooms were not as large and comfortable, and as well suited to their
+real wants as before. They must, also, have showy furniture for their
+friends to look at. Were they any happier for this change?--for this
+marked improvement in their external condition? We have talked this
+over before, Edward. No, they were not. In fact, they were not so
+comfortable. With added means had come a whole train of clamorous
+wants, that even the doubled salary could not supply."
+
+"Everhart gets fifteen hundred a year, now," remarked Claire.
+
+"That will account, then," said Edith, smiling, "for Emma's unsettled
+state of mind when I last saw her. New wants have been created; and
+they have disturbed the former tranquillity."
+
+"All are not so foolish as they have been. I think we might bear an
+increased income without the drawbacks that have attended theirs."
+
+"If it had been best for us, my husband, God would have provided it.
+It is in his loving-kindness that he has opened the way so opportunely
+for you to leave the path of doubt and danger for one of confidence
+and safety; and, in doing it, he has really increased your salary."
+
+"Increased it, Edith! Why do you say that?"
+
+"Will we not be happier for the change?" asked Edith, smiling.
+
+"I believe so."
+
+"Then, surely, the salary is increased by so much of heartfelt
+pleasure. Why do you desire an increase rather than a diminution of
+income?"
+
+"In order to procure more of the comforts of life," was answered.
+
+"Comfort for the body, and satisfaction for the mind?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Could our bodies really enjoy more than they now enjoy? They are
+warmly clothed, fully fed, and are in good health. Is it not so?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"Then, if by taking Mr. Melleville's offer, you lose nothing for the
+body, and gain largely for the mind, is not your income increased?"
+
+"Ah, Edith!" said Claire, fondly, "you are a wonderful reasoner. Who
+will gainsay such arguments?"
+
+"Do I not argue fairly? Are not my positions sound, and my deductions
+clearly brought forth?"
+
+"If I could always see and feel as I do now," said Claire, in a low,
+pleased tone of voice, "how smoothly would life glide onward. Money is
+not every thing. Ah! how fully that is seen. There are possessions not
+to be bought with gold."
+
+"And they are mental possessions--states of the mind, Edward," spoke
+up Edith quickly. "Riches that never fade, nor fail; that take to
+themselves no wings. Oh, let us gather of these abundantly, as we walk
+on our way through life."
+
+"Heaven has indeed blessed me." Such was the heartfelt admission
+of Edward Claire, made in the silence of his own thoughts. "With
+a different wife--a lover of the world and its poor vanities--how
+imminent would have been my danger! Alas! scarcely any thing less
+than a miracle would have saved me. I shudder as I realize the fearful
+danger through which I have just passed. I thank God for so good a
+wife."
+
+The first inquiry made by Jasper, when he met Edward on the next
+morning, was in relation to what he had seen at the funeral, and,
+particularly, as to the disposition that had been made of the child.
+
+"I took her home with me," was replied, in answer to a direct
+question.
+
+"You did!" Jasper seemed taken by surprise. "How came that, Edward?"
+
+"When I returned from the cemetery, I found the domestic ready to
+leave the house. Of course the poor child could not remain there
+alone; so I took her home with me for the night."
+
+"How did your wife like that?" asked Jasper, with something in his
+tone that showed a personal interest in the reply.
+
+"Very well. I did just what she would have done under the
+circumstances."
+
+"You have only one child, I believe?" said Jasper, after a pause of
+some moments.
+
+"That is all."
+
+"Only three in family?"
+
+"Only three."
+
+"How would you like to increase it? Suppose you keep this child of
+Elder's, now she is with you. I have been looking a little into
+the affairs of the estate, and find that there are two houses,
+unincumbered, that are rented each for two hundred and fifty dollars a
+year. Of course, you will receive a reasonable sum for taking care
+of the child. What do you say to it? As executor, I will pay you five
+dollars a week for boarding and clothing her until she is twelve years
+of age. After that, a new arrangement can be made."
+
+"I can't give an answer until I consult my wife," said Claire, in
+reply to so unexpected a proposition.
+
+"Urge her to accept the offer, Edward. Just think what it will add to
+your income. I'm sure it won't cost you one-half the sum, weekly, that
+I have specified, to find the child in every thing."
+
+"Perhaps not. But all will depend on my wife. We are living, now,
+in two rooms, and keep no domestic. An addition of one to our family
+might so increase her care and labour as to make a servant necessary.
+Then we should have to have an additional room; the rent of which and
+the wages and board of the servant would amount to nearly as much as
+we would receive from you on account of the child."
+
+"Yes, I see that," returned Jasper. And he mused for some moments. He
+was particularly anxious that Claire should take the orphan, for then
+all the trouble of looking after and caring for her would be taken
+from him, and that would be a good deal gained.
+
+"I'll tell you what, Edward," he added. "If you will take her, I will
+call the sum six dollars a week--or three hundred a year. That will
+make the matter perfectly easy. If your wife does not seem at first
+inclined, talk to her seriously. This addition to your income will be
+a great help. To show her that I am perfectly in earnest, and that
+you can depend on receiving the sum specified, I will draw up a little
+agreement, which, if all parties are satisfied, can be signed at
+once."
+
+Claire promised to talk the matter over with his wife at dinner-time.
+
+The morning did not pass without varied assaults upon the young man's
+recent good resolutions. Several times he had customers in from
+whom it would have been easy to get more than a fair profit, but he
+steadily adhered to what he believed to be right, notwithstanding
+Jasper once or twice expressed dissatisfaction at his not having
+made better sales, and particularly at his failing to sell a piece
+of cloth, because he would not pledge his word as to its colour and
+quality--neither of which were good.
+
+The proposition of Jasper for him to make, in his family, a place
+for the orphan, caused Claire to postpone the announcement of his
+intention to leave his service, until after he had seen and conferred
+with his wife.
+
+At the usual dinner-hour, Claire returned home. His mind had become
+by this time somewhat disturbed. The long-cherished love of money,
+subdued for a brief season, was becoming active again. Here were six
+dollars to be added, weekly, to his income, provided his wife approved
+the arrangement,--and it was to come through Jasper. The more he
+thought of this increase, the more his natural cupidity was stirred,
+and the less willing he felt to give up the proposed one hundred
+dollars in his salary. If he persisted in leaving Jasper, there would,
+in all probability, be a breach between them, and this would, he felt
+certain, prevent an arrangement that he liked better and better the
+more he thought about it. He was in this state of mind when he arrived
+at home.
+
+On pushing open the door of their sitting-room, the attention of
+Claire was arrested by the animated expression of his wife's face. She
+raised her finger to enjoin silence. Tripping lightly to his side, she
+drew her arm within his, and whispered--
+
+"Come into the chamber, dear--tread softly--there, isn't that
+sweet?--isn't it lovely?"
+
+The sight was lovely indeed. A pillow had been thrown on the floor,
+and upon this lay sleeping, arm in arm, the two children. Pressed
+close together were their rosy checks; and the sunny curls of Fanny
+Elder were mixed, like gleams of sunshine, amid the darker ringlets
+that covered profusely the head of little Edith.
+
+"Did you ever see any thing so beautiful?" said the delighted mother.
+
+"What a picture it would make!" remarked Edward, who was charmed with
+the sight.
+
+"Oh, lovely! How I would like just such a picture!
+
+"She is a beautiful child," said Edward.
+
+"Very," was the hearty response. "Very--and so sweet-tempered and
+winning in her ways. Do you know, I am already attached to her. And
+little Edie is so delighted. They have played all the morning like
+kittens; and a little while ago lay down, just as you see them--tired
+out, I suppose--and fell off to sleep. It must have been hard for the
+mother to part with that child--hard, very hard."
+
+And Mrs. Claire sighed.
+
+"You will scarcely be willing to give her up, if she remains here
+long," said Edward.
+
+"I don't know how I should feel to part from her, even now. Oh, isn't
+it sad to think that she has no living soul to love or care for her in
+the world."
+
+"Mr. Jasper is her guardian, you know."
+
+"Yes; and such a guardian!"
+
+"I should not like to have my child dependent on his tender mercies,
+certainly. But he will have little to do with her beyond paying the
+bills for her maintenance. He will place her in some family to board;
+and her present comfort and future well-being will depend very much
+upon the character of the persons who have charge of her."
+
+Edith sighed.
+
+"I wish," said she, after a pause, "that we were able to take her. But
+we are not."
+
+And she sighed again.
+
+"Mr. Jasper will pay six dollars a week to any one who will take the
+entire care of her until she is twelve years of age."
+
+"Will he?" A sudden light had gleamed over the face of Mrs. Claire.
+
+"Yes; he said so this morning."
+
+"Then, why may not we take her? I am willing," was Edith's quick
+suggestion.
+
+"It is a great care and responsibility," said Edward.
+
+"I shall not feel it so. When the heart prompts, duty becomes a
+pleasure. O yes, dear, let us take the child by all means."
+
+"Can we make room for her?"
+
+"Why not? Her little bed, in a corner of our chamber, will in noway
+incommode us; and through the day she will be a companion for Edie.
+If you could only have seen how sweetly they played together! Edie has
+not been half the trouble to-day that she usually is."
+
+"It will rest altogether with you, Edith," said Claire, seriously. "In
+fact, Mr. Jasper proposed that we should take Fanny. I did not give
+him much encouragement, however."
+
+"Have you any objection, dear?" asked Edith.
+
+"None. The sum to be paid weekly will more than cover the additional
+cost of housekeeping. If you are prepared for the extra duties that
+must come, I have nothing to urge against the arrangement."
+
+"If extra duties are involved, I will perform them as a labour of
+love. Without the sum to be paid for the child's maintenance, I would
+have been ready to take her in and let her share our home. She is now
+in the special guardianship of the Father of the fatherless, and he
+will provide for her, no matter who become the almoners of his bounty.
+This is my faith, Edward, and in this faith I would have freely acted
+even without the provision that has been made."
+
+"Let it be then, as you wish, Edith."
+
+"How providential this increase of our income, Edward!" said his wife,
+soon afterward, while the subject of taking Fanny into their little
+household was yet the burden of their conversation. "We shall gain
+here all, and more than all that will be lost in giving up your
+situation with Mr. Jasper. Did I not say to you that good would come
+of this guardianship; and is there not, even now, a foreshadowing of
+things to come?"
+
+"Perhaps there is," replied Edward thoughtfully. "But my eye of faith
+is not so clear as yours."
+
+"Let me see for you then, dear," said Edith, in a tender voice. "I
+am an earnest confider in the good purposes of our Heavenly Father. I
+trust in them, as a ship trusts in its well-grounded anchor. That,
+in summing up the events of our life, when the time of our departure
+comes, we shall see clearly that each has been wisely ordered or
+provided for by One who is infinitely good and wise, I never for an
+instant doubt. Oh, if you could only see with me, eye to eye, Edward!
+But you will, love, you will--that my heart assures me. It may be some
+time yet--but it will come."
+
+"May it come right speedily!" was the fervent response of Edward
+Claire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+"Well, Edward, what does your wife say?" Such was the inquiry of
+Jasper, immediately on the return of his clerk from dinner.
+
+"There will be no difficulty, so far as she is concerned," the young
+man answered.
+
+"None, did you say, Edward?"
+
+"None. She is willing to take the child, under the arrangement you
+propose."
+
+"That is, for three hundred dollars a year, to find her in every
+thing?"
+
+"Yes; until she is twelve years of age."
+
+"So I understand it. After that, as the expense of her clothing and
+education will increase, we can make a new arrangement. Very well. I'm
+glad you have decided to take the child. It won't cost you six dollars
+a week, for the present, I am sure: so the additional income will be
+quite a help to you."
+
+"I don't know how that will be. At any rate, we are willing to take
+the child into our family."
+
+"Suppose then, Edward, we mutually sign this little agreement to that
+effect, which I have drawn up."
+
+And Jasper took a paper from his desk, which he handed to Edward.
+
+"I've no objection," said the latter, after he had read it over. "It
+binds me to the maintenance of the child until she is twelve years of
+age, and you to the payment therefor of three hundred dollars a year,
+in quarterly payments of seventy-five dollars each."
+
+"Yes, that is the simple statement of the matter. You see, I have
+prepared duplicates: one for you, and one for myself. I will sign them
+first."
+
+And Jasper took a pen and placed upon each of the documents his
+sign-manual.
+
+Claire did the same; and a clerk witnessed the signatures. Each, then,
+took a copy. Thus, quickly and fully, was the matter arranged.
+
+This fact of giving to the contract a legal form, was, under the
+circumstances, the very thing Claire most desired. He had already
+begun to see difficulties ahead, so soon as he announced his intention
+of leaving Jasper's service; particularly, as no reason that he could
+give would satisfy the merchant--difficulties growing out of this new
+relation as the personal guardian of little Fanny Elder. The signing
+of a regular contract for the payment of a certain sum of money,
+quarterly, for the child's maintenance, gave him a legal right to
+collect that sum, should Jasper, from any change of feeling, be
+disposed at some future time to give him trouble. This was something
+gained.
+
+It was with exceeding reluctance that Claire forced himself, during
+the afternoon, to announce his intention to leave Mr. Jasper. Had
+he not promised Mr. Melleville and his wife to do this, it would
+certainly have been postponed for the present; perhaps altogether.
+But his word was passed to both of them, and he felt that to defer the
+matter would be wrong. So, an opportunity offering, he said--
+
+"I believe, Mr. Jasper, that I shall have to leave you."
+
+"Leave me, Edward!" Mr. Jasper was taken altogether by surprise. "What
+is the meaning of this? You have expressed no dissatisfaction. What is
+wrong?"
+
+The position of Edward was a trying one. He could not state the true
+reasons for wishing to leave his present situation, without giving
+great offence, and making, perhaps, an enemy. This he wished, if
+possible, to avoid. A few days before he would not have scrupled at
+the broadest equivocation, or even at a direct falsehood. But there
+had been a birth of better principles in his mind, and he was in the
+desire to let them govern his conduct. As he did not answer promptly
+the question of Jasper as to his reasons for wishing to leave him, the
+latter said--
+
+"This seems to be some sudden purpose, Edward. Are you going to
+receive a higher salary?"
+
+Still Edward did not reply; but looked worried and irresolute. Taking
+it for granted that no motive but a pecuniary one could have prompted
+this desire for change, Jasper continued--
+
+"I have been satisfied with you, Edward. You seem to understand
+me, and to comprehend my mode of doing business. I have found you
+industrious, prompt, and cheerful in performing your duties. These are
+qualities not always to be obtained. I do not, therefore, wish to part
+with you. If a hundred, or even a hundred and fifty dollars a year,
+will be any consideration, your salary is increased from to-day."
+
+This, to Edward, was unexpected. He felt more bewildered and
+irresolute than at first. So important an advance in his income, set
+against a reduction of the present amount, was a strong temptation,
+and he felt his old desires for money arraying themselves in his mind.
+
+"I will think over your offer," said he. "I did not expect this. In
+the morning I will be prepared to decide."
+
+"Very well, Edward. If you remain, your salary will be increased to
+six hundred and fifty dollars."
+
+To Claire had now come another hour of darkness. The little strength,
+just born of higher principles, was to be sorely tried. Gold was
+in one scale, and the heavenly riches that are without wings in the
+other. Which was to overbalance?
+
+The moment Claire entered the presence of his wife, on returning home
+that evening, she saw that a change had taken place--an unfavourable
+change; and a shadow fell upon her pure spirit.
+
+"I spoke to Mr. Jasper about leaving him," he remarked, soon after he
+came in.
+
+"What did he say?" inquired Edith.
+
+"He does not wish me to go."
+
+"I do not wonder at that. But, of course, he is governed merely by a
+selfish regard to his own interests."
+
+"He offers to increase my salary to six hundred and fifty dollars,"
+said Edward, in a voice that left his wife in no doubt as to the
+effect which this had produced.
+
+"A thousand dollars a year, Edward," was the serious answer, "would
+be a poor compensation for such services as he requires. Loss of
+self-respect, loss of honour, loss of the immortal soul, are all
+involved. Think of this, my dear husband! and do not for a moment
+hesitate."
+
+But Edward did hesitate. This unexpected offer of so important an
+increase in his salary had excited his love of money, temporarily
+quiescent. He saw in such an increase a great temporal good; and
+this obscured his perception of a higher good, which, a little while
+before, had been so clear.
+
+"I am not so sure, Edith," said he, "that all these sad consequences
+are necessarily involved. I am under no obligation to deal unfairly
+with his customers. My duty will be done, when I sell to them all I
+can at a fair profit. If he choose to take an excess of profit in his
+own dealing, that is his affair. I need not be partaker in his guilt."
+
+"Edward!" returned his wife, laying her hand upon his arm, and
+speaking in a low, impressive voice--"Do you really believe that you
+can give satisfaction to Mr. Jasper in all things, and yet keep your
+conscience void of offence before God and man? Think of his character
+and requirements--think of the kind of service you have, in too many
+instances, rendered him--and then say whether it will be possible to
+satisfy him without putting in jeopardy all that a man should hold
+dear--all that is worth living for? Oh, Edward! do not let this offer
+blind you for a moment to the real truth."
+
+"Then you would have me reject the offer?"
+
+"Without an instant's hesitation, Edward."
+
+"It is a tempting one. And then, look at the other side, Edith. Only
+four hundred dollars a year, instead of six hundred and fifty."
+
+"I feel it as no temptation. The latter sum, in the present case,
+is by far the better salary, for it will give us higher sources of
+enjoyment. What are millions of dollars, and a disquiet mind, compared
+to a few hundreds, and sweet peace? If you remain with Jasper, an
+unhappy spirit will surely steal into our dwelling--if you take, for
+the present, your old place with Mr. Melleville, how brightly will
+each morning's sun shine in upon us, and how calmly will the blessed
+evening draw around her curtains of repose!"
+
+Edith had always possessed great influence over her husband. He loved
+her very tenderly; and was ever loth to do any thing to which she made
+opposition. She was no creature of mere impulse--of weak caprices--of
+captious, yet unbending will. If she opposed her husband in any thing,
+it was on the ground of its non-agreement with just principles; and
+she always sustained her positions with the clearest and most direct
+modes of argumentation. Not with elaborate reasonings, but rather in
+the declaration of things self-evident--the quick perceptions of a
+pure, truth-loving mind. How inestimable the blessing of such a wife!
+
+"No doubt you have the better reason on your side, Edith," replied her
+husband, his manner very much subdued. "But it is difficult for me to
+unclasp my hand to let fall therefrom the natural good which I can see
+and estimate, for the seemingly unreal and unsubstantial good that, to
+your purer vision, looms up so imposingly."
+
+"Unreal--unsubstantial--Edward!" said Edith, in reply to this. "Are
+states of mind unreal?"
+
+"I have not always found them so," was answered.
+
+"Is happiness, or misery, unreal? Oh, are they not our most palpable
+realizations? It is not mere wealth that is sought for as an end--that
+is not the natural good for which the many are striving. It is the
+mental enjoyment that possession promises--the state of mind that
+would be gained through gold as a means. Is it not so? Think."
+
+"Yes--that is, undoubtedly, the case."
+
+"But, is it possible for money to give peace and true enjoyment, if,
+in the spirit, even though not in the letter, violence is done to
+the laws of both God and man? Can ill-gotten gain produce heavenly
+beatitudes?--and there are none others. The heart never grows truly
+warm and joyous except when light from above streams through the
+darkened vapours with which earth-fires have surrounded it. Oh, my
+husband! Turn yourself away from this world's false allurements, and
+seek with me the true riches. Whatever may be your lot in life--I care
+not how poor and humble--I shall walk erect and cheerful by your side
+if you have been able to keep a conscience void of offence; but if
+this be not so, and you bring to me gold and treasure without stint,
+my head will lie bowed upon my bosom, and my heart throb in low,
+grief-burdened pulsations. False lights, believe me, Edward, are hung
+out by the world, and they lure life's mariner on to dangerous coasts.
+Let us remain on a smooth and sunny sea, while we can, and not tempt
+the troubled and uncertain wave, unless duty requires the venture.
+Then, with virtue at the helm, and the light of God's love in the sky,
+we will find a sure haven at last."
+
+"It shall be as you wish, Edith," said Claire, as he gazed with
+admiring affection into the bright and glowing face of his wife, that
+was lovely in her beautiful enthusiasm.
+
+"No--no, Edward! Don't say as _I_ wish," was her quick reply. "I
+cannot bear that you should act merely under my influence as an
+external pressure. If I have seemed to use persuasion, it has not been
+to force you over to my way of thinking. But, cannot you see that I am
+right? Does not your reason approve of what I say?"
+
+"It does, Edith. I can see, as well as feel, that you are right. But,
+the offer of a present good is a strong temptation. I speak freely."
+
+"And I thank you for doing so. Oh! never conceal from me your inmost
+thoughts. You say that you can see as well as feel that I am right?"
+
+"Yes; I freely acknowledge that."
+
+"Your reason approves what I have said?"
+
+"Fully."
+
+"This tells you that it will be better for you in the end to accept
+of four hundred dollars from Mr. Melleville, than to remain with Mr.
+Jasper at six hundred and fifty?"
+
+"It does, Edith."
+
+"Then, my husband, let the reason which God has given to you as a
+guide, direct you now in the right way. Do not act under influence
+from me--for then the act will not be freely your own--but, as a truly
+rational, and, therefore, a wise man, choose now the way in which an
+enlightened reason tells you that you ought to walk."
+
+"I have chosen, Edith," was the young man's low, but firm reply.
+
+"How?" The wife spoke with a sudden, trembling eagerness, and held her
+breath for an answer.
+
+"I will leave my present place, and return to Mr. Melleville."
+
+"God be thanked!" came sobbing from the lips of Edith, as she threw
+herself in unrestrained joy upon the bosom of her husband.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+"I don't just understand this," said Jasper to himself, after the
+interview with his clerk described in another chapter. "I thought him
+perfectly satisfied. He didn't say he was offered a higher salary. Ah!
+guess I've got it now. It's only a bit of a ruse on his part to get
+me to increase his wages. I didn't think of this before. Well, it has
+succeeded; and, in truth, he's worth all I've offered him. Shrewd,
+quick, and sharp; he's a young man just to my mind. Should he grow
+restless again, I must tempt him with the idea of a partnership at
+some future period. If business goes on increasing, I shall want
+some one with me whom I can trust and depend on more fully than on a
+clerk."
+
+Thus, in the mind of Jasper, all was settled; and he was fully
+prepared, on the next morning, when he met Edward to hear from him
+that he would remain in his service. A different decision took him
+altogether by surprise.
+
+"Where are you going?" he asked. Edward hesitated a moment ere
+replying.
+
+"Back to Mr. Melleville's."
+
+"To Melleville's! Will he give you more salary than I have agreed to
+pay?"
+
+"No," was the answer; "but I have reasons for wishing to accept the
+place he offers me."
+
+"Well, just as you please," said Jasper, coldly. "Every one must suit
+himself."
+
+And, with the air of a person offended, he turned himself from the
+young man. Soon after he went out, and did not come back for two or
+three hours. When he re-entered the store there was an angry flash in
+his eyes, which rested somewhat sternly upon Claire.
+
+"Let me say a word with you, Edward."
+
+There happened to be no customer in to engage the clerk's attention,
+and he retired, with his employer, to the back part of the store.
+Jasper then turned and confronted him with a stern aspect.
+
+"Well, young man!" said he sharply, "it seems that you have been
+making rather free with my good name, of late; representing me as a
+cheat and a swindler."
+
+For a few moments the mind of Claire was strongly excited and in a
+perfect maze of confusion. The blood mounted to his face, and he felt
+a rising and choking sensation in his throat. Wisely he forbore
+any answer until he had regained his self-possession. Then, with a
+coolness that surprised even himself, he said--
+
+"That's a broad accusation, Mr. Jasper. Will you go with me to your
+authority?"
+
+Jasper was not just prepared for a response like this; and he cooled
+down, instantly, several degrees.
+
+"My authority is quite satisfactory," he returned, still manifesting
+angry feeling. "That you have been slandering me is plain; and, also,
+betraying the confidential transactions of the house. It is full time
+we parted--full time. I didn't dream that I was warming an adder to
+sting me?"
+
+"I must insist, Mr. Jasper," said Claire firmly, "that you give me
+your authority for all this. Let me stand face to face with the man
+who has so broadly accused me."
+
+"Then you deny it all?"
+
+"I shall neither affirm nor deny any thing. You have angrily accused
+me of having done you a great wrong. All I ask is your authority, and
+the right to stand face to face with that authority. This is no light
+matter, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Well said, young man. It is no light matter, as you will, perhaps,
+know to your sorrow in the end. Don't suppose, for a moment, that I
+shall either forget or forgive this outrage. Leave me because I cheat
+in my business!" An expression of unmitigated contempt was on his
+face. "Poh! What hypocrisy! I know you! And let Mr. Melleville beware.
+He, I more than suspect, is at the bottom of this. But he'll rue the
+day he crossed my path--he will!"
+
+And Jasper ground his teeth in anger.
+
+By this time, Claire had become entirely self-possessed. He was both
+surprised and troubled; yet concealed, as far as possible, the real
+state of his feelings.
+
+"So far as Mr. Melleville is concerned," said he, "I wish you to
+understand, that I applied to _him_ for the situation."
+
+"Exactly! That is in agreement with what I heard. I was such a rogue
+that you could not live with me and keep a clear conscience--so you
+sought for a place with an honest man."
+
+Claire dropped his eyes to the floor, and stood musing for some
+considerable time. When he raised them, he looked steadily at his
+employer and said--
+
+"Mr. Jasper, I never made use of the words you have repeated."
+
+"If not the very words, those of a like signification?"
+
+"To whom? There is no need of concealment, Mr. Jasper." Claire was
+feeling less and less anxious for the result of this conference every
+moment. "Speak out freely, and you will find me ready to do the
+same. There had been some underhand work here--or some betrayal of an
+ill-advised confidence. The former, I am most ready to believe. In a
+word, sir, and to bring this at once to an issue--your informant in
+this matter is Henry Parker, who lives with Mr. Melleville."
+
+The change instantly perceptible in the manner of Jasper showed that
+Edward's suspicion was right. He had, all at once, remembered that,
+during his conversation with Melleville, this young man was near.
+
+"I see how it is," he continued. "An eavesdropper has reported, with
+his own comments and exaggerations, a strictly confidential interview.
+Such being the case, I will state the plain truth of the matter. Are
+you prepared to hear it?"
+
+"Oh, certainly," replied Jasper, with a covert sneer in his voice.
+"I'm prepared to hear any thing."
+
+"Very well. What I have to say is now wrung from me. I did not wish to
+leave you in anger. I did not wish to draw upon me your ill-will. But,
+what is unavoidable must be borne. It is true, Mr. Jasper, as you
+have been informed, that I am not satisfied with your way of doing
+business."
+
+"How long since, pray?" asked Jasper, with ill-disguised contempt.
+
+"I did not like it in the beginning, but gradually suffered myself to
+think that all was fair in trade, until I found I was no better than a
+common cheat! Happily, I have been able to make a sudden pause in the
+way I was going. From this time, I will serve no man who expects me to
+overreach a customer in dealing. So soon as my mind was fully made
+up to leave your employment, I called to see my old friend, Mr.
+Melleville; stated to him, frankly and fully, what I thought and felt;
+and asked him if he could not make room for me in his store. Parker
+doubtless overheard a part of what we were saying, and reported it to
+you. I would, let me say in passing, much rather hold my relation to
+this unpleasant business than his. Mr. Melleville offered me my old
+salary--four hundred dollars--and I agreed to enter his service."
+
+"Four hundred dollars!" Jasper said this in unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Yes, sir; that is all he can afford to pay, and of course all I will
+receive."
+
+"And I offered you six hundred and fifty."
+
+"True."
+
+"Edward, you are the most consummate fool I ever heard of."
+
+"Time will show that," was the undisturbed reply. "I have made my
+election thoughtfully, and am prepared to meet the result."
+
+"You'll repent of this; mark my word for it."
+
+"I may regret your ill-will, Mr. Jasper; but never repent this step.
+I'm only thankful that I possessed sufficient resolution to take it."
+
+"When are you going?"
+
+"Not before the end of this month, unless you wish it otherwise. I
+would like to give you full time to supply my place."
+
+"You can go at once, if it so please you. In fact, after what has just
+passed, I don't see how you can remain, or I tolerate your presence."
+
+"I am ready for this, Mr. Jasper," coolly replied the young man.
+
+"How much is due you?" was inquired, after a brief silence.
+
+"Twenty-five dollars, I believe," answered Claire.
+
+Jasper threw open a ledger that lay on the desk, and, turning to the
+young man's account, ran his eyes up the two columns of figures, and
+then struck a balance.
+
+"Just twenty-seven dollars," said he, after a second examination of
+the figures. "And here's the money," he added, as he took some bills
+from the desk and counted out the sum just mentioned. "Now sign me a
+receipt in full to date, and that ends the matter."
+
+The receipt was promptly signed.
+
+"And now," sneered Jasper, bowing with mock deference, "I wish you
+joy of your better place. You will, in all probability, hear from me
+again. I haven't much faith in your over-righteous people; and will
+do myself the justice to make some very careful examinations into your
+doings since you entered my service. If all is right, well; if not, it
+won't be good for you. I'm not the man to forgive ingratitude, injury,
+and insult--of all three of which you have been guilty."
+
+"We will not bandy words on that subject, Mr. Jasper," said Claire--"I
+simply deny that I have been guilty of either of the faults you
+allege. As for an investigation into my business conduct, that you can
+do as early and as thoroughly as you please. I shall feel no anxiety
+for the result."
+
+Jasper did not reply. For a few moments the young man stood as if
+expecting some remark; none being made, he turned away, gathered
+together a few articles that were his own private property, tied
+them into a bundle and marked his name thereon. Then bowing to the
+merchant, he retired--oppressed from recent painful excitement, yet
+glad, in his inmost feelings, that a connection so dangerous as that
+with Jasper had been dissolved--dissolved even at the cost of making
+an enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+As no event of particularly marked interest occurred with those whose
+histories we are writing, during the next few years, we will pass over
+that time without a record. Some changes of more or less importance
+have taken place, in the natural progress of things; but these will
+become apparent as we pursue the narrative.
+
+A dull, damp November day was losing itself in the sombre twilight,
+when Edward Claire left the store of Mr. Melleville, and took his
+way homeward. An errand for his wife led him past his old place of
+business. As he moved along the street, opposite, he noticed a new
+sign over the door, the large gilt letters of which were strongly
+reflected in the light of a gas-lamp. It bore the words, JASPER &
+PARKER.
+
+Involuntarily the young man sighed. If he had remained with Jasper,
+there was little doubt but that his name would have been the one now
+associated with his in a copartnership. Parker was the young man who
+had betrayed the conversation between Claire and Mr. Melleville. His
+end in doing this was to gain the favour of Jasper, and thus secure
+the place left vacant by the departing clerk. He had succeeded in his
+purpose. Jasper offered him the situation, and he took it. Five
+years afterward, in which time Jasper had made money rapidly, he
+was elevated to the position of partner, with a fair interest in the
+business. He had been honest toward his employer, because he saw that
+through him there was a chance to rise. Honest in heart he was not,
+for he never scrupled to overreach a customer.
+
+Edward Claire, as we have remarked, sighed involuntarily. His own
+prospects in life were not what are called flattering. His situation
+with Mr. Melleville was now worth five hundred dollars a year, but his
+family had increased, and with the increase had come new wants. The
+condition of Mr. Melleville's business gave him no encouragement to
+hope for a larger income while in his service. Several times during
+the last two years he had made application for vacant places, but
+without success. Sometimes he felt restless and discouraged, as his
+vision penetrated the future; but there was ever a cheerful light at
+home that daily dispelled the coming shadows.
+
+Scarcely had the sigh lost itself on the air, when a hand was laid on
+his arm, and an old acquaintance said--
+
+"Ah, Edward! How are you?"
+
+Claire seeing the face of his friend, returned the greeting cordially.
+
+"What have you been doing with yourself?" asked the latter. "It is
+months, I believe, since I had the pleasure of meeting you."
+
+"Busy all day," returned Clare, "and anchored at home in the evening.
+So the time is passing."
+
+"Pleasantly and profitably, I hope," said the friend.
+
+"Pleasantly enough, I will own," was answered; "as to the profit--if
+you mean in a money sense--there is not much to boast of."
+
+"You are still with Melleville?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"At what salary?"
+
+"Five hundred."
+
+"Is that all? How much family have you?"
+
+"Three children; or, I might say four; but the fourth brings us three
+hundred dollars a year for her maintenance."
+
+"That is something."
+
+"Oh yes. It is quite a help."
+
+"By the way, Edward--the new store we just past reminds me of it--your
+old friend Jasper has just given one of his clerks, named Parker, an
+interest in his business."
+
+"So I am aware."
+
+"Jasper is doing first-rate."
+
+"He is making money, I believe."
+
+"Coining it. The fact is, Edward, you never should have left him. Had
+you kept that situation, you would have been the partner now. And, by
+the way, there was rather a strange story afloat at the time you took
+it into your head to leave Jasper."
+
+"Ah! what was it?"
+
+"It is said that you thought him a little too close in his dealings,
+and left him on that account. I hadn't given you credit for quite so
+tender a conscience. How was it, Edward?"
+
+"I didn't like his modes of doing business, and, therefore, left him.
+So far you heard truly."
+
+"But what had you to do with _his_ modes of doing business?"
+
+"A great deal. As one of his employées, I was expected to carry out
+his views."
+
+"And not being willing to do that, you left his service."
+
+"That is the simple story."
+
+"Excuse me, Edward, but I can't help calling you a great fool. Just
+see how you have stood in your own light. But for this extra bit of
+virtue, for which no one thinks a whit the better of you, you might
+this day have been on the road to fortune, instead of Parker."
+
+"I would rather be in my own position than in his," replied Claire
+firmly.
+
+"You would!" His companion evinced surprise. "He is in the sure road
+to wealth."
+
+"But not, I fear, in the way to happiness."
+
+"How can you say that, Edward?"
+
+"No man, who, in the eager pursuit of money, so far forgets the rights
+of others as to trample on them, can be in the way to happiness."
+
+"Then you think he tramples on the rights of others?"
+
+"I know but little, if any thing, about him," replied Claire; "but
+this I do know, that unless Leonard Jasper be a different man from
+what he was five years ago, fair dealing between man and man is a
+virtue in a clerk that would in nowise recommend him to the position
+of an associate in business. His partner must be shrewd, sharp,
+and unscrupulous--a lover of money above every thing else--a man
+determined to rise, no matter who is trampled down or destroyed in the
+ascent."
+
+"In business circles such men are by no means scarce."
+
+"I am aware of it."
+
+"And it is unhesitatingly affirmed by many whom I know, that, as the
+world now is, no really honest man can trade successfully."
+
+"That is more than I am ready to admit."
+
+"The sharpest and shrewdest get on the best."
+
+"Because it is easier to be sharp and shrewd than to be intelligent,
+persevering, industrious, patient, and self-denying. The eagerness to
+get rich fast is the bane of trade. I am quite ready to admit that no
+man can get rich at railroad speed, and not violate the law of doing
+as you would be done by."
+
+"Doing as you would be done by! O dear!" said the friend; "you
+certainly don't mean to bring that law down into the actual life of
+the world?"
+
+"It would be a happier world for all of us if this law were
+universally obeyed."
+
+"That may be. But, where all are selfish, how is it possible to act
+from an unselfish principle?"
+
+"Do you approve of stealing?" said Claire, with some abruptness.
+
+"Of course not," was the half-indignant answer.
+
+"I need not have asked the question, for I now remember to have seen
+the fact noticed in one of our papers, that an unfaithful domestic in
+your family had been handed over to the police."
+
+"True. She was a thief. We found in her trunk a number of valuable
+articles that she had stolen from us."
+
+"And you did right. You owed this summary justice as well to the
+purloiner as to the public. Now, there are many ways of stealing,
+besides this direct mode. If I deprive you of your property with
+design, I steal from you. Isn't that clear?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And I am, to use plain words, a thief. Well, now take this easily
+to be understood case. I have a lot of goods to sell, and you wish to
+purchase them. In the trade I manage to get from you, through direct
+misrepresentation, or in a tacit advantage of your ignorance, more
+than the goods are really worth. Do I not cheat you?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"And having purposely deprived you of a portion of your money, am I
+not a thief?"
+
+"In all that goes to make up the morality of the case, you are."
+
+"The truth, unquestionably. Need I proceed further? By your own
+admission, every businessman who takes undue advantage of another in
+dealing, steals."
+
+"Pretty close cutting, that, friend Claire. It wouldn't do to talk
+that right out at all times and in all places."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I rather think it would make some people feel bad; and others regard
+themselves as insulted."
+
+"I can believe so. But we are only talking this between ourselves.
+And now I come back to my rather abrupt question--Do you approve of
+stealing? No, you say, as a matter of course. And yet, you but just
+now were inclined to justify sharp dealing, on the ground that all
+were sharpers--quoting the saying of some, that no honest man could
+trade successfully in the present time. For the direct stealing of
+a few articles of trifling value, you hand a poor, ignorant domestic
+over to the police, yet feel no righteous indignation against the
+better-taught man of business, who daily robs his customers in some
+one form or another."
+
+"You are too serious by far, Edward," returned his companion, forcing
+a laugh. "Your mind has fallen into a morbid state. But you will get
+over this one of these times. Good evening! Our ways part here. Good
+evening!"
+
+And the young man turned off abruptly.
+
+"A morbid state," mused Claire to himself, as he continued on alone.
+"So thousands would say. But is it so? Is honesty or dishonesty the
+morbid state? How direct a question! How plain the answer! Honesty is
+health--dishonesty the soul's sickness. To be honest, is to live in
+obedience to social and divine laws; dishonesty is the violation of
+these. Is it possible for a diseased body to give physical enjoyment?
+No! Nor can a diseased mind give true mental enjoyment. To seek
+happiness in the possession of wealth obtained through wrong to
+the neighbour, is as fruitless as to seek bodily pleasure in those
+practices which inevitably destroy the health. To me, this is
+self-evident, and may God give me strength to live according to my
+clear convictions!"
+
+The very earnestness with which Claire mentally confirmed himself in
+his honest convictions, and especially his upward looking for strength
+in conscious weakness, showed that his mind was in temptation. He
+had felt somewhat depressed during the day, in view of his external
+relation to the world; and this feeling was increased by his
+observation of the fact that Parker had been advanced to the position
+of a partner to his old employer. It seemed like a reward for unfair
+dealing, while honesty was suffered to remain poor. The young man's
+enlightened reason--enlightened during five years' earnest search
+after and practice of higher truths than govern in the world's
+practice--strongly combated all the false arguments that were
+presented to his mind, during this season of his overshadowing. The
+combat was severe, and still continued on his arrival at home--causing
+his mind to be in a measure depressed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The increase of Claire's family had caused him, some time before, to
+remove from the two comfortable rooms in which were passed the first
+pleasant years of his married life. He now occupied a small house in
+a retired street, the rent of which, though moderate, drew pretty
+heavily on his income. But he had managed, through the prudent
+co-operation of his wife, not only to keep even with the world, but to
+lay by a small sum of money.
+
+Few homes, in the large city wherein dwelt this obscure family, were
+so full of all the elements of happiness. If, sometimes, the spirit of
+Claire was overshadowed by passing clouds--as would unavoidably happen
+from his contact with the world, and his own variant states--the
+evening's return to the bosom of his family, generally made all bright
+again.
+
+Little Fanny Elder, now ten years of age, had been steadily growing
+into his affections from the first. It is questionable whether his
+love for his own children was a purer passion. Older, by several
+years, than Edith, she had been to him more companionable; and had
+ever greeted his return at evening with warmer expressions of pleasure
+than were manifested by Edith, or the two younger children who had
+been added to the number of his household treasures.
+
+On this evening, as Claire drew nearer and nearer to his home, and
+his thoughts began to make pictures of the scene within, its light
+and warmth penetrated his feelings, and when he opened, at length, the
+door, he was himself again.
+
+First to bound into his arms was Fanny Elder. What a beautiful,
+fairy-like creature she was! How more than fulfilled the promise of
+her early childhood! Next came Edith, now six years of age, side by
+side with her brother Harry, a wild little rogue, and were only a few
+seconds behind Fanny in throwing themselves upon their father; while
+little baby Mary, as she sat on the carpet, fluttered her tiny arms,
+and crowed out her joyous welcome.
+
+What a merry romp they all had for the next two or three minutes.
+When quiet came back again, baby was sitting on one knee, Harry on the
+other, and Fanny leaning her face on the shoulder of her "father"--for
+so she called him with the rest--while her glossy curls were resting
+in sunny clusters upon his bosom. The memory of the child's former
+home and parents seemed to have faded almost entirely. If the past
+ever came back to her, like a dream, with its mingled web of sunshine
+and tears, she never spoke of it. Fully had she been taken into the
+hearts and home of her now parents; and she rested there as one having
+a right to her position.
+
+And the pure spirit who presided over this little Paradise, where was
+she? Present--observing all, and sharing in the delight her husband's
+return had occasioned. The expected kiss had not long been kept from
+her loving lips.
+
+Happy household! What have its inmates to envy in those around
+them? Within the circle of many squares were none so rich in all the
+elements of happiness.
+
+Soon after the evening meal was over, the children, after another
+merry romp with their father, went off to bed. When Mrs. Claire
+returned from the chamber, whither she had accompanied them, she held
+a letter in her hand.
+
+"I had forgotten all about this letter, Edward," said she. "It was
+left here for you, this afternoon."
+
+Claire took the letter and broke the seal, running his eye down to the
+signature as he unfolded it.
+
+"Leonard Jasper! What is this?"
+
+His brow contracted instantly, as he commenced reading the letter. It
+was brief, and in these words--
+
+"MR. EDWARD CLAIRE--_Sir_: From this time I relieve you of the burden
+of my ward, Fanny Elder. Mrs. Jasper and myself have determined to
+take her into our own family, in order that we may give the needful
+care to her education. Call around and see me to-morrow, and we will
+arrange this matter. Yours, &c. LEONARD JASPER."
+
+The face of the young man had become pale by the time he had finished
+reading this letter; but that of his wife, who did not yet know a word
+of its contents, was almost white--the effect produced on her husband
+filling her with a vague alarm.
+
+"What is it, Edward?" she asked, in a low, eager whisper.
+
+"Jasper wants us to give up Fanny."
+
+Edith sank into a chair, exclaiming--
+
+"Oh, Edward!"
+
+"But she is only ten years of age," said the husband, "and our
+contract is to keep her until she is twelve."
+
+"We cannot give her up," murmured Edith, tears already beginning to
+flow over her cheeks. "I never thought of this. What can it mean?"
+
+"Some sudden determination on the part of Jasper, and based on nothing
+good," was the reply. "But, as I said, our contract is binding until
+Fanny is twelve years of age, and I will never consent to its being
+broken. He was over anxious to hold me in writing. He did not value
+his own word, and would not trust mine. It was well. The dear child
+shall remain where she is."
+
+"But, after she is twelve, Edward? What then? Oh, I can never part
+with her," said Mrs. Claire, now weeping freely.
+
+"Two years will pass ere that time. Jasper may have other purposes in
+view when our present contract expires."
+
+"You will see him in the morning?"
+
+"O yes. I must understand all about this matter. What can it mean?
+'Needful care to her education!' A mere hypocritical pretence. What
+does he care for her, or her education? What, in fact, does he know of
+her? Nothing at all. Has he ever called to see her? Has he ever made
+the first inquiry after her? No. There is something wrong, without
+doubt. This movement bodes no good to our dear child. But she has one
+friend who will stand between her and harm--who will protect her, if
+need be, at the risk of his own life."
+
+Claire, as his words indicate, had suffered himself to become much
+excited. Seeing this, his wife recovered, to some extent, her own
+self-possession, and spoke to him soothingly.
+
+"We will wait and see what it means," said she. "Mr. Jasper cannot
+force her away from us now, if he would."
+
+"After seeing him to-morrow, you can understand better what we are to
+expect. This note may have been written from some momentary feeling. I
+cannot think that he has a settled purpose to take the child from us."
+
+"Time will show," was the abstracted response.
+
+Not for years had so unhappy an evening been spent by Edward Claire
+and his wife; and when they retired, it was to pass the night in
+broken intervals of sleep.
+
+Early on the next morning, Claire called at the store of Jasper, who
+received him with cold politeness, and at once came to the matter
+uppermost in both their thoughts, by saying--
+
+"You received my note?"
+
+"I did," was the reply.
+
+"Well? All right, I suppose?"
+
+"Fanny is not twelve years of age yet!"
+
+"Isn't she? Well, what of that?" There was some impatience in the
+manner of Jasper.
+
+"I agreed to take the care of her until she was twelve."
+
+"Well--well--suppose you did? I'm her guardian, and wish to have her
+now in my own family. If you agreed to keep her, I did not say that
+she should positively remain."
+
+"There was a contract signed to that effect," firmly replied Claire.
+
+"A contract! Humph! Are you sure?"
+
+"Very sure. You drew it yourself."
+
+"Have you a copy of it?"
+
+"I have."
+
+Jasper seemed thrown aback by this. He had not forgotten the contract,
+for all his affected ignorance thereof. He only hoped that Edward had,
+through carelessness, lost his copy. But he was mistaken.
+
+"A contract! A contract?" said Jasper, as if communing with his own
+thoughts. "I do remember, now, something of the kind. And so there was
+a written contract?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and I have a copy in your own hand."
+
+"And I am to understand, Edward, that notwithstanding my wish, as
+the child's legal guardian, and, therefore, the representative of
+her parents, to have her in my own family, that you will interpose a
+hasty-signed contract?"
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said the young man, changing his manner, "we have had
+this child in our family for over five years, and have grown strongly
+attached to her. In fact, she seems to us as one of our own children;
+and we, to her, are in the place of parents. To remove her would,
+therefore, be doing a great violence to our feelings, and I know it
+would make her unhappy. Let her remain where she is, and you may rest
+assured that she will be cared for as tenderly as our own."
+
+"No, Edward, it is no use to talk of that," replied Jasper,
+positively. "I wish, now, to have her in my own family, and trust that
+you will not stand for a moment in the way."
+
+"But, Mr. Jasper"--
+
+"It will be of no avail to argue the point, Edward," said the
+merchant, interrupting him. "I was fully in earnest when I wrote to
+you, and am no less in earnest now. I am certainly entitled to the
+possession of my ward, and will not bear, patiently, any attempt on
+your part to deprive me of that right."
+
+There was an angry quivering of the lips, and a stern knitting of the
+brows, on the part of Jasper, as he closed this emphatic sentence.
+Claire felt excited, yet was so fully conscious of the necessity of
+self-control, that he quieted down his feelings, and endeavoured to
+think calmly.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" imperatively demanded Jasper, after waiting
+some moments for a reply.
+
+"We cannot part with the child," said the young man, in a low,
+appealing voice.
+
+"You _must_ part with her!" was the quick, resolute response.
+
+"Must? That is a strong word, Mr. Jasper." Claire's manner underwent
+another change, as was shown by the firm compression of his lips, and
+the steady gaze of his eyes, as he fixed them on the merchant.
+
+"I know it is strong, but no stronger than my purpose; and I warn you
+not to stand in my way. I've got an old grudge against you, so don't
+provoke me too far in this matter. A pretty affair, indeed, when _you_
+attempt to come between me and my legal rights and duties."
+
+"Duties!" There was a stinging contempt in the young man's voice. The
+manner of Jasper had chafed him beyond all manner of self-control.
+
+"You forget to whom you are speaking," said the latter, offended now,
+as well as angry. "But we will not bandy words. Will you, without
+further trouble, give into my hands the child of Mr. Elder?"
+
+"I cannot do it, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Speak positively. Will you, or will you not do as I wish?"
+
+"I will not," was the decided answer.
+
+"Enough." And Jasper turned away, muttering in an undertone, "We'll
+soon see who is to be master here."
+
+Claire lingered a short time, but, as Jasper showed no disposition
+to renew the conversation, he left the store, greatly disturbed and
+troubled in his mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+When Edward Claire and his wife drew together on the evening of that
+day, after the children were in bed, both were calmer than at their
+previous interview on a subject that necessarily brought with it
+strong excitement of feeling. Both had thought much and felt much, and
+were now prepared to look calmly at the new relation affairs had so
+suddenly assumed. At dinner-time, Edward had related the substance of
+his interview with Jasper.
+
+"What can he do?" asked Edith, referring now to the muttered threat of
+that individual.
+
+"I don't know that he can do any thing more than withhold the regular
+sums heretofore paid for the support of Fanny. If he does that, I will
+collect them legally."
+
+"Can't he take her away by force? Won't the law compel us to give her
+up?" asked Edith, in a troubled voice.
+
+"Our contract gives us a right to her possession until she is twelve
+years of age. In that, the law will undoubtedly sustain us."
+
+"The law is very uncertain, Edward."
+
+"But our contract is plainly worded, and, in this State, private
+written contracts between parties to an agreement are good in law.
+At best, however, we can only keep her two years longer; that is what
+troubles me most."
+
+"We must do our duty by her," said Edith, endeavouring to speak
+calmly, "during that time; and wean our hearts from her as much as
+possible, so that the giving of her up, when it has to be done, will
+cause as little grief as possible. Poor child! It will be hard for her
+to leave us, and go to her new home. That thought is beginning to pain
+me most."
+
+"And such a home! I have seen Mrs. Jasper frequently, and, if my
+observation is correct, she is no true woman. Dress, it seemed to me,
+was all she cared for; and there was a captiousness and ill-temper
+about her, at times, that was, to say the least of it, very
+unbecoming."
+
+"And to her care we must resign this precious one," said Edith, with a
+sigh. "Oh, how the thought pains me! Dear, dear child!"
+
+"The time is yet distant," remarked Claire--"distant by nearly two
+years. Let it be our duty to prepare her as fully for the new relation
+as possible. Two years is a long time--many changes will take place,
+and among them, it may be, a change in the purpose of Mr. Jasper.
+We will hope for this, at least; yet wisely prepare for a different
+result."
+
+"As things now appear, I do not see what else remains for us to do.
+Ah me! How like lightning from a summer sky has this flashed suddenly
+over us. But, Edward, we must not, in the strong trial of our natural
+feelings, permit ourselves to forget that dear Fanny is in the higher
+guardianship of One who is infinitely wise and good. If she is to pass
+from our care to that of Mr. Jasper and his family, it is through His
+permission, and He will bring out of it good to all."
+
+"I can see that in my understanding, Edith," replied her husband;
+"but, it is hard to _feel_ that it is so."
+
+"Very hard, Edward. Yet, it is something--a great deal--to have the
+truth to lean upon, even though it seems to bend under our weight.
+Oh! without this truth, it seems as if I would now fall to the
+ground helpless. But, let us try and view this painful subject in its
+brightest aspect. It is our duty to the child to keep her, if we can,
+until she passes her twelfth year."
+
+"Clearly," replied the husband.
+
+"And you think we can do so?"
+
+"We have two advantages--possession and a written contract
+guaranteeing the possession."
+
+"True."
+
+"These on our side, I think we have little to fear from Jasper. The
+great trial will come afterward."
+
+To this conclusion, that is, to retain Fanny until her twelfth year,
+if possible--they came, after once more carefully reviewing the whole
+subject; and, resting here, they patiently awaited the result.
+
+With what a new interest was the child regarded from this time! How
+the hearts of Claire and his wife melted toward her on all occasions!
+She seemed to grow, daily, more and more into their affections;
+and, what to them appeared strange--it might only have been
+imagination--manifested a more clinging tenderness, as if conscious of
+the real truth.
+
+Weeks elapsed and nothing further was heard from Jasper. Claire and
+his wife began to hope that he would make no attempt to separate Fanny
+from them; at least not until her twelfth year. Let us turn to him,
+and see what he is doing, or proposing to do, in the case.
+
+Two or three days subsequent to the time when Claire received the
+notification from Jasper, just referred to, two men sat, in close
+conference, in the office of an attorney noted for his legal
+intelligence, but more noted for his entire want of principle. For
+a good fee, he would undertake any case, and gain for his client, if
+possible, no matter how great the wrong that was done. His name was
+Grind. The two men here introduced, were this lawyer and Jasper.
+
+"Do you really think," said the latter, "that, in the face of my
+guardianship, he can retain possession of the child?"
+
+"He has, you say, a copy of this contract?" Grind held a sheet of
+paper in his hand.
+
+"Yes. To think that I was such a fool as to bind myself in this way!
+But I did not dream, for a moment, that things were going to turn up
+as they have."
+
+"It is a contract that binds you both," said the lawyer, "and I do not
+see that you can go round it."
+
+"I must go round it!" replied Jasper, warmly. "You know all the quirks
+and windings of the law, and I look to you for help in this matter.
+The possession of that child, is, to me, a thing of the first
+importance."
+
+"After two years she will come into your hands without trouble, Mr.
+Jasper. Why not wait?"
+
+"Wait! I will not hear the word. No! no! I must have her now."
+
+"The law will not give her to you, Mr. Jasper," returned Grind, with
+the utmost self-possession. "The contract is clearly expressed; and it
+is binding."
+
+"Is there no way to accomplish my end?" said Jasper, impatiently.
+"There must be. I cannot be foiled in this matter. Even pride would
+forbid this. But, there are stronger motives than pride at work now."
+
+"Can you allege ill-treatment against the young man or his wife? Or
+neglect of your ward's comfort? Have they failed to do their duty by
+her in any respect?"
+
+"I should not wonder; but, unfortunately, I can prove nothing."
+
+"You might call for an investigation."
+
+"And if every thing was proved right on their part?"
+
+"The court would, most probably, return the child to their care. I
+am ready to take all necessary steps for you; but, Mr. Jasper, I very
+strongly incline to the opinion that the least noise you make in this
+matter, the better. Couldn't you--for a consideration in money, for
+instance--overcome the reluctance of Claire and his wife to part with
+the child? Honey, you know, catches more flies than vinegar."
+
+"Buy him off, you mean?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No--no! I hate him too cordially for that. He's a villain in
+disguise; that's my opinion of him. A low, canting hypocrite. Buy him
+off for money. Oh no!"
+
+"Could he be bought?" asked the lawyer.
+
+"Could he?" A flush of surprise lit up, for a moment, the face of
+Jasper. "What a question for _you_ to ask. Hasn't every man his price?
+Bought! Yes, I could buy him fifty times over."
+
+"Then do so, and in the quietest manner. That is my advice."
+
+"I'll steal the child!" exclaimed Jasper, rising up in his excitement,
+and moving uneasily about the room.
+
+Grind shook his head, as he replied--
+
+"All folly. No man ever did a wise thing while he was in a passion.
+You must permit yourself to cool down a great many degrees before you
+can act judiciously in this matter."
+
+"But to be thwarted by him!" An expression of the deepest disgust was
+in the face of Jasper.
+
+"All very annoying, of course," was the response of Grind. "Still,
+where we can't make things bend exactly to our wishes, it is generally
+the wisest policy to bend a little ourselves. We often, in this way,
+gain a purchase that enables us to bring all over to our side."
+
+It must not be supposed that Grind, in giving his client advice
+that was to prevent an appeal to law, did so from any unselfish
+friendliness. Nothing of the kind. He saw a great deal to gain,
+beyond; and, in his advice, regarded his own interests quite as much
+as he did those of Jasper. He was not, however, at this interview,
+able to induce the merchant to attempt to settle the matter with
+Claire by compromise. The most he could do was to get him to promise,
+that, for the present, he would make no effort to get the person of
+the child into his possession.
+
+Jasper, when he left his lawyer, was less satisfied with him than
+he had ever been. In previous cases, he had found Grind ready to
+prosecute or defend, and to promise him the fullest success--though
+success did not always come.
+
+Several more consultations were held during the succeeding two or
+three weeks, and, finally, Jasper was brought over fully to his
+lawyer's way of thinking.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The minds of Claire and his wife were yet in a state of suspense,
+when, some weeks after the first interview, the former received a
+politely worded note from Jasper, requesting him to call at his store.
+He went, accordingly, and Jasper received him with marked suavity
+and kindness of manner, and, after making a few inquiries about his
+family, said--
+
+"Edward: I believe I must confess to having been a little over-excited
+at our last interview. The fact is, I had forgotten all about that
+contract; and when you brought it to my mind so abruptly, I was thrown
+somewhat off of my guard, and said things for which I have since felt
+regret. So let what is past go. I now wish to have another talk with
+you about Fanny Elder. How is the child?"
+
+"She is very well."
+
+"And she has grown, I presume, finely?"
+
+"Yes. She's now quite a stout girl."
+
+"What kind of a child is she? Docile and obedient?"
+
+"None could be more so. A sweeter disposition I have never seen."
+
+"How are you getting on now, Edward?" Mr. Jasper's voice was kind and
+insinuating.
+
+"Comfortably," was answered.
+
+"What is your salary?"
+
+There was a momentary hesitation on the part of Claire, and then he
+replied--
+
+"Five hundred dollars."
+
+"Is that all? I was under the impression that you received a thousand.
+I am very certain that some one told me so. Too little, Edward--too
+little. You are worth more than that to any one. Are you acquainted at
+Edgar & Co.'s?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I wish you were. One of their young men is going to leave, and
+they will have to fill his place immediately. The salary is twelve
+hundred."
+
+Claire's heart gave a quick bound.
+
+"Shall I speak to Edgar for you?" added the merchant.
+
+"If you will do so, Mr. Jasper," said Edward, with a sudden
+earnestness of manner, "I shall be greatly indebted to you. I find it
+a little difficult to get along on five hundred dollars a year."
+
+"How much family have you now?"
+
+"Three children."
+
+"Indeed. Oh yes, you should have a higher salary. I know you would
+just suit Edgar & Co., and I think the place may be secured for you."
+
+A few moments of silence followed, and then Jasper resumed--
+
+"But, as just said, I wish to talk with you about this ward of mine.
+Your salary is so light that you, no doubt, find the income received
+through her quite a help to you?"
+
+"No--no," replied Claire; "it costs for her boarding, clothes,
+schooling, etc., quite as much as we receive."
+
+"It does?" Jasper manifested some surprise.
+
+"Oh yes. We have no wish to make any profit out of her."
+
+"That being the case, Edward," said the merchant, "why are you so
+reluctant to give her up?"
+
+"Because," was the reply, "both myself and wife have become strongly
+attached to her. In fact, she seems like one of our own children."
+
+"When she is twelve, you know," Edward, returned Jasper, "you will
+have to resign her. Our agreement only extends to that time." He spoke
+in a mild, insinuating, friendly tone of voice. So much so, in fact,
+that Claire, well as he knew him, was partially deceived and thrown
+off of his guard.
+
+"True; unless you have seen reason by that time, which we hope will
+be the case, to let her remain in her present home. Believe me, Mr.
+Jasper,"--Claire spoke earnestly--"that Fanny will take the parting
+very hard, if ever it comes."
+
+"As come it must, Edward, sooner or later," was the mild, yet firm
+response.
+
+"Are you so earnest about this, Mr. Jasper? I have flattered myself
+that you did not really care a great deal about having Fanny."
+
+"I am entirely in earnest, Edward," was the reply. "I may have seemed
+to you indifferent about this child, but such has not been the case.
+I have feelings and purposes in regard to her which I cannot explain,
+but which are near my heart. I see your position and that of your
+wife, and I feel for you. If compatible with what I conceive to be
+my duty, I would let her remain under your care. But such is not the
+case. Surely, it will be far better for both you and Fanny for the
+change that must come to be made now."
+
+The calm, kind, insinuating manner of Jasper disarmed Claire, and made
+him wish that he could meet the desire of his old employer, without
+the painful breach in his home circle which must be the consequence.
+With his eyes cast upon the floor, he sat silently communing with his
+own thoughts for some time. The announcement of a vacancy in the house
+of Edgar & Co., and the offer to try and get the situation for
+him, had flattered his mind considerably. If he did not make some
+compromise in the present case, he could count nothing on the
+influence of Jasper. But, how could he compromise? There was but one
+way--to give up Fanny--and that he was not prepared to do.
+
+Seeing that the young man remained silent, Jasper said--
+
+"Edward, I will make you this very liberal offer. Understand, now,
+that I am deeply in earnest--that the possession of Fanny is a thing
+of great moment to me; and that to gain this desired object, I
+am prepared to go very far. If you will meet me in a spirit of
+compromise, I will become as I was some years ago, your friend; and I
+have the ability to aid any one materially. As just said, I will make
+you this liberal offer:--Let me have the child now, and for the next
+two years I will pay you the same that you have been receiving for her
+maintenance."
+
+Claire lifted his head quickly. There was already a flush on his
+cheeks and a sharp light in his eyes.
+
+"Stay--one moment," interrupted Jasper, who saw by the motion of his
+lips that he was about replying. "I will pay you the whole sum, six
+hundred dollars, in advance, and, in addition thereto, pledge myself
+to procure for you, within three mouths, a situation worth a thousand
+dollars per annum, at least."
+
+This was too broad an attempt to buy over the young man, and it
+failed. Starting to his feet, with a feeling of indignation in his
+heart so strong that he could not repress it, he answered, with knit
+brows and eyes fixed sternly and steadily on the merchant--"Leonard
+Jasper! I thought you knew me better! I am not to be bought with your
+money."
+
+As sudden was the change that passed over the merchant. He, too,
+sprang to his feet, and conscious that his offer of bribery, which he
+had humiliated himself to make, had failed, with clenched hand and set
+teeth, he fairly hissed out--
+
+"You'll rue this day and hour, Edward Claire--rue it even to the
+moment of death! I will never forget nor forgive the wrong and insult.
+Don't think to escape me--don't think to foil me. The child is mine by
+right, and I will have her, come what will."
+
+Feeling how useless it would be to multiply words, Claire turned away
+and left the store. He did not go home immediately, as he had thought
+of doing, in order to relieve the suspense of his wife, who was, he
+knew, very anxious to learn for what purpose Jasper had sent for him;
+but went to his place of business and laid the whole substance of his
+interview before his fast friend, Mr. Melleville, whose first response
+was one of indignation at the offer made by Jasper to buy him over to
+his wishes with money. He then said--
+
+"There is something wrong here, depend upon it. Was there much
+property left by the child's parents?"
+
+"Two houses in the city."
+
+"Was that all?"
+
+"All, I believe, of any value. There was a tract of land somewhere in
+the State, taken for debt; but it was considered of little account."
+
+"Regard for the child has nothing to do with this movement," remarked
+Mr. Melleville. "The character of Jasper precludes the supposition."
+
+"Entirely. What can it mean? The thing comes on me so suddenly that I
+am bewildered."
+
+Claire was distressed.
+
+"You are still firm in your purpose to keep Fanny until she is twelve
+years old?"
+
+"As firm as ever, Mr. Melleville. I love the child too well to give
+her up. If a higher good to her were to be secured, then I might
+yield--then it would be my duty to yield. But, now, every just and
+humane consideration calls on me to abide by my purpose--and there I
+will abide."
+
+"In my mind you are fully justified," was the reply of Mr. Melleville.
+"Keep me fully advised of every thing that occurs, and I will aid you
+as far as lies in my power. To-day I will call upon Edgar & Co., and
+do what I can toward securing for you the place said by Jasper to be
+vacant. I presume that I have quite as much influence in this quarter
+as he has."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Scarcely had Edward Claire left the store of Jasper, ere the latter
+went out hurriedly, and took his way to the office of Grind, the
+lawyer, to whom he said, as he entered--
+
+"It's just as I feared. The miserable wretch proved as intractable as
+iron." Jasper was not only strongly excited, but showed, in his voice
+and manner, that he had suffered no ordinary disappointment.
+
+"Couldn't you buy him over?" There was a mixture of surprise and
+incredulity in the lawyer's tones.
+
+"No," was the emphatic response.
+
+"That's strange! He's poor?"
+
+"He gets five hundred a year, and has a wife and three children to
+support."
+
+"Why didn't you tempt him with the offer to get him a place worth a
+thousand?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"With what effect?"
+
+"He wouldn't give up the child."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"Isn't it too bad, that a mean-souled fellow like him should stand in
+our way at such a point of time? I could spurn him with my foot! Hah!"
+
+And Jasper clenched his teeth and scowled malignantly.
+
+"I am disappointed, I confess", said Grind. "But angry excitement
+never helped a cause, good or bad. We must have possession of this
+child somehow. Martin came down from Reading this morning. I saw him
+but an hour ago."
+
+"Indeed! What does he say?"
+
+"The indications of coal are abundant. He made very careful
+examinations at a great number of points. In several places he found
+it cropping out freely; and the quality, as far as he was able to
+judge, is remarkably good."
+
+"Will he keep our secret?" said Jasper.
+
+"It is his interest to do so."
+
+"We must make it his interest, in any event. No time is now to be
+lost."
+
+"I agree with you there. A single week's delay may ruin every thing.
+The coal is our discovery, and we are, in all equity, entitled to the
+benefit."
+
+"Of course we are. It's a matter of speculation, at best; the lucky
+win. If we can get an order for the sale, we shall win handsomely.
+But, without producing the child, it will be next to impossible to get
+the order. So we must have her, by fair means or by foul."
+
+"We must," said the lawyer, compressing his lips firmly.
+
+"And have her now."
+
+"Now," responded Grind.
+
+Jasper rose to his feet.
+
+"It's easy enough to say what we must have," remarked Grind, "but the
+means of gaining our ends are not always at hand. What do you propose
+doing?"
+
+"I shall get the child."
+
+"Don't act too precipitately. Violence will excite suspicion, and
+suspicion is a wonderful questioner."
+
+"We must play a desperate game, as things now are, or not play at
+all," said Jasper.
+
+"True; but the more desperate the game, the more need of coolness,
+forethought, and circumspection. Don't forget this. How do you mean to
+proceed?"
+
+"That is yet to be determined."
+
+"Will you make another effort to influence Claire?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you regard him as altogether impracticable?"
+
+"No influence that I can bring would move him."
+
+"You will, then, resort to stratagem or force?"
+
+"One or the other--perhaps both. The child we must have."
+
+"Let me beg of you, Jasper, to be prudent. There is a great deal at
+stake."
+
+"I know there is; and the risk increases with every moment of delay."
+
+Grind showed a marked degree of anxiety.
+
+"If the child were in our possession now," said Jasper, "or, which is
+the same, could be produced when wanted, how soon might an order for
+the sale be procured?"
+
+"In two or three weeks, I think," replied the lawyer.
+
+"Certain preliminary steps are necessary?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"If these were entered upon forthwith, how soon would the child be
+wanted?"
+
+"In about ten days."
+
+"Very well. Begin the work at once. When the child is needed, I will
+see that she is forthcoming. Trust me for that. I never was foiled
+yet in any thing that I set about accomplishing, and I will not suffer
+myself to be foiled here."
+
+With this understanding, Jasper and the lawyer parted.
+
+A week or more passed, during which time Claire heard nothing from
+the guardian of Fanny; and both he and his wife began to hope that no
+further attempt to get her into his possession would be made, until
+the child had reached her twelfth year.
+
+It was in the summer-time, and Mrs. Claire sat, late in the afternoon
+of a pleasant day, at one of the front-windows of her dwelling,
+holding her youngest child in her arms.
+
+"The children are late in coming home from school," said she, speaking
+aloud her thought. "I wonder what keeps them!"
+
+And she leaned out of the window, and looked for some time earnestly
+down the street.
+
+But the children were not in sight. For some five or ten minutes Mrs.
+Claire played with and talked to the child in her arms; then she bent
+from the window again, gazing first up and then down the street.
+
+"That's Edie, as I live!" she exclaimed. "But where is Fanny?"
+
+As she uttered this inquiry, a sudden fear fell like a heavy weight on
+her heart. Retiring from the window, she hastened to the door, where,
+by this time, a lady stood holding little Edie by the hand. The
+child's eyes were red with weeping.
+
+"Is this your little girl?" asked the lady.
+
+"Oh, mamma! mamma!" cried Edie, bursting into tears, as she sprang to
+her mother's side and hid her face in her garments.
+
+"Where did you find her, ma'am? Was she lost?" asked Mrs. Claire,
+looking surprised as well as alarmed. "Won't you walk in, ma'am?" she
+added, before there was time for a reply.
+
+The lady entered, on this invitation, and when seated in Mrs. Claire's
+little parlour, related that while walking through Washington Square,
+she noticed the child she had brought home, crying bitterly. On asking
+her as to the cause of her distress, she said that she wanted Fanny:
+and then ran away to some distance along the walks, searching for her
+lost companion. The lady's interest being excited, she followed and
+persuaded the child to tell her where she lived. After remaining some
+time longer in the square, vainly searching for Fanny, she was induced
+to let the lady take her home. After hearing this relation, Mrs.
+Claire said to Edith, in as calm a voice as she could assume, in order
+that the child might think without the confusion of mind consequent
+upon excitement--
+
+"Where is Fanny, dear?"
+
+"She went with the lady to buy some candies," replied the child.
+
+"What lady?" asked the mother.
+
+"The lady who took us to the square."
+
+"The lady who took you to the square?" said the mother, repeating the
+child's words from the very surprise they occasioned.
+
+"Yes, mamma," was the simple response.
+
+"What lady was it?"
+
+"I don't know. She met us as we were coming home from school, and
+asked us to go down and walk in the square. She knew Fanny."
+
+"How do you know, dear?" disked Mrs. Claire.
+
+"Oh, she called her Fanny; and said what a nice big girl she was
+growing to be."
+
+"And so you went down to the square with her?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+"And what then?"
+
+"We walked about there for a little while, and then the lady told me
+to wait while she took Fanny to the candy-store to buy some candy. I
+waited, and waited ever so long; but she didn't come back; and then I
+cried."
+
+The meaning of all this, poor Mrs. Claire understood but too well.
+With what a shock it fell upon her. She asked no further question.
+What need was there? Edie's artless story made every thing clear.
+Fanny had been enticed away by some one employed by Jasper, and was
+now in his possession! With pale face and quivering lips, she sat
+bending over Edie, silent for several moments. Then recollecting
+herself, she said to the lady---
+
+"I thank you, ma'am, most sincerely, for the trouble you have taken in
+bringing home my little girl. This is a most distressing affair. The
+other child has, evidently, been enticed away."
+
+"You will take immediate steps for her recovery," said the lady.
+
+"Oh, yes. I expect my husband home, now, every moment."
+
+While she was yet speaking, Claire came in. Seeing the white face of
+his wife, he exclaimed--
+
+"Mercy, Edith! What has happened?"
+
+Edith could only murmur the word "Fanny," as she started forward, and
+buried her face, sobbing, on his bosom.
+
+"Fanny! What of her? Oh, Edith! speak!"
+
+The agitation of the wife was, for the time, too overpowering to admit
+of words, and so Claire turned to the lady and said, hurriedly--
+
+"Will you tell me, madam, what has happened?"
+
+"It appears, sir," she replied, "that a strange lady enticed the
+children to Washington Square, on their way from school"--
+
+"And then carried off our dear, dear Fanny!" sobbed out Edith.
+
+"Carried off Fanny!" exclaimed Claire.
+
+"This lady," said Edith, growing calmer, "found our little Edie
+crying, in the square, and brought her home. Edie says the lady took
+them down there, and then told her to wait until she went with Fanny
+to buy some candies. They went, but did not return."
+
+The meaning of all this was quite as clear to the mind of Edward
+Claire as it was to his wife. He understood, likewise, that this was
+the work of Jasper, and that Fanny was now in his possession. What was
+to be done?
+
+"Our first step," said Claire, after the stranger had retired, "must
+be to ascertain, if possible, whether what we believe to be true in
+regard to Fanny is really true. We must know certainly, whether she be
+really in the hands of Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Where else can she be?" asked Edith, a new fear throwing its quick
+flash into her face.
+
+"We, naturally," replied her husband, "take it for granted that Mr.
+Jasper has put his threat into execution. There is a bare possibility
+that such is not the case; and we must not rest until we have, on this
+point, the most absolute certainty."
+
+"For what other purpose could she have been enticed away?" said Mrs.
+Claire, her face again blanching to a deadly paleness.
+
+"We know nothing certain, Edith; and while this is the case, we cannot
+but feel a double anxiety. But, I must not linger here. Be as calm as
+possible, my dear wife, in this painful trial. I will go at once to
+Mr. Jasper, and learn from him whether he has the child."
+
+"Go quickly, Edward," said Edith. "Oh! it will be such a relief to
+have a certainty; to know even that she is in his hands."
+
+Without further remark, Claire left his house and hurried off to the
+store of Jasper. The merchant was not there. From one of his clerks he
+learned his present residence, which happened not to be far distant.
+Thither he went, and, on asking to see him, was told by the servant
+that he was not at home. He then inquired for Mrs. Jasper, who, on
+being summoned, met him in one of the parlours. The manner of Claire
+was very much agitated, and he said, with an abruptness that evidently
+disconcerted the lady--
+
+"Good evening, madam! My name is Claire. You remember me, of course?"
+
+The lady bowed coldly, and with a frown on her brow.
+
+"Is little Fanny Elder here?" was asked, and with even greater
+abruptness.
+
+"Fanny Elder? No! Why do you ask that question?"
+
+There was something so positive in the denial of Mrs. Jasper, that
+Claire felt her words as truth.
+
+"Not here?" said he, catching his breath in a gasping manner. "Not
+here?"
+
+"I said that she was not here," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, where then is she, madam?" exclaimed the young man, evincing
+great distress.
+
+"How should I know? Is she not in your possession? What is the meaning
+of this, Mr. Claire?"
+
+The lady spoke sternly, and with the air of one both offended and
+irritated.
+
+"Somebody enticed her away, on her return from school this afternoon,"
+said Claire. "Mr. Jasper said that he would have her; and my first and
+natural conclusion was that he had executed his threat. Oh, ma'am, if
+this be so, tell me, that my anxiety for the child's safety may have
+rest. As it is, I am in the most painful uncertainty. If she is here,
+I will feel, at least"--
+
+"Have I not told you that she is not here, and that I know nothing of
+her," said Mrs. Jasper, angrily, interrupting the young man. "This is
+insolent."
+
+"How soon do you expect Mr. Jasper home?" inquired Claire.
+
+"Not for several days," replied Mrs. Jasper.
+
+"Days! Is he not in the city?"
+
+"No, sir. He left town yesterday."
+
+Claire struck his hands together in disappointment and grief. This
+confirmed to him the lady's assertion that she knew nothing of Fanny.
+In that assertion she had uttered the truth.
+
+Sadly disappointed, and in far deeper distress of mind than when he
+entered the house, Edward Claire retired. If Mr. Jasper left the city
+on the day previous, and his wife had, as he could not help believing,
+no knowledge whatever of Fanny, then the more distressing inference
+was that she had been enticed away by some stranger.
+
+On his way home, Claire called again at the store of Jasper. It
+occurred to him to ask there as to his absence from the city. The
+reply he received was in agreement with Mrs. Jasper's assertion. He
+had left town on the previous day.
+
+"Where has he gone?" he inquired.
+
+"To Reading, I believe," was the answer.
+
+"Will he return soon?"
+
+"Not for several days, I believe."
+
+With a heavy heart, Claire bent his way homeward. He cherished a
+faint hope that Fanny might have returned. The hope was vain. Here he
+lingered but a short time. His next step was to give information
+to the police, and to furnish for all the morning papers an
+advertisement, detailing the circumstances attendant on the child's
+abduction. This done, he again returned home, to console, the best
+he could, his afflicted wife, and to wait the developments of the
+succeeding day.
+
+Utterly fruitless were all the means used by Claire to gain
+intelligence of the missing child. Two days went by, yet not the
+least clue to the mystery of her absence had been found. There was
+no response to the newspaper advertisements; and the police confessed
+themselves entirely at fault.
+
+Exhausted by sleepless anxiety, broken in spirit by this distressing
+affliction, and almost despairing in regard to the absent one, Mr. and
+Mrs. Claire were seated alone, about an hour after dark on the evening
+of the third day, when the noise of rumbling wheels ceased before
+their door. Each bent an ear, involuntarily, to listen, and each
+started with an exclamation, as the bell rang with a sudden jerk.
+Almost simultaneously, the noise of wheels was again heard, and a
+carriage rolled rapidly away. Two or three quick bounds brought Claire
+to the door, which he threw open.
+
+"Fanny!" he instantly exclaimed; and in the next moment the child was
+in his arms, clinging to him, and weeping for joy at her return.
+
+With a wonderful calmness, Mrs. Claire received Fanny from her
+husband, murmuring as she did so, in a subdued, yet deeply gratified
+voice--
+
+"O, God! I thank thee!"
+
+But this calmness in a little while gave way, and her overstrained,
+but now joyful feelings, poured themselves forth in tears.
+
+Poor child! She too had suffered during these three
+never-to-be-forgotten days, and the marks of that suffering were sadly
+visible in her pale, grief-touched countenance.
+
+To the earnest inquiries of her foster-parents, Fanny could give no
+very satisfactory answer. She had no sooner left the square with the
+lady mentioned by little Edith, than she was hurried into a carriage,
+and driven off to the cars, where a man met them. This man, she said,
+spoke kindly to her, showed her his watch, and told her if she would
+be a good girl and not cry, he would take her home again. In the cars,
+they rode for a long time, until it grew dark; and still she said the
+cars kept going. After a while she fell asleep, and when she awoke it
+was morning, and she was lying on a bed. The same lady was with her,
+and, speaking kindly, told her not to be frightened--that nobody would
+hurt her, and that she should go home in a day or two.
+
+"But I did nothing but cry," said the child, in her own simple way,
+as she related her story. "Then the lady scolded me, until I was
+frightened, and tried to keep back the tears all I could. But they
+would run down my cheeks. A good while after breakfast," continued
+Fanny, "the man who had met us at the cars came in with another man.
+They talked with the lady for a good while, looking at me as they
+spoke. Then they all came around me, and one of the men said--
+
+"'Don't be frightened, my little dear. No one will do you any harm;
+and if you will be a right good girl, and do just as we want you to
+do, you shall go home to-morrow.'
+
+"I tried not to cry, but the tears came running down my face. Then the
+other man said sharply--
+
+"'Come now, my little lady, we can't have any more of this! If you
+wish to go home again tomorrow, dry your tears at once. There! there!
+Hush all them sobs. No one is going to do you any harm.'
+
+"I was so frightened at the way the man looked and talked, that I
+stopped crying at once.
+
+"'There!' said he, 'that is something like. Now,' speaking to the lady,
+'put on her things. It is time she was there.'
+
+"I was more frightened at this, and the men saw it; so one of them
+told me not to be alarmed, that they were only going to show me a
+large, handsome house, and would then bring me right back; and that in
+the morning, if I would go with them now, and be a good girl, I should
+go home again.
+
+"So I went with them, and tried my best not to cry. They brought me
+into a large house, and there were a good many men inside. The men all
+looked at me, and I was so frightened! Then they talked together, and
+one of them kept pointing toward me. At last I was taken back to
+the house, where I stayed all day and all night with the lady. This
+morning we got into the cars, and came back to the city. The lady took
+me to a large house in Walnut street, where I stayed until after dark,
+and then she brought me home in a carriage."
+
+Such was the child's story; and greatly puzzled were Claire and his
+wife to comprehend its meaning. Their joy at her return was intense.
+She seemed almost as if restored to them from the dead. But, for what
+purpose had she been carried off; and who were the parties engaged in
+the act? These were questions of the deepest moment; yet difficult,
+if not impossible of solution--at least in the present. That Jasper's
+absence from the city was in some way connected with this business,
+Claire felt certain, the more he reflected thereon. But, that Fanny
+should be returned to him so speedily, if Jasper had been concerned
+in her temporary abduction, was something that he could not clearly
+understand. And it was a long time ere the mystery was entirely
+unravelled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+From that time Claire and his wife heard no more from Jasper, who
+regularly paid the sums quarterly demanded for Fanny's maintenance.
+This demand was not now made in person by Claire. He sent a written
+order, which the guardian never failed to honour on the first
+presentation.
+
+Mr. Melleville, according to promise, called upon the firm of Edgar
+& Co., in order to speak a good word for Edward; but learned, not a
+little to his surprise, that no vacancy was anticipated in the house.
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said he, "told one of my young men that a clerk had
+left, or was about leaving you."
+
+"It's a mistake," was the positive answer. "He may have meant some
+other firm."
+
+"All a wicked deception on the part of Jasper," said Melleville to
+himself, as he left the store. "A lie told with sinister purpose. How
+given over to all baseness is the man!"
+
+Claire was no little disappointed when this was told him; but his
+answer showed how he was gaining in just views of life; and how he
+could lean on right principles and find in them a firm support.
+
+"I would rather," said he, "be the deceived than the deceiver. The one
+most wronged in this is Leonard Jasper. Ah! is he not preparing for
+himself a sad future? As for me, I am more and more satisfied, every
+day, that all events, even to the most minute, are in the direction or
+permission of Providence; and that out of the very occurrences we deem
+afflictive and disastrous, will often arise our greatest good. For the
+moment I was disappointed; but now I feel that it is all right."
+
+No change of marked importance occurred in the family of Claire during
+the next two years, to the close of which period both he and his wife
+looked with increasing earnestness of mind. Fanny had grown rapidly
+during this time, and was now tall for her age--and still very
+beautiful. In character she was every thing the fondest parents could
+desire.
+
+At last came the child's twelfth birthday. Neither Clare nor his
+wife referred to the fact; though it was present to both their
+minds--present like an evil guest. Must they now give her up? Their
+hearts shrank and trembled at the bare idea. How plainly each read in
+the other's face the trouble which only the lips concealed!
+
+Never had Fanny looked so lovely in the eyes of Claire as she did on
+that morning, when she bounded to his side and claimed a parting kiss,
+ere he left for his daily round of business. Could he give her up? The
+thought choked in their utterance the words of love that were on his
+lips, and he turned from her and left the house.
+
+As Claire, on his way to Mr. Melleville's store, came into the more
+business portions of the city, his thoughts on the child who was
+soon to be resigned, according to the tenor of his contract with her
+guardian, he was suddenly startled by seeing Jasper a short distance
+ahead, approaching from the direction in which he was going.
+Happening, at the moment, to be near a cross street, he turned off
+suddenly, in obedience to an instinct rather than a purpose, and
+avoided a meeting by going out of his way.
+
+"How vain," he sighed to himself, as the throbbing of his heart grew
+less heavy and his thoughts ran clear. "I cannot so avoid this evil.
+It will most surely find me out. Dear, dear child! How shall we ever
+bear the parting!"
+
+All day long Claire was in momentary dread of a visit or a
+communication from Jasper. But none came. A like anxiety had been
+suffered by his wife, and it showed itself in the pallor of her
+cheeks, and the heavy, almost tearful, drooping of her eyelids.
+
+The next day and the next passed, and yet nothing was heard from the
+guardian. Now, the true guardians of the child began to breathe more
+freely. A week elapsed, and all remained as before. Another week was
+added; another and another. A month had gone by. And yet the days of
+a succeeding month came and went, the child still remaining in her old
+home.
+
+Up to this time but brief allusions had been made by either Claire
+or his wife to the subject first in their thoughts. They avoided it,
+because each felt that the other would confirm, rather than allay,
+fears already too well defined.
+
+"It is strange," said Claire, as he sat alone with his wife one
+evening, some three months subsequent to the twelfth birthday of
+Fanny, "that we have heard nothing yet from Mr. Jasper."
+
+Edith looked up quickly, and with a glance of inquiry, into his face;
+but made no answer.
+
+"I've turned it over in my mind a great deal," resumed Claire,
+thoughtfully; "but with little or no satisfactory result. Once I
+thought I would call on him"--
+
+"Oh, no, no! not for the world!" instantly exclaimed Edith.
+
+"I see, with you, dear, that such a step would be imprudent. And, yet,
+this suspense--how painful it is!"
+
+"Painful, it is true, Edward; yet, how in every way to be preferred to
+the certainty we so much dread."
+
+"O yes--yes. I agree with you there." Then, after a pause, he said,
+"It is now three months since the time expired for which we agreed to
+keep Fanny."
+
+"I know," was the sighing response.
+
+They both remained silent, each waiting for the other to speak. The
+same thought was in the mind of each. Excited by the close pressure of
+want upon their income, Edward was first to give it voice.
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said he, touching the subject at first remotely, "may
+have forgotten, in the pressure of business on his attention, the fact
+that Fanny is now twelve years old."
+
+"So I have thought," replied Edith.
+
+"If I send, as usual, for the sum heretofore regularly paid for her
+maintenance, it may bring this fact to his mind."
+
+"I have feared as much," was the low, half-tremulous response.
+
+"And yet, if I do not send, the very omission may excite a question,
+and produce the consequences we fear."
+
+"True, Edward. All that has passed through my mind over and over
+again."
+
+"What had we better do?"
+
+"Ah!" sighed Edith, "if we only knew that."
+
+"Shall I send the order, as usual?"
+
+Edith shook her head, saying--
+
+"I'm afraid."
+
+"And I hesitate with the same fear."
+
+"And yet, Edith," said Claire, who, as the provider for the family,
+pondered more anxiously the question of ways and means, "what are we
+to do? Our income, with Fanny's board added, is but just sufficient.
+Take away three hundred dollars a year, and where will we stand? The
+thought presses like a leaden weight on my feelings. Debt, or severe
+privation, is inevitable. If, with eight hundred dollars, we only
+come out even at the end of each year, what will be the result if our
+income is suddenly reduced to five hundred?"
+
+"Let us do what is right, Edward," said his wife, laying her hand upon
+his arm, and looking into his face in her earnest, peculiar way. Her
+voice, though it slightly trembled, had in it a tone of confidence,
+which, with the words she had spoken, gave to the wavering heart of
+Claire an instant feeling of strength.
+
+"But what is right, Edith?" he asked.
+
+"We know not now," was her reply, "but, if we earnestly desire to do
+right, true perceptions will be given."
+
+"A beautiful faith; but oh, how hard to realize!"
+
+"No, Edward, not so very hard. We have never found it so: have we?"
+
+Love and holy confidence were in her eyes.
+
+"We have had some dark seasons, Edith," said Claire sadly.
+
+"But, through darkest clouds has come the sunbeam. Our feet have
+not wandered for want of light. Look back for a moment. How dark
+all seemed when the question of leaving Jasper's service came up for
+decision. And yet how clear a light shone when the time for action
+came. Have you ever regretted what was then done, Edward?"
+
+"Not in a sane moment," replied the young man. "O no, no, Edith!"
+speaking more earnestly; "that, with one exception, was the most
+important act of my life."
+
+"With one exception?" Edith spoke in a tone of inquiry.
+
+"Yes." Claire's voice was very tender, and touched with a slight
+unsteadiness. "The _most_ important act of my life was"--
+
+He paused and gazed lovingly into the face of his wife. She, now
+comprehending him, laid, with a pure thrill of joy pervading her
+bosom, her cheek to his--and thus, for the space of nearly a minute,
+they sat motionless.
+
+"May God bless you, Edith!" said Claire at length, fervently, lifting
+his head as he spoke. "You are the good angel sent to go with me
+through life. Ah! but for you, how far from the true path might my
+feet have strayed! And now," he added, more calmly, "we will look at
+the present difficulty steadily, and seek to know the right."
+
+"The right way," said Edith, after she had to some extent repressed
+the glad pulses that leaped to her husband's loving words, "is not
+always the way in which we most desire to walk. Thorns, sometimes, are
+at its entrance. But it grows pleasanter afterward."
+
+"If we can find the right way, Edith, we will walk in it because it is
+the right way."
+
+"And we will surely find it if we seek in this spirit," returned the
+wife.
+
+"What, then, had we best do?" asked Claire, his thought turning
+earnestly to the subject under consideration.
+
+"What will be best for Fanny? That should be our first consideration,"
+said his wife. "Will it be best for her to remain with us, or to go
+into Mr. Jasper's family?"
+
+"That is certainly a grave question," returned Claire, seriously, "and
+must be viewed in many aspects. Mr. Jasper's place in the world is far
+different from mine. He is a wealthy merchant; I am a poor clerk. If
+she goes into his family, she will have advantages not to be found
+with us--advantages of education, society, and position in life. To
+keep her with us will debar her from all these. Taking this view
+of the case, Edith, I don't know that we have any right to keep her
+longer, particularly as Mr. Jasper has signified to us, distinctly,
+his wish, as her guardian, to take her into his own family, and
+superintend her education."
+
+Edith bent her head, thoughtfully, for some moments. She then said--
+
+"Do you believe that Mr. Jasper gave the true reason for wishing to
+have Fanny?"
+
+"That he might superintend her education?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No, Edith, I do not. I believe a selfish motive alone influenced
+him."
+
+"You have good reasons for so thinking?"
+
+"The best of reasons. I need not repeat them; they are as familiar to
+you as they are to me."
+
+"Do you believe that, under his superintendence, she will receive a
+better education than under ours?"
+
+"She will, undoubtedly, Edith, if remaining with us she fails to bring
+the means of education. We are poor, Edith, and the claims of our
+own children--bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh--must not be
+forgotten."
+
+A quick change passed over Edith. Her countenance became troubled. The
+difficulties in the way of retaining the child were suddenly magnified
+to her thoughts. Ah! how painfully did she feel that often the first
+steps in the way of duty are among thorns.
+
+"Can we be just to Fanny and just also to our own children?" asked
+Claire.
+
+"If we still received the old sum for her maintenance, we could. I
+would not ask its increase to the amount of a single dollar."
+
+"Nor I, Edith. Were we certain of having this continued, there would
+be no doubt."
+
+"There would be none in my mind. As for the higher position in society
+which she would attain, as an inmate of Mr. Jasper's family, that
+might not be to her the greatest good; but prove the most direful
+evil. She could not be guarded there, in her entrance into life, as we
+would guard her. The same love would not surround her as a protecting
+sphere. I tremble at the thought, Edward. How great would be her
+danger! Fourfold would be her temptation, and tenfold her exposure."
+
+"We will keep her," said Claire, firmly, as his wife ceased speaking.
+"She must not be so exposed. God has given her to us; she is our
+child, for we love her as tenderly as if she were of our own blood.
+When her mother was taken, God transferred the love she had borne her
+child into your bosom, and from that time you became her mother. No,
+Edith, we must not let her go forth, in her tender innocence. We love
+her as our own; let us share with her the best we have; let her become
+more really our own than she has yet been."
+
+"If," said Edith, after some moments, "we lose the regular income from
+Mr. Jasper, Fanny will be deprived of most important advantages. Just
+now we are about adding materially to the cost of her education."
+
+"I know," replied Edward. "But if the income is withheld?"
+
+"We have not yet applied for it."
+
+Claire looked, for some moments, steadily into his wife's face.
+
+"You think, then, that we should make the usual application?"
+
+"I have not said so, Edward. My mind is far from clear. Jasper may
+not, now, want the trouble of Fanny. He doubtless had some purpose to
+subserve when he demanded her; a purpose gained, probably, at the time
+of her mysterious removal from the city, which I have always believed
+was through his agency. If you were to send for the money, as usual,
+it is more than probable that he would pay it."
+
+"But, if he should refuse, and demand the child?"
+
+"If his purpose to do this remains, and he has forgotten Fanny's age,
+your omission to send for the money will be more likely to call his
+thought to the subject, than your regular demand for the price of her
+maintenance."
+
+"True."
+
+"And if he still means to have her, the execution of his purpose
+cannot in any event be long delayed."
+
+"No."
+
+"Can _we_ unaided give her the education she is entitled to receive?"
+
+Claire shook his head.
+
+"Then had we not better continue to apply for the sum necessary to
+her support and education. If Mr. Jasper is indifferent about her,
+the money will be paid as usual; if he means to take her into his own
+family, our failure to apply will defer but for a very short season
+the evil day."
+
+Edith's mind had become clear by this time. Her husband not making an
+immediate reply, she added--
+
+"This acting on mere policy, is never, I think, the wisest. Does it
+not clearly involve a distrust in Providence, and a weak reliance
+on mere human prudence? There is a provision for Fanny's support and
+education, and she is justly entitled to all those natural advantages
+which this provision was designed to give. Under Providence, Mr.
+Jasper has been chosen her guardian; and under Providence the personal
+care of the child has fallen to our lot. Thus far we have endeavoured
+to discharge our duty faithfully--thus far we have done as well by the
+child as if she had been our own. Now, if it is best for her to remain
+with us, the same Providence will so dispose of events as to provide
+for her remaining; but if it is best for her to go into the family of
+Mr. Jasper, she will go there. Let us not, therefore, in our practical
+distrust of Providence, seek to hide ourselves from the observation of
+a mere creature."
+
+"I see much in this," said Claire, as soon as his wife had ceased
+speaking. "Man proposes; God disposes. With Him are all our ways. Out
+of the evil designs and selfish purposes of men, He is ever bringing
+forth good."
+
+"Then let us not fear to trust him. As we have been doing, let us
+continue to do, confidently believing that He will overrule all for
+good. To our present sight, it seems, that, unless we receive, as
+heretofore, a sum of money for Fanny's support and education, we
+cannot do for her what is right. This, at least, is my view."
+
+"And it is mine," replied the husband.
+
+"Then let us act from the light we have. None can do better than
+this."
+
+And so it was determined to send an order to Jasper, as usual.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+On the next day, a fellow-clerk, who had always performed this
+little service for Claire, took the order to Jasper. With a nervous
+impatience that he found it impossible to repress, Claire awaited his
+return. On his appearance, he said, with ill-concealed anxiety--
+
+"Did he pay the order?"
+
+The young man shook his head.
+
+"What! Didn't pay it?" Though half-expecting such a result, he was
+none the more prepared for it, nor the less disturbed when it was
+known.
+
+"No; he said that the contract entered into with you for boarding the
+child was at an end three months ago."
+
+"What else did he say?"
+
+"Nothing else."
+
+"Did he send no message to me of any kind?"
+
+"None. When I handed him the order, he pushed it back, and used
+the words I have repeated. I waited a little while for some further
+remark, but he made none."
+
+"Did he seem angry?"
+
+"Not angry; but rather pleased, I should say. There was a heartless
+smile on his face, as if he enjoyed the act of refusal."
+
+Claire made no further remark. For a time he groped about, mentally,
+like one in darkness and lost. It appeared as if there was no escape;
+as if the evil which had long dogged his steps was upon him. But in a
+short time, a ray of light shone in here and there, paths that might
+be walked in safely were dimly perceived--escape seemed possible.
+Still, he was deeply depressed and sorely troubled.
+
+Edith received the intelligence in a calmer spirit than her husband
+had expected.
+
+"The way will be made plain before us," said she. "It is plainer now
+than it was last night--much plainer."
+
+"How can you say that, Edith?"
+
+"Mr. Jasper has refused to pay any thing more to us for Fanny's
+support."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But in the refusal said nothing about our giving her up to him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I gather from this, and the fact that he was aware of her being
+twelve years old, that he does not really want her now in his own
+family, but refuses to pay us for her board and education from a
+feeling of ill-will toward you. His manner to the young man who
+presented the order clearly indicates this."
+
+"You may be right there, Edith," said Claire, a further light breaking
+into his mind. "We have at least done our duty toward Fanny in making
+this demand on her guardian. And now, the question left for us to
+decide may be whether it will be just toward her, and also toward our
+own children, still to keep her in our own family, and let her share,
+with the others, the best that it is in our power to give."
+
+"And will it be hard to make that decision?" said Edith, a slight
+flush coming into her earnest face.
+
+"I think not," was the firm reply.
+
+"Have we loved her less than our own?" asked Edith.
+
+"I believe not."
+
+"Love seeks the highest good for its object."
+
+"Yes--yes."
+
+"Can a stranger love the child as we have loved her?"
+
+Claire shook his head.
+
+"Can a stranger, even with more of what the world gives, yet with less
+of a genuine affection, secure for her, as we may, what should justly
+be regarded as the highest good in life."
+
+"No stranger can ever be to her, Edith, what you have been, and will
+continue to be."
+
+"We must not thrust her out, Edward. We cannot thrust her out. While
+God permits her to remain, let us keep her, assured that He will send
+for her use all things needful."
+
+"Most cheerfully will I prolong my daily toil for her sake," replied
+Claire; "and cheerfully will I make sacrifice of personal comfort.
+Yes, let her remain where she is, so long as, in God's providence, she
+is permitted to remain. If Jasper continues to withhold the price of
+her maintenance, there will be the more left for her when she becomes
+of age; and then, if there are defects in her education, a few years
+of earnest application on her part, will remove them. Even now, we
+could compel him to pay for her a reasonable sum, but in securing
+this, we would assuredly lose the child, for this man's anger would
+burn hot against us."
+
+"I have thought of that," replied Edith. "No, our only plain course,
+for the present, is to look away from Jasper, and regard Fanny as one
+of our own children."
+
+To this conclusion the mind of Claire and his wife came firmly.
+Then the painful agitation they had for some time suffered gradually
+subsided, and they began earnestly to cast about for the ways and
+means whereby so large an extra draft as was likely to be made upon
+their slender income could be met.
+
+Two propositions were made by Edith: one was, that they should make a
+reduction in their expenses, by moving into a smaller house. They now
+paid two hundred dollars annually for rent; and she was sure that, for
+one hundred and fifty, they might suit themselves very well. The other
+proposition was, to give two or three hours every evening, after
+the children were in bed, to fine needle-work, in which she was well
+skilled.
+
+"I could easily earn two dollars a week, in this way," was her
+confident remark.
+
+Claire, who had other plans in his mind, did not speak very
+encouragingly of these propositions, though he avoided disapproval.
+Increased expense demanded an increase of income; and his thoughts
+were all now bent suggestively in that direction. As for Edith, her
+burdens were heavy enough; and her husband, though he did not check
+her generous enthusiasm, by no means acquiesced in the plan of evening
+toil for his wife out of the range of her many domestic duties.
+
+A few days went by, with no incident of importance. Claire, during the
+time, appeared, to his wife more thoughtful that usual. One evening he
+came home with a brighter countenance.
+
+"Good news, Edie," said he in a cheerful voice, as soon as the
+children's glad and noisy welcome of their father was over; and he
+drew his wife aside as he spoke.
+
+"Good news, dear," he repeated. "I was sure the way would open for us,
+and it has opened."
+
+"How, Edward?" asked Edith, with a quickly flushing face. "How has it
+opened?"
+
+"I've secured employment for my evenings, at six dollars a week. So
+all will go on with us the same as usual. The only drawback lies in
+the fact that you will have to remain at home alone. But, for the sake
+of the end, you will bear that cheerfully."
+
+The light which had come into Edith's countenance faded.
+
+"What kind of employment?" she inquired, with a slight huskiness of
+voice.
+
+"I've engaged to act as clerk in an auction store, where they have
+regular night-sales."
+
+Edith shook her head.
+
+"I thought you would be so delighted," said her husband, evidently
+much disappointed.
+
+"You often come home, now, overwearied with the day's labour," replied
+Edith.
+
+"An hour at tea-time will refresh me for the evening's work. Don't
+think of that a moment, Edith."
+
+"How can I help thinking of it? No, no, Edward, you must not do this.
+It will destroy your health. You are not very strong."
+
+"My health is perfectly good, Edith."
+
+But Edith shook her head--
+
+"Not so very good. You look paler, and are much thinner than you
+were a year ago. A little over-exertion throws your system off of its
+balance; and then you are sick."
+
+"I will be very careful of myself," replied Claire. "If, after a few
+weeks, the extra labour is found to be too severe, I can give up the
+place. Nothing like trying, you know, dear."
+
+Still, Edith was not satisfied. Very strongly she urged her husband
+not to increase his labour in the degree contemplated.
+
+"Let us try if we can reduce our expenses by a closer economy. It
+is better to deny ourselves things not necessary to health, than to
+injure health by extra labour."
+
+She urged this view, however, in vain. Claire could not, without at
+least a trial of his strength, decline the important offer which had
+been made to him. And so, after a consultation with Mr. Melleville, he
+entered upon his new employment, leaving his wife to spend the hours
+of his absence alone. Not idly were those hours spent. What she had
+at first proposed to do, she now began to execute. Without saying
+any thing to her husband, she had procured, from a friend who kept
+a fancy-store, and who took in from the ladies a great deal of work,
+some fine sewing; and with this she was busily occupied until his
+return, which did not take place on the first night until near eleven
+o'clock.
+
+There was a slight drawback in the pleasure both felt in meeting
+at this late hour--the drawback of weariness. Yet their hearts were
+tranquil and elevated in the consciousness that they were denying self
+for the good of another--and that one most tenderly beloved. Again the
+way had become plain before them; and if strength only were given to
+bear their increased burdens, they would move on with even lighter
+footsteps than before.
+
+And now, after having lingered thus long with the humble clerk, let
+us turn to the rich merchant; for Jasper has become a man of
+extensive possessions. Wealth flowed in upon him with extraordinary
+rapidity--not in the regular course of trade, overreaching and
+unscrupulous as he was in dealing, but through what are called
+fortunate speculations. How he made his first hundred thousand
+dollars--the basis of his present very large fortune--was not clearly
+understood, though sundry vague rumours on the subject were afloat,
+none of them, however, very near the truth, except in the admission
+that a fraud on somebody had been committed. But let us introduce Mr.
+Jasper.
+
+On the night that Claire entered upon his duties as clerk in the
+auction store, and about the same hour that his duties began, Mr.
+Jasper, who was walking restlessly the floor of his richly furnished
+parlours, his mind busy with some large money-making scheme, yet
+fretted by a recent disappointment, found himself suddenly in the
+presence of, to him, a well-known individual, whose ring at the door
+he had not observed.
+
+"Martin!" he exclaimed, in no affected surprise. "Is it possible?"
+
+"Ah, Jasper! How are you? Right glad to get sight of your face again!"
+said the other familiarly, as he grasped the merchant's passive hand,
+and squeezed it until the joints cracked.
+
+"When did you arrive in the city?" returned Jasper, as he reached his
+visitor a chair. He did not speak with much warmth; and yet there was
+an effort to be at ease and cordial.
+
+"Some two hours ago," said Martin, in whose face was already beginning
+to gather a few lines in token of the sober thoughts that lay beneath
+his assumed smiling exterior.
+
+"From which direction did you come?"
+
+"West. I'm from the Upper Mississippi."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"I went to Galena some five or six months ago; and have since been
+actively engaged in lead-mining. A great business that, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Ah?" This "ah?" was particularly chilling.
+
+"There are more rapid fortunes made at the lead-mines in the
+neighbourhood of Galena, at present, than in any part of the United
+States," said Martin, approaching, by rapid advances, the subject
+nearest to his thoughts.
+
+"You think so?" returned Jasper, with cold incredulity.
+
+"I know so," was the positive response. "I could point you to a dozen
+men who have made their tens of thousands annually for the last five
+or ten years."
+
+"It is easy to talk about making tens of thousands, Martin; but the
+fact itself is a more difficult matter."
+
+"A fact is a fact, however, Mr. Jasper," said the other. "What is
+done, is done."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"It is a fact that money is made at the lead-mines, hand over fist,"
+continued Martin. "Of this I am prepared to give you the strongest
+kind of evidence."
+
+"Why should you be so anxious to convince me of this fact?" returned
+the merchant. "I have quite as many irons in the fire now as I can see
+to."
+
+"Ah! That may be," said Martin, forcing to his rather hard features a
+bland smile. "But these new irons I will keep from burning."
+
+"It's no use, Martin, to talk of lead-mines to me," said Jasper
+firmly. "I am spread out enough already. Contraction, not expansion,
+is my present motto. I've met with more than one heavy loss since I
+saw you."
+
+"Have you, indeed? I'm sorry for that. But a false card will turn up
+now and then, you know. The game in the long run is sure."
+
+"We're sure of nothing," replied Jasper, with considerable feeling.
+
+"I wouldn't like to say that. Of course, all plans will not succeed;
+for man's judgment is far from possessing the virtue of infallibility.
+But human reason would be a poor endowment, did it not lead us, in
+most cases, to right conclusions, if we are careful in our modes of
+using this high faculty."
+
+"The purpose of your visit to the East," said Jasper, who understood
+perfectly the man with whom he was dealing, and, therefore, determined
+to know at once the length and breadth of what he was expected to
+do, "is, I presume, to enlist some capitalists here in a lead-mining
+speculation?"
+
+"My ideas do not extend quite that far," was Martin's answer. "Too
+many cooks, you are aware, sometimes spoil the broth. To come to the
+point at once, let me explain the purpose of my present journey to the
+East."
+
+"Well; I am all attention."
+
+"My fur-trade business, as I wrote you a year ago, turned out
+disastrously."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"After that, I opened a small store in one of the frontier towns, and
+I did very well, all things considered. But the gain was too slow to
+suit my ideas of things; so, meeting with a fair chance, I sold out,
+and bought a lead-mine, which I have been working ever since to
+good profit. Recently, I struck upon one of the richest veins ever
+discovered. If properly worked, it will yield a rapid fortune. But I
+have not sufficient capital to avail myself of the advantages offered,
+and have come on here to lay the matter before you, and to offer you a
+share in the business."
+
+Jasper shook his head, saying--
+
+"I have more business on my hands now, Martin, than I can possibly
+attend to."
+
+"You don't know what you are declining, Mr. Jasper," urged Martin
+warmly. "You havn't yet looked at the statements which I am prepared
+to lay before you."
+
+"I do know one thing," was the feeling answer, "and that is, that I am
+declining trouble and cost. About that part of the business, there can
+be little question."
+
+"Then," said Martin, his manner changing, "I am to understand that you
+do not wish to join me in this matter?"
+
+"Yes. I would like you to understand that distinctly."
+
+"Very well. I am sorry you refuse so advantageous an investment of
+money; for right sure am I that no other investment you can make will
+turn out as this would have done. But, as you have declined, I will
+not offer a share in my good fortune to any one else; but prosecute
+the work to my own advantage."
+
+"I thought you hadn't the capital to do that," said Jasper, speaking
+with ill-repressed eagerness.
+
+"Nor have I," coolly answered Martin. "The proposition I was about to
+make was this--an advance of twenty thousand dollars capital on your
+part, to constitute you an equal partner in the mine. But this you
+decline."
+
+"Certainly! certainly! I would not have entertained it for a moment."
+
+"Exactly. So I have already inferred. I will, therefore, as just said,
+retain this advantage in my own hands. But, Mr. Jasper, I shall need
+some help."
+
+The visitor fixed his eyes keenly on the merchant as he said this.
+There was a momentary pause. Then he resumed.
+
+"I shall only want about ten thousand dollars, though; and this you
+must obtain for me."
+
+"Martin! Do you think I am made of money?" exclaimed Jasper, starting
+to his feet, and facing his companion, in the attitude and with the
+expression of a man who, finding himself in the presence of an enemy,
+assumes the defensive.
+
+"Oh no," was the quiet answer--"not _made_ of money. But, for a
+particular friend, you can no doubt, easily raise such a trifle as ten
+thousand dollars?"
+
+"Trifle! You mock me, sir!"
+
+"Don't get excited about this matter, Mr. Jasper," coolly returned
+Martin, whose name the reader has probably recognised as that of
+an agent employed by the merchant and Grind, the lawyer, some years
+before, in making investigations relative to the existence of coal on
+certain lands not far from Reading, Pennsylvania. "Don't get excited,"
+he repeated. "That will do no good. I have not come to rob you. I
+don't ask you to give me ten thousand dollars. All I want is a loan,
+for which I will pledge good security."
+
+"What kind of security?" asked Jasper quickly.
+
+"Security on my lead-mine."
+
+"Pooh! I wouldn't give the snap of a finger for such security!"
+
+Jasper, thrown off his guard, spoke more contemptuously than was
+prudent.
+
+An instant change was visible in Martin, who, rising, commenced
+buttoning up his coat. There was about him every mark of a man deeply
+offended.
+
+"Good evening, sir!" said he, with a low, formal bow, yet with his
+eyes fixed searchingly in those of the merchant.
+
+"Martin,"--Jasper did not smile, nor was there in his voice the
+slightest affectation of good feeling--yet his manner and tone were
+both decisive,--"Martin, sit down again. Talk in reason, and I will
+hear."
+
+The man resumed his seat, and, with his eyes still in those of Jasper,
+said--
+
+"I have talked in reason. You are worth, so report says, not less than
+three hundred thousand dollars. How the first hundred thousand came,
+is known, certainly, only to one man beside you and me. In procuring
+that large sum I was a very prominent agent."
+
+"You have already been paid for your services a dozen times over."
+
+"There may be a difference of opinion about this," replied the man
+boldly--"and there _is_ a difference of opinion."
+
+"I have already advanced you over five thousand dollars."
+
+"What of that! Five thousand to three hundred thousand that you have
+made by the operation."
+
+"You are in error, Martin," said Jasper, with a blended look
+of perplexity and distress. "I am not worth the sum you have
+mentioned--nothing like it. My losses during the past six months have
+been very heavy."
+
+"It is your interest to say this. I can credit as much of it as I
+please."
+
+"You are insulting! You presume on the power a knowledge of my affairs
+has given you. I will look for a more honourable agent the next time."
+
+"Honourable! Ha! ha!" The visitor laughed in a low, guttural voice.
+
+"Martin! I will not hear this from any living man."
+
+The face of Jasper was almost purple with suppressed anger.
+
+"Go!" he added. "Leave my house instantly. I defy you!"
+
+Scarcely had these words passed his lips, ere Martin glided from the
+drawing-room, and in a few moments the street-door shut with a heavy,
+reverberating jar.
+
+The merchant stood, like one bewildered, for a few moments, and then,
+as he sank into a chair, uttered a low groan. For a long time he
+remained as motionless as if sleeping.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+On leaving the house of Jasper, Martin--who, instead of having been in
+the city only a few hours, arrived two days previously--took his
+way to the office of Grind, the lawyer. He had seen this individual
+already several times, and now called on him again by appointment. The
+two men, on meeting, exchanged looks of intelligence.
+
+"Did you see him?" asked the lawyer, as Martin took a proffered chair.
+
+"I saw him," was replied.
+
+"Can you make any thing out of him?'
+
+"I think so. He fights a little hard; but the odds are against him."
+
+"How much did you ask him to loan you?"
+
+"Ten thousand?"
+
+"Martin! That's cutting a little too sharp."
+
+"Not a hit. He'll never miss such a trifle."
+
+"You can't bleed him that deep," said the lawyer.
+
+"Can't I? You'll see; I could get twenty thousand. But I'm disposed to
+be generous. Ten thousand I must and will have."
+
+And the man laughed in a low, self-satisfied, sinister chuckle.
+
+"He's able enough," remarked Grind.
+
+"So you have told me. And if he is able, he must pay. I helped him
+to a fortune, and it is but fair that he should help me a little, now
+that a fortune is in my grasp. I only want the money as a loan."
+
+"Wouldn't five thousand answer your purpose?" asked the lawyer. "That
+is a large sum. It is not a very easy matter for even a rich man, who
+is engaged heavily in business, to lay down ten thousand dollars at
+call."
+
+"Five thousand will not do, Mr. Grind."
+
+"Jasper has lost, to my certain knowledge, twenty thousand dollars in
+three months."
+
+"So much?"
+
+"At least that sum. Money came in so fast, that he grew a little wild
+in his speculations, and played his cards with the dashing boldness
+of a gambler while in a run of luck. I cautioned him, but to no good
+purpose. One of his latest movements had been to put fifty or sixty
+thousand dollars in a cotton factory?"
+
+"Poh! What folly."
+
+"A most egregious blunder. But he fancies himself an exceedingly
+shrewd man."
+
+"He has been remarkably fortunate in his operations."
+
+"So he has. But he is more indebted, I think, to good luck than to a
+sound judgment. He has gone up to dizzy height so rapidly, that his
+weak head is already beginning to swim."
+
+"What has become of that pretty little ward of his?" asked Martin,
+somewhat abruptly.
+
+"Why didn't you put that question to him?" replied Grind. "You would
+have been more likely to get a satisfactory answer."
+
+"I may do so after I have the ten thousand dollars in my pocket. That
+was rather a shameful business, though; wasn't it? I never had a very
+tender conscience, but I must own to having suffered a few twinges
+for my part in the transaction. He received over a hundred thousand
+dollars for the land?"
+
+"Yes; and that clear of some heavy fees that you and I claimed for
+services rendered."
+
+"Humph! I'm not quite paid yet. But, touching the child, Mr. Grind:
+don't you know any thing about her?"
+
+"Nothing, personally."
+
+"What was it Jasper paid for the tract of land?"
+
+"One thousand dollars."
+
+"Paid it into his own hands as the child's guardian."
+
+"Yes; that was the simple transaction."
+
+"Has the public never made a guess at the real truth of this matter?"
+
+"Never, so far as my knowledge goes. There have been some vague
+whisperings--but no one has seemed to comprehend the matter."
+
+"The purchase was made in your name, was it not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That is, you bought from Jasper as the child's guardian; and
+afterward sold it back to him."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why didn't you hold on to it when it was fairly in your hands? I only
+wish I had been in your place?"
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, but did not commit himself by
+acknowledging that he had, more than once, regretted his omission
+to claim the property while legally in his hands, and defy Jasper to
+wrest it from him.
+
+Leaving these two men, whose relation to Jasper is sufficiently
+apparent to the reader's mind, we will return to the merchant, whom we
+left half-stupefied at the bold demand of an associate in wrong-doing.
+A long time passed ere his activity of mind returned. While he sat,
+brooding--dreamily--over what had just passed, a little daughter came
+into the parlour, and seeing him, came prattling merrily to his
+side. But in attempting to clamber upon his knee, she was pushed away
+rudely, and with angry words. For a few moments she stood looking at
+him, her little breast rising and falling rapidly; then she turned
+off, and went slowly, and with a grieving heart, from the room.
+
+Jasper sighed heavily as the child passed out of sight; and rising up,
+began moving about with a slow pace, his eyes cast upon the floor.
+The more he dwelt upon the visit of Martin--whom, in his heart, he had
+wished dead--the more uneasy he felt, and the more he regretted having
+let him depart in anger. He would give twice ten thousand dollars
+rather than meet the exposure which this man could make.
+
+Riches was the god of Leonard Jasper. Alas! how little power was there
+in riches to make his heart happy. Wealth beyond what he had hoped to
+obtain in a whole lifetime of devotion to mammon, had flowed in upon
+him in two or three short years. But, was he a happier man? Did he
+enjoy life with a keener zest? Was his sleep sweeter? Ah, no! In all
+that went to make up the true pleasure of life, the humble clerk,
+driven to prolonged hours of labour, beyond what his strength could
+well bear, through his ill-nature and injustice, was far the richer
+man. And his wealth consisted not alone in the possession of a clear
+conscience and a sustaining trust in Providence. There was the love of
+many hearts to bless him. In real household treasures few were as rich
+as he.
+
+But, in home treasures, how poor was Leonard Jasper! Poor to the
+extreme of indigence! The love of his children, reaching toward him
+spontaneously its tendrils, he rejected in the selfish devotion of
+every thought and feeling to business as a means of acquiring wealth.
+And as to the true riches, which many around him were laying up where
+no moth could corrupt nor thieves break through and steal, he rejected
+them as of no account.
+
+With such a man as Leonard Jasper, holding the position of head of a
+family, how little of the true home spirit, so full of tenderness and
+mutual love, is to be expected! Had Mrs. Jasper been less a woman of
+the world; had she been capable of loving any thing out of herself,
+and, therefore, of loving her husband and children, with that true
+love which seeks their higher good, a different state of things would
+have existed in this family, spite of Jasper's unfeeling sordidness.
+But, as it was, no fire of love melted the natural perverseness
+inherited by the children, and they grew up, cherishing mutual
+antagonism, and gradually coming to regard their parents only as
+persons with power to thwart their inclinations, or as possessing the
+means of gratifying their desires.
+
+With all his wealth, how few were the real sources of happiness
+possessed by Jasper! Pressed down with anxiety about the future,
+and forced to toil beyond his strength, how many of life's truest
+blessings were poured into the lap of Edward Claire!
+
+The sleep of the poor clerk, that night, was sound and refreshing. The
+merchant tossed to and fro on his pillow until long after the midnight
+watches advanced upon the morning; and then, when wearied nature
+claimed her due, he slept only for brief periods, continually startled
+by frightful dreams.
+
+At an early hour next day, he called upon Grind, who was still his
+legal adviser.
+
+"Have you seen Martin?" he asked the moment he entered the office.
+
+"Martin! Surely he is not in the city!" returned Grind evasively.
+
+"He surely is," said Jasper, fretfully.
+
+"Martin. Where in the world did he come from? I thought him somewhere
+in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains. What does he want?
+
+"No good, of course."
+
+"That may be said safely. Have you seen him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"When? This morning?"
+
+"No; he called at my house last night."
+
+"Called last night! What did he want?"
+
+"Ten thousand dollars," replied Jasper.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!!" The lawyer's well-feigned surprise completed
+the deception practised upon Jasper. He did not, for an instant,
+suspect collusion between him and Martin.
+
+"Yes; he very coolly proposed that I should lend him that sum, enable
+him to carry on some lead-mining operations in the west."
+
+"Preposterous!"
+
+"So I told him."
+
+"Well, what did he say?"
+
+"Oh, he blustered, and made covert threats of exposure, of course."
+
+"The scoundrel!" said Grind, fiercely.
+
+"He's a villain double-dyed. I have never ceased to regret that we
+brought him into this business. We should have had a man of better
+spirit--of a nicer sense of honour."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Jasper, that is true enough," replied Grind; "but the
+mischief is, your men of nicer honour are too squeamish for the kind
+of work in which we employed him. This is the defect in all such
+operations. Men cannot be thoroughly trusted."
+
+The merchant sighed. He felt too deeply the force of Grind's remark.
+
+"You know," said he, "this Martin better than I do. What is his
+character? Is he a mere blusterer, whose bark is worse than his bite;
+or is he vindictive and unscrupulous?"
+
+"Both vindictive and unscrupulous. I must warn you not to provoke his
+ill-will. He would take delight in exposing all he knows about this
+business, if he is once fairly turned against you. A fast friend--he
+is a bitter enemy."
+
+"But see what a price he demands for his friendship! I have already
+given him some five thousand dollars for his services, and now he
+demands ten more. In a year he will be back, and coolly seek to levy a
+contribution of twenty thousand dollars."
+
+"I understood you to say that he only asked for a loan," remarks the
+lawyer.
+
+"A loan! That's mere mockery. If you placed ten thousand dollars in
+his hands, would you ever expect to see the first copper of it again?"
+
+Grind shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Of course you would not. It's a levy, not a loan--and so he, in his
+heart, regards it."
+
+"He's a dangerous man," said the lawyer, "and it's to be regretted
+that you ever had any thing to do with him. But, now that your hand is
+in the lion's mouth, the wisest thing is to get it out with as little
+detriment as possible."
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!" ejaculated the merchant. "Why, it's downright
+robbery! He might just as well stop me on the highway."
+
+"It's a hard case, I must own, Mr. Jasper. You might resist him, and,
+at least not let him obtain what he demands without a struggle; but
+the question is, may you not receive a mortal wound in the contest."
+
+"Ah! that is the rub, Grind. Rather than meet the exposure he could
+make, I would give twenty thousand dollars; yea, half, if not all I am
+worth."
+
+Can wealth, held on such a tenure, and in such a state of mind, be
+called riches? Ah, no. How the possession is changed from a blessing
+into a curse!
+
+"Then, Mr. Jasper," replied the lawyer, "there is but one course plain
+before you. If you make this man your enemy, he will surely pursue you
+to the death. There is no pity in him."
+
+Jasper groaned aloud. Ere he could reply, the door of the office
+opened, and the individual about whom they were conversing entered.
+With the skill of practised actors, each instantly assumed a part, and
+hid, under a false exterior, their true states of mind. With something
+of cordiality each greeted the other: while side-glances, unobserved
+by Jasper, passed rapidly between Martin and the lawyer. A few
+commonplace inquiries and remarks followed, when Jasper made a
+movement to go, saying, as he did so--
+
+"Mr. Martin, I will be pleased to see you some time to-day."
+
+"Thank you; I will do myself the pleasure to call," was coolly
+answered. "At what time will you be most at leisure?"
+
+"During the afternoon. Say at four or five o'clock."
+
+"I will be there at four," returned Martin, in a bland voice, and with
+a courteous inclination of the head.
+
+"Very well--you will find me in."
+
+The merchant bowed to the accomplices--they were nothing better--and
+retired.
+
+"Humph! I didn't expect to find him here quite so early," said Martin,
+with a sinister smile. "I rather guess I frightened him last night."
+
+"I rather guess you did," returned the lawyer, his countenance
+reflecting the light that played on the other's face.
+
+"Will the money come?" asked Martin.
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"That's good. Ten thousand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What did he say? He came to consult you, of course?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what did he say?"
+
+"More than I need take time to repeat. He is thoroughly frightened.
+That is enough for you to know."
+
+"Ten thousand," said Martin musingly, and speaking to himself. "Ten
+thousand! That will do pretty well. But, if he will bleed for fifteen
+thousand, why may I not set the spring of my lancet a little deeper. I
+can make good use of my money."
+
+"No--no," returned the lawyer quickly. "Ten thousand is enough. Don't
+play the dog and the shadow. This is over-greediness."
+
+"Well--well. Just as you say. I can make him another friendly call in
+a year or so from this time."
+
+The lawyer smiled in a way peculiar to himself, and then said--
+
+"Hadn't you better be content with five thousand now. This goose will,
+no doubt, lay golden eggs for some years to come."
+
+"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," was the quick answer.
+"I have gone in now for the ten thousand; and ten thousand I must
+have. I may be content with a smaller sum at my next appearance."
+
+"You are to see him at four o'clock?" said Grind.
+
+"Yes; that was the hour I named. So you must get all the necessary
+papers ready for me in time. I don't want to let him get the hitch
+on me of seeking to extort money. I only ask a loan, and will give
+bona-fide security on my lead-mine." Then, with one of his low
+chuckles, he added--"If he can get ten thousand dollars out of it, he
+will do more than any one else can. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+"The evidence of property, which you have," said Grind, "is all as it
+shows on the face?"
+
+"It is, upon honour."
+
+"Very well. Then I will draw the necessary papers, so that as little
+delay as possible need occur in the transference of security for the
+loan."
+
+What further passed between the parties is of no consequence to the
+reader.
+
+At four o'clock, precisely, Martin was at the store of Jasper.
+
+"I hope to find you a little more reasonable today," said the
+merchant, with a forced smile, as the two men, after retiring to a
+remote part of the store, sat down and faced each other.
+
+"I should be sorry to do any thing out of reason," returned Martin.
+His manner was more serious than Jasper's.
+
+"I think your present demand out of reason," was answered.
+
+"No good can possibly come, Mr. Jasper," said Martin, with a slight
+air of impatience, "out of an argument between you and I, on this
+subject. The sum I named to you last night I must have. Nothing less
+will meet my present want. But, understand me distinctly, I only ask
+it as a loan, and come prepared to give you the fullest security."
+
+As Mr. Martin said this, he drew a package of papers from his pocket.
+"Here are the necessary documents," he added.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars! Why, my dear sir, a sum like this is not to be
+picked up in the streets."
+
+"I am very well aware of that," was the cool answer. "Had such been
+the case, I never would have troubled you with procuring the sum; nor
+would I have gone to the expense and fatigue of a long journey."
+
+"You certainly ought to know enough of business, Martin, to be aware
+that ten thousand dollars is not always to be commanded, even by the
+wealthiest, at a moment's notice."
+
+"I do not ask the whole sum in cash," replied Martin. "Three or four
+thousand in ready money will do. Your notes at four and six months
+will answer very well for the balance."
+
+But we will not record further what passed between these two men. It
+was all in vain that Jasper strove to escape; his adversary was too
+powerful. Ere they separated, Martin had in his possession, in cash
+and promissory notes, the sum of ten thousand dollars!
+
+Already were the ill-gotten riches of Leonard Jasper taking to
+themselves wings. Unhappy man! How wretched was he during that
+and many succeeding days! Rolling, so to speak, in wealth, he yet
+possessed not life's highest blessing, a truly contented mind, flowing
+from conscious rectitude and an abiding trust in Providence. Without
+these, how poor is even he who counts his millions! With them, how
+rich is the humble toiler, who, receiving day by day his daily bread,
+looks up and is thankful!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+A few weeks subsequent to the occurrences mentioned in the last
+chapter, Leonard Jasper received a call from Mr. Melleville, in
+whose service Claire still remained. The greeting of the two men was
+distant, yet courteous. A few words on current topics passed between
+them, after which Mr. Melleville said--
+
+"I have called to ask you a question or two in regard to a child of
+the late Mr. Elder, to whom you are guardian."
+
+The blood came instantly to the face of Jasper, who was not prepared
+for this; and in spite of his struggle to seem self-possessed, his
+eyes sank under those of his visitor. In a few moments, he recovered
+himself, and replied--
+
+"The child, you mean, who is boarding with Edward Claire?"
+
+"The same." The eyes of Melleville were fixed on those of Jasper so
+steadily, that the latter wavered, and, finally, again dropped to the
+floor.
+
+"Well, I am ready to hear any thing that you have to say." Jasper had
+thrown off, once more, the vague sense of coming evil that made him
+cower under the steady gaze of Melleville.
+
+"I learn," said the latter, "from Mr. Claire, that you refuse to pay
+any further sums for her maintenance. Is the property left by her
+father, to which common report has affixed considerable value,
+exhausted, or"--
+
+"I have refused to pay _him_ any further sums," said Jasper, in a
+quick, excited voice, interrupting Mr. Melleville. "Our contract,
+regularly entered into, has expired by limitation. He was to have the
+care of her only until she reached her twelfth year. Of this fact he
+is clearly advised, and I wonder at his pertinacity in endeavouring to
+retain the child, when he knows that I, her guardian, wish to have her
+in my own possession."
+
+"He has had her ever since she was a little child; and both he and his
+wife are now strongly attached to her. In fact, she regards them as
+her parents; and their affection for her is not exceeded by
+their affection for their own children. To separate them would be
+exceedingly painful to all parties. As for the child, it would make
+her very unhappy."
+
+"I can't help that, Mr. Melleville." Jasper spoke coldly.
+
+"Under all the circumstances," said Mr. Melleville, after a pause,
+speaking slowly, and with considerable emphasis in his words, "it is
+my opinion that you had better let the child remain where she is."
+
+"Why do you say so?" Jasper spoke with ill-concealed surprise; and the
+uneasy, suspicious manner, at first exhibited, returned.
+
+"Claire regards the child as his own; and must so continue to regard
+her, even though taken out of his hands."
+
+"Well, what of that?"
+
+"It is for you, Mr. Jasper," was returned, "to determine for yourself,
+whether the surveillance of a man like Claire, who cannot now cease to
+feel a parent's interest in your ward, will be altogether agreeable."
+
+"Surveillance! What do you mean? I don't understand this language. It
+looks like an effort to force me into measures. Pray, what have I to
+fear from Edward Claire?"
+
+"Sometimes," replied Melleville, with a slow, meaning enunciation,
+"those we regard as most insignificant are the very ones we should
+most fear."
+
+"Fear! Fear, Mr. Melleville! You make use of strange language."
+
+"Perhaps I do," was answered. "And, as it seems unpleasant to you, I
+will say no more. I did not mean, when I called, to speak just as I
+have done. But, as the words have been uttered, I beg you to weigh
+them well, and to believe that they have a meaning. Good morning."
+
+Jasper suppressed the utterance of the word "stay," which arose to his
+lips, and returned the bow of Mr. Melleville, who left without further
+remark.
+
+"What can this mean?" Thus mused Leonard Jasper, when alone. "Can this
+scoundrel, Martin, have dropped a hint of the truth?" A slight shiver
+went through his nerves. "Something is wrong. There is suspicion in
+the thought of Melleville. I didn't look for trouble in this quarter."
+
+To his own unpleasant reflections we will leave the merchant, and
+return to Edward Claire and his true-minded, loving-hearted wife.
+
+For a week or two after the former entered upon his new duties
+as assistant clerk in a night-auction, he experienced no serious
+inconvenience from his more prolonged labours, although it did not
+escape the watchful eyes of his wife that his complexion was losing
+its freshness, and that his appetite was far from being so good as
+before. After this, he began to suffer oppressive weariness, that
+made the evening's toil a daily increasing burden. Then succeeded a
+feverish state, accompanied by pains in the head, back, and through
+the breast. Edith remonstrated, even with tears; but still Claire went
+nightly to his task, though each successive evening found him with
+less and less ability for its performance.
+
+At last, he came home from the store of Mr. Melleville, at the usual
+tea-time, feeling so unwell that he was forced to lie down. He had no
+appetite for supper, and merely sipped part of a cup of tea brought to
+him by his wife as he still reclined upon the bed.
+
+"Don't get up," said Edith, seeing her husband, after he had lain for
+some time, about to rise.
+
+"I can't lie here any longer; it's nearly seven o'clock now."
+
+"You're not going out to-night!"
+
+"O yes; I must be at the store. There is no one to take my place, and
+the sales will begin by the time I can get there."
+
+"But you are too sick to go out, Edward."
+
+"I feel much better than I did, Edith. This little rest has refreshed
+me a great deal."
+
+"No--no, Edward! You must not go away," said his wife in a distressed
+voice. "You are sick now, and the extra exertion of an evening may
+throw you into a serious illness."
+
+"I feel a great deal better, dear," urged Claire. "But, sick or well,
+I must be there to-night, for the sale cannot go on without me. If I
+do not feel better to-morrow, I will ask Mr. F---- to get some one,
+temporarily, in my place."
+
+Still Edith opposed, but in vain.
+
+By the time Claire arrived at the auction store, his head was
+throbbing with a pain so intense that he could scarcely see. Still, he
+resolutely persevered in his determination to go through, if possible,
+with the duties of the evening; and so, taking his place at his desk,
+as the auctioneer went upon the stand to cry the goods which had
+been advertised for sale, he prepared to keep the usual record of
+purchasers and prices. This he was able to do for half an hour, when
+overtaxed and exhausted nature could bear up no longer.
+
+"Mr. Claire," said the auctioneer, as he took in hand a new article,
+"did you make that last entry?--Mr. Jackson, ten cents a yard."
+
+Claire's head had fallen over on the book in which he had been
+writing, and the auctioneer, supposing him only yielding to a
+momentary feeling of fatigue, or indolence, thus called his attention
+to his duties.
+
+But Claire made no answer.
+
+"Say! young man! Are you asleep!" The auctioneer spoke now with some
+sharpness of tone; but, as before, his words were not heeded.
+
+"What's the matter, Mr. Claire? Are you sick?"
+
+Still no response or movement.
+
+"Mr. Claire! Bless me!" The auctioneer was now by his side, with his
+hand on him. "Bring some water, quick! He's fainted--or is dead! Here!
+some one help me to lay him down."
+
+Two or three men came quickly behind the auctioneer's stand and
+assisted to lift the insensible man from the high stool on which he
+was seated, and place his body in a reclining position. Then water
+was dashed into his face, and various other means of restoration used.
+Full ten minutes passed before signs of returning life were exhibited.
+His recovery was very slow, and it was nearly an hour before he was
+well enough to be removed to his dwelling.
+
+The shock of his appearance, supported from the carriage in which he
+had been conveyed home, by two men, was terrible to his wife, whose
+anxiety and fear had wrought her feelings already up to a high pitch
+of excitement.
+
+"Oh! what is the matter? What has happened?" she cried, wringing her
+hands, while her face blanched to a deathly paleness.
+
+"Don't be frightened," returned Claire, smiling feebly. "It was only a
+slight fainting fit. I'm over it now."
+
+"That's all, madam," said the men who had brought him home. "He merely
+fainted. Don't be alarmed. It's all over."
+
+After receiving the thanks of Claire and his assurances that he needed
+nothing further from their kindness, the men retired, and Edward then
+made every effort in his power to calm down the feelings of his wife,
+who continued weeping. This was no easy task, particularly as he was
+unable long to hide the many evidences of serious illness from which
+he was suffering. Against his remonstrance, so soon as she saw how
+it was with him, Mrs. Claire sent off the domestic for their family
+physician; who on learning the causes which led to the condition in
+which he found his patient, hesitated not to say that he must, as he
+valued his life, give up the night tasks he had imposed upon himself.
+
+"Other men," said Claire, in answer to this, "devote quite as many
+hours to business."
+
+"All men are not alike in constitution," returned the physician. "And
+even the strongest do not make overdrafts upon the system, without
+finding, sooner or later, a deficit in their health-account. As
+for you, nature has not given you the physical ability for great
+endurance. You cannot overtask yourself without a derangement of
+machinery."
+
+How reluctantly, and with what a feeling of weakness, Claire
+acquiesced in this decision, the reader may imagine.
+
+The morning found him something better, but not well enough to sit up.
+Mrs. Claire had, by this time, recovered in a measure her calmness and
+confidence. She had thought much, during the sleepless hours of the
+preceding night, and though the future was far from opening clearly
+to her straining vision, her mind rested in a well-assured confidence
+that all things would work together for their good. She knew in whom
+she trusted. On the Rock of Ages she had built the habitation where
+dwelt her higher hopes; and the storms of this world had no power to
+prevail against it.
+
+How little dreamed gentle Fanny Elder--or Fanny Claire, as she
+was called--when she laid her cheek lovingly to that of her sick
+"father"--she knew him by no other name--and drew her arms around his
+neck, that he was suffering alone on her account. In her unselfish
+love, Claire felt a sweet compensation--while all he endured on her
+account had the effect to draw her, as it were, into his very heart.
+
+As quickly as it could be done, Mrs. Claire got through with the most
+pressing of her morning duties, and then, the older children away to
+school, she came and sat down by her husband's bedside, and took his
+hand in hers. As he looked into her face, pale from sleeplessness and
+anxiety, tears filled his eyes.
+
+"O, Edie!" said he, his voice tremulous with feeling, "isn't this
+disheartening? What _are_ we to do?"
+
+"_He_ careth for us," was the low, calmly spoken reply; and, as Edith
+lifted a finger upward, a ray of heavenly confidence beamed in her
+countenance.
+
+"I know, Edie; I know, but"--
+
+The sick man left his sentence unfinished. A heavy sigh marking his
+state of doubt and darkness.
+
+"We must feel as well as know, Edward," said his wife. "God is good.
+In looking back through all our past life, does not the retrospection
+lead to this undoubting conclusion? I am sure you will say yes. Has
+he not, in every case, proved better to us than all our fears?--Why,
+then, should we distrust him now? In the beautiful language of Cowper,
+let us say in these dark seasons--
+
+  'Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
+    But trust Him for His grace;
+  Behind a frowning providence
+    He hides a smiling face.
+  His purposes will ripen fast,
+    Unfolding every hour;
+  The bud may have a bitter taste,
+    But sweet will be the flower.'
+
+"Shall we doubt the sun's existence, because the night has fallen? No,
+dear husband, no! There are bright stars smiling above us in token of
+his unerring return. We know that the morning cometh after a season of
+darkness; and so, after our spirits have lingered awhile in the realm
+of shadows, the light will break in from above. Has it not always been
+so, Edward?"
+
+"He has led us by a way which we knew not."
+
+The sick man's eyes were closed as he murmured these words; and his
+voice was slightly tremulous, yet expressive of a returning state of
+confidence.
+
+"Yet, how safely," replied Edith. "When our feet were in slippery
+places, and we leaned on Him, did he not support us firmly? and when
+the mire and clay were deep in our path, did He not keep us from
+sinking therein?"
+
+"He is goodness itself," said Claire, a calmer expression coming into
+his face. "It is wrong so to let doubt, distrust, and fear creep in
+and get possession of the heart; but, we are human--weakness and error
+are born with us. When the way in which we are walking is suddenly
+closed up before us, and we see the opening to no other way, how can
+we keep the faint heart from sinking?"
+
+"Only as Peter was saved from sinking. If we look to God, He will lift
+our hearts above the yielding billows. If we stand still, hopefully
+and trustingly, the high mountain before us will become as a plain, so
+that we can walk on in a smooth way, joyful and rejoicing."
+
+"And so this high mountain, which has risen up so suddenly, will
+soon be cleft for us or levelled to a plain, if we wait patiently and
+confidingly for its removal?"
+
+"Oh! I am sure of it, Edward," replied Mrs. Claire, with a beautiful
+enthusiasm. "We are His creatures, and He loves us with an infinite
+love. When his children are disposed to trust too much to the arm of
+flesh, He sometimes shows them their weakness in order that they may
+feel His strength. Faithfully and unselfishly, my husband, have you
+tried to meet the suddenly increased demand upon us: and this out of
+love for one of God's children. In the trial, weakness has prevailed
+over strength. Suddenly your hands have fallen to your side powerless.
+God saw it all; and permitted it all; and, in His own good time, will
+supply, from other sources, all that is really needed. We have the
+promise--our bread shall be given, and our water sure--not only
+the natural food that sustains outward life, but the true bread of
+heavenly affections, and the waters of pure truth, which nourish and
+sustain the spirit."
+
+Edith ceased speaking. Her husband did not make an immediate reply;
+but lay pondering her words, and letting his thoughts expand their
+wings in the purer atmosphere into which she had lifted him.
+
+After that they conversed together hopefully of the future; not that
+they saw the way more clearly before them, but heavenly confidence had
+taken the place of human distrust.
+
+It was, perhaps, eleven o'clock in the day--the doctor had been there,
+and pronounced the condition of his patient favourable, but enjoined
+quiet and prolonged rest from either bodily or mental exertion--and
+the mind of Claire was beginning to run again in a slightly troubled
+channel.
+
+"Here is a letter for you," said his wife, coming into the room, after
+a brief absence. "A young man just left it at the door."
+
+Claire took the letter, wondering as he did so who it could be from.
+On breaking the seal, and unfolding it, he was greatly surprised to
+find within a check to his order for one hundred and fifty dollars,
+signed Leonard Jasper; and still more surprised to read the
+accompanying note, which was in these words:
+
+"Enclosed you will find one hundred and fifty dollars, the sum due
+you for Fanny Elder's maintenance during the past and current quarter.
+When convenient, I should be glad to see you. Seeing that the child
+has remained with you so long, I don't know that it will be advisable
+to make a change now, although I had other views in regard to her.
+However, when you call, we can settle matters in regard to her
+definitively."
+
+"Better to us than all our fears," murmured Claire, as he handed the
+letter to his wife, who read it with a truly thankful heart.
+
+"Our way is smooth once more," she said, smiling through outpressing
+tears--"the mountain has become a level plain. All the dark clouds
+have been swept from our sky, and the sun is shining even more
+brightly than of old."
+
+It was more than a week before Claire was sufficiently recovered to
+go out and attend to business as usual. At the first opportunity,
+he called upon Mr. Jasper, who received him with marked kindness of
+manner.
+
+"I do not, now," said the merchant, "entertain the same views in
+regard to my ward that I did some time ago. Your opposition to
+my wishes then, fretted me a good deal; and I made up my mind,
+decisively, that so soon as she was twelve years of age, you must give
+her up. It was from this feeling that I acted when I refused to pay
+your last order. Since then, I have reflected a good deal on the
+subject; and reflection has modified, considerably, my feelings. I
+can understand how strong must be the attachment of both yourself and
+wife, and how painful the thought of separation from a long-cherished
+object of affection."
+
+"The dread of separation, Mr. Jasper," replied Claire, "has haunted us
+during the last two years like an evil spirit."
+
+"It need haunt you no more, Edward," was the kindly spoken reply. "If
+you still wish to retain the care of this child, you are free to do
+so."
+
+"You have taken a mountain from my heart, Mr. Jasper," was the young
+man's feeling response.
+
+"It is settled, then, Edward, that she remains with you. And now I
+must say a word about her education. I wish that to be thorough.
+She must have good advantages; better than the sum now paid for her
+maintenance will procure."
+
+Claire made no reply, and Jasper continued--
+
+"I have this to propose. The bulk of property left by her father is
+contained in two moderate-sized houses, one of which is at this time
+without a tenant. It is a very comfortable house for a small family.
+Just the thing, I should say, for you. If you will move into this
+house, you shall have it rent free, as a set-off to the increased
+charge Fanny will be to you in future. The three hundred per annum
+will be paid as usual. How will that do?"
+
+"The compensation, I think, will be greater than the service," replied
+Claire.
+
+"Not at all. During the next five or six years, or until she gains
+her majority, you will find the cost of clothing and education a
+constantly increasing sum. I know more about these things than you
+do. And I am very sure, since I understand your relation to her, that
+twice this expenditure, could not gain for her what she will have
+while in your care. As her guardian, I feel it my duty to provide
+liberally for her comfort and education, and to this you, of course,
+can have nothing to object."
+
+And Claire did not object. In a few weeks from that time he removed
+into one of the houses mentioned by Jasper--a larger and far more
+comfortable one than that in which he had lived for several years.
+Here, with a thankful heart, he gathered his wife and children
+around him. How happy they all were! Not selfishly happy--if such
+contradictory terms may be used--but happy in the warmth of mutual
+love. A heaven on earth was this little household. Shall we contrast
+it with that of Leonard Jasper? No!--the opposite picture would leave
+upon the reader's mind too sad an impression; and we will not burden
+this chapter with another shadow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+During the five or six following years, a number of events occurred
+bearing more or less seriously upon some of the actors in our story.
+With Edward Claire and his family, life had flowed on in an even
+current; and, but for the fact that his health never fairly recovered
+from the shock it received in consequence of his having taxed his
+physical system beyond its capability of endurance, the sunshine would
+never have been a moment from his threshold.
+
+The important addition made to his income through the new arrangement
+volunteered by Fanny's guardian, gave to his external condition a more
+favourable aspect. He was no longer troubled about the ways and means
+of providing for his needful expenses. A much better situation, so far
+as a higher salary was concerned, had, during this time offered; but,
+as it required an amount of confinement and labour which he could not
+give, without endangering his health, he wisely declined the offer.
+
+Far less smoothly had the current of Leonard Jasper's life flowed
+on. Twice during this period had he received visits from his old
+acquaintance, Martin, and each time he was made poorer by five
+thousand dollars. It was all in vain that he struggled and resisted.
+The man had no compassion in him. He cared not who suffered loss, so
+he was the gainer.
+
+There were other miners at work sapping the foundations of Jasper's
+fortune, besides this less concealed operator. Parker, the young man
+who succeeded to the place of Claire, and who was afterward raised to
+the condition of partner, with a limited interest, was far from
+being satisfied with his dividend in the business. The great bulk of
+Jasper's means were used in outside speculations; and as the result of
+these became successively known to Parker, his thoughts began to run
+in a new channel. "If I only had money to go into this," and, "If I
+only had money to go into that," were words frequently on his tongue.
+He regarded himself as exceedingly shrewd; and confidently believed
+that, if he had capital to work with, he could soon amass an
+independent fortune.
+
+"Money makes money," was his favourite motto.
+
+Unscrupulous as his partner, it is not surprising that Parker, ere
+long, felt himself perfectly authorized to use the credit of the house
+in private schemes of profit. To do this safely, it was necessary to
+have a friend outside of the firm. Such a friend he did not find it
+very hard to obtain; and as nearly the whole burden of the business
+fell upon his shoulders, it was not at all difficult to hide every
+thing from Jasper.
+
+Confident as Parker was in his great shrewdness, his speculations
+outside of the business did not turn out very favourably. His first
+essay was in the purchase of stocks, on which he lost, in a week, two
+thousand dollars.
+
+Like the gamester who loses, he only played deeper, in the hope of
+recovering his losses; and as it often happens with the gamester, in
+similar circumstances, the deeper he played, the more he lost.
+
+And so it went on. Sometimes the young man had a turn of good fortune,
+and sometimes all the chances went against him. But he was too far
+committed to recede without a discovery. There was no standing still;
+and so newer and bolder operations were tried, involving larger and
+larger sums of money, until the responsibilities of the firm, added
+to the large cash drafts made without the cognizance of Jasper, were
+enormous.
+
+To all such mad schemes the end must come; and the end came in this
+instance. Failing to procure, by outside operations, sufficient money
+to meet several large notes, he was forced to divulge a part of his
+iniquity to Jasper, in order to save the credit of the firm. Suspicion
+of a deeper fraud being thereby aroused in the mind of his partner,
+time, and a sifting investigation of the affairs of the house,
+revealed the astounding fact that Parker had abstracted in money, and
+given the notes of the firm for his own use, to the enormous amount of
+fifty thousand dollars.
+
+A dissolution of co-partnership took place in consequence. Parker,
+blasted in reputation, was dragged before a court of justice, in order
+to make him disgorge property alleged to be in his possession. But
+nothing could be found; and he was finally discharged from custody.
+The whole loss fell upon Jasper. He had nursed a serpent in his bosom,
+warming it with the warmth of his own life; and the serpent had stung
+him. Is it any wonder?
+
+This circumstance, the discovery of Parker's fraudulent doings, took
+place about two years prior to the time when Fanny Elder attained her
+legal age.
+
+The first thought of Jasper, after his separation from Parker, which
+took place immediately on discovering that he had used the credit of
+the firm improperly, was to send for Claire, and offer him a salary
+of a thousand dollars a year, to come in and fill the responsible
+position as clerk, from which Parker had just been ejected as partner.
+
+"I can trust him fully," said Jasper to himself; "and I don't know
+anybody else that I can trust. He is honest; I will give him credit
+for that; too honest, it may be, for his own good. But, I don't know.
+Who would not rather be in his shoes than in Parker's?"
+
+For some time Jasper's mind was favourable to making Claire the offer
+proposed, and he was about writing him a note, when a new view of the
+case struck him, dependent on the young man's relation to his ward,
+Fanny Elder.
+
+"Oh no, no, no!" said he emphatically, speaking to himself--"that,
+I fear me, will not do. It would give him too open an access to
+my books, papers, and private accounts, in which are entries and
+memoranda that it might be dangerous for him to see."
+
+Jasper sighed deeply as he finished this sentence, and then fell into
+a musing state. His thoughts, while this lasted, were not of the most
+self-satisfying character. Some serious doubts as to his having, in
+the main, pursued the wisest course in life, were injected into his
+mind; and, remarkable as it may seem for one so absorbed in the love
+of gain, there were moments when he almost envied the poor, but honest
+clerk, who had an approving conscience, and feared no man's scrutiny.
+
+It was with no slight reluctance that he finally came to the
+conclusion that it would be altogether unsafe to take Claire into his
+employment. And so he cast about for some one to supply the place
+left vacant by Parker's withdrawal from the business. In his final
+selection he was not over-fortunate, as the result proved. The new
+clerk was shrewd, and capable enough, and apparently as much devoted
+to his employer's interests as Jasper could wish. Had not his own
+interests been regarded as paramount to those of the merchant, Jasper
+would have possessed in him a valuable assistant. But the clerk
+did not rise superior to temptations which came in his way.
+Jasper continued to trade on the close-cutting, overreaching, and
+unscrupulous system; and under such a teacher his clerk proved an apt
+learner.
+
+"He cuts right and left," said he to himself, "and why may not I cut
+left and right when a good opportunity offers?"
+
+Soon he began to "cut left and right," as he termed it, and it was not
+remarkable that, in his cutting operations, his employer occasionally
+suffered. The upshot was, after holding his situation a year, that
+several false entries, in his hand-writing, were discovered in the
+books of Mr. Jasper. To what extent he robbed his employer, the latter
+never accurately knew; but he was worse off by at least three or four
+thousand dollars through his peculations.
+
+Again the question of taking Claire once more into his employment came
+up in the mind of Jasper. After viewing it on every side, the decision
+was adverse. He felt that too great a risk was involved. And so he
+employed one in whom he could confide with less certainty.
+
+Several years had now passed since the merchant began to feel the
+shock of adverse winds. All before was a summer sea, and the ship of
+his fortune had bent her sails alone to favouring breezes. But this
+was to be no longer. His ship had suffered not only by stress of
+weather, but also by the sacrifice of a portion of cargo to save what
+remained. And, at last, she was driving on toward the breakers, and
+her safety from destruction only hoped for through the activity,
+skill, and tireless vigilance of her helmsman.
+
+A few years before, Mr. Jasper considered himself worth between two
+and three hundred thousand dollars; now, he passed sleepless nights in
+fear of impending ruin. He had trusted in riches; he had called them,
+in his heart, the greatest good. At his word they had poured in upon
+him from all sides, until he was half bewildered at sight of the
+glittering treasures; but, just as he began to feel secure in his
+possessions, they began to take themselves wings and fly away.
+
+And, alas for him! he had laid up no other treasures. None in heaven;
+none in the hearts of his wife and children; none in his own mind. The
+staff upon which he had leaned was now a splintering reed, wounding as
+it bent under him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+There was one point of time to which Leonard Jasper looked with no
+little anxiety, and that was to the period of Fanny Elder's majority,
+when it was his purpose to relinquish his guardianship, and wash his
+hands, if it were possible to do so, entirely clean of her. Until the
+estate left by her father was settled up, the property in her hands
+and receipts in his, there was danger ahead. And, as the time drew
+nearer and nearer, he felt increasing uneasiness.
+
+On the very day that Fanny reached her eighteenth year, Jasper sent a
+note to Claire, asking an interview.
+
+"I wish," said he, when the latter came, "to have some conference with
+you about Miss Elder. She has now, you are no doubt aware, attained
+the legal age. Such being the case, I wish, as early as it can be
+done, to settle up the estate of her father, and pay over to her, or
+to any person she may select as her agent, the property in my hands.
+It has increased some in value. Will you consult her on the subject?"
+
+Claire promised to do so; and, at the same time, asked as to the
+amount of Fanny's property.
+
+"The total value will not fall much short of eight thousand dollars,"
+replied Jasper. "There are two houses and lots that would sell at any
+time for six thousand dollars. You live in one of these houses, and
+the other is rented for two hundred and fifty dollars. Then there are
+nearly two thousand dollars in six per cent. stocks. When her father
+died, his estate consisted of these two houses, and a piece of poor
+land which he had taken as satisfaction for a debt. At the first
+opportunity, I sold the land and invested the money. This sum, with
+accumulations of interest, and rents received for several years,
+beyond what was required for Fanny's maintenance, has now increased
+to within a fraction of two thousand dollars, and is, as just said,
+invested in stocks. I think," added Jasper, "that you had better
+assume the management of this property yourself. Get from Miss Elder a
+power of attorney authorizing you to settle the estate, and the whole
+business can be completed in a very short time. I will make you out an
+accurate statement of every thing, so that you will be at no loss to
+comprehend the accounts."
+
+To this there could, of course, be no objection on the part of Claire.
+He promised to confer with Fanny, and let Jasper know, in a day or
+two, the result.
+
+Now came a new trial for Claire and his wife. They had taken Fanny,
+when only four years of age, and taken her so entirely into their home
+and affections, that she had almost from the first seemed to them as
+one of their own children. In a brief time the earlier memories of the
+child faded. The past was absorbed in the present; and she loved
+as parents none other than those she called by the tender names of
+"father" and "mother." The children with whom she grew up she
+knew only as her brothers and sisters. This thorough adoption and
+incorporation of the child into their family was not, in any sense,
+the work of design on the part of Claire and his wife. But they saw,
+in the beginning, no reason to check the natural tendency thereto.
+When little Fanny, of her own accord, addressed them, soon after her
+virtual adoption, as "father" and "mother," they accepted the child's
+own interpretation of their relative positions, and took her from that
+moment more entirely into their hearts.
+
+And so Fanny Elder grew up to womanhood, in the full belief that she
+was the child of Mr. and Mrs. Claire. The new trial through which this
+excellent couple were now to pass, the reader can easily imagine.
+The time had come when Fanny must know the real truth in regard to
+herself--must be told that she had no natural claim upon the love of
+those whose love she prized above all things.
+
+It seemed cruel to take away the conscious right to love and be loved,
+which had so long blessed her. And yet the truth must now be made
+known, and Mrs. Claire took upon herself the task of breaking it as
+gently as possible.
+
+A woman in age and stature, yet with all the gentle deference of
+a daughter, Fanny moved by the side of Mrs. Claire with a loving
+thoughtfulness, daily sharing her household duties. Some months before
+she had left school, but was still taking lessons in music and French,
+and devoting a portion of time to practice in drawing, for which she
+had a decided taste.
+
+On the day after Mr. Claire's interview with Jasper, Mrs. Claire said
+to Fanny, with a seriousness of tone and manner that brought a look of
+surprise to her face--
+
+"Come to my room with me, dear. I have something to say to you."
+
+Fanny moved along by her side, wondering to herself what could be in
+her mother's mind. On entering the chamber, Mrs. Claire shut the door,
+and then, as she sat down, with an arm around the young girl's waist,
+she said, in a thoughtful, earnest voice--
+
+"Fanny, I want you to tell me the first thing you recollect in life."
+
+"The first thing, mother?" She smiled at a request so unexpected, and
+Mrs. Claire smiled in return, though from a different cause.
+
+"Yes, dear. I have a reason for asking this. Now, let your thoughts
+run back--far back, and recall for me the very first thing you can
+recollect."
+
+The countenance of Fanny grew thoughtful, then serious, and then a
+half-frightened look flashed over it.
+
+"Why, mother," said she, "what can you mean? What do you want to
+know?"
+
+"Your first recollection, dear?" returned Mrs. Claire, with an
+assuring smile, although her heart was full, and it required the most
+active self-control to prevent her feelings from becoming manifest in
+her voice.
+
+"Well, let me see! The first? The first? I was playing on the floor
+with a dear little baby? It was our Edie, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes--so far your memory is correct. I remember the time to which you
+refer as perfectly as if but a week had passed. Now, dear, try if you
+can recall any thing beyond that."
+
+"Beyond that, mother? Oh, why do you ask? You make me feel so
+strangely. Can it be that some things I have thought to be only the
+memory of dreams, are indeed realities?"
+
+"What are those things, my child?"
+
+"I have a dim remembrance of a pale, but beautiful woman who often
+kissed and caressed me--of being in a sick-room--of a strange
+confusion in the house--of riding in a carriage with father to a
+funeral. Mother! is there any thing in this; if so, what does it
+mean?"
+
+"That woman, Fanny," said Mrs. Claire, speaking with forced composure,
+"was your mother."
+
+The face of the young girl grew instantly pale; her lips parted;
+and she gasped for breath. Then falling forward on the bosom of Mrs.
+Claire, she sobbed--
+
+"Oh, mother! mother! How can you say this? It cannot, it cannot be.
+You are my own, my only mother."
+
+"You did not receive your life through me, Fanny," replied Mrs.
+Claire, so soon as she could command her voice, for she too was
+overcome by feeling--"but in all else I am your mother; and I love you
+equally with my other children. If there has ever been a difference,
+it has all been in your favour."
+
+"Why, why did you destroy the illusion under which I have so long
+rested?" said Fanny, when both were more composed. "Why tell me
+a truth from which no good can flow? Why break in upon my happy
+ignorance with such a chilling revelation? Oh, mother, mother! Forgive
+me, if I say you have been cruel."
+
+"Not so, my child. Believe me, that nothing but duty would have ever
+driven me to this avowal. You are now at woman's legal age. You have
+a guardian, in whose hands your father, at his death, left, for your
+benefit, some property; and this person now desires to settle the
+estate, and transfer to you what remains."
+
+Bewildered, like one awakening from a dream, Fanny listened to
+this strange announcement. And it was some time before she really
+comprehended her true position.
+
+"Not your child--a guardian--property!--What does it all mean? Am I
+really awake, mother?"
+
+"Yes, dear, you are awake. It is no dream, believe me," was the tender
+reply of Mrs. Claire. "But, remember, that all this does not
+diminish our love for you--does not remove you in the least from
+our affections. You are still our child, bound to us by a thousand
+intertwining chords."
+
+But little more passed between them at this interview. Fanny asked
+for no more particulars, and Mrs. Claire did not think it necessary to
+give any further information. Fanny soon retired to her own chamber,
+there to commune with her thoughts, and to seek, in tears, relief to
+her oppressed feelings.
+
+The meeting of Claire with Fanny, on his return home, was affecting.
+She met him with a quivering lip and moistened eyes, and, as she
+laid her cheek against his breast, murmured in a sad, yet deeply
+affectionate voice--
+
+"My father!"
+
+"My own dear child!" quickly replied Claire, with emotion.
+
+And then both stood for some time silent. Leading her to a seat,
+Claire said tenderly--
+
+"I have always loved you truly, and now you are dearer to me than
+ever."
+
+"My more than father," was her simple response.
+
+"My own dear child!" said Mr. Claire, kissing her fondly. "We have
+ever blessed the day on which you came to us from God."
+
+Words would only have mocked their feelings, and so but few words
+passed between them, yet how full of thoughts crowding upon thoughts
+were their minds--how over-excited their hearts with new emotions of
+love.
+
+After the younger members of the family had retired on that evening,
+Mr. and Mrs. Claire and Fanny were alone together. All three were in
+a calmer state of mind. Fanny listened with deep attention, her hand
+shading her countenance so as to conceal its varying expression, to
+a brief history of her parentage. Of things subsequent to the time of
+her entrance into her present home, but little was said. There was
+an instinctive delicacy on the part of Claire and his wife, now that
+Fanny was about coming into the possession of property, which kept
+back all allusion to the sacrifices they had made, and the pain they
+had suffered on her account, in their contentions with her guardian.
+In fact, this matter of property produced with them a feeling of
+embarrassment. They had no mercenary thoughts in regard to it--had
+no wish to profit by their intimate and peculiar relation. And yet,
+restricted in their own income, and with a family growing daily more
+expensive, they understood but too well the embarrassment which
+would follow, if any very important change were made in their present
+external relations. To explain every thing to Fanny, would, they knew,
+lead to an instant tender of all she possessed. But this they
+could not do; nor had they a single selfish desire in regard to her
+property. If things could remain as they were, without injustice to
+Fanny, they would be contented; but they were not altogether satisfied
+as to the amount they were receiving for her maintenance. It struck
+them as being too much; and they had more than once conferred together
+in regard to its reduction.
+
+The first thing to be done was to make Fanny comprehend her relation
+to Mr. Jasper, her guardian, and his wish to settle up the estate of
+her father, and transfer to her, or her representative, the property
+that remained in his hands.
+
+"I will leave all with you, father," was the very natural response
+made to this. "All I have is yours. Do just as you think best."
+
+On the next day a power of attorney in the name of Edward Claire was
+executed; and, as Jasper was anxious to get the business settled,
+every facility thereto was offered. Claire examined the will of Mr.
+Elder, in which certain property was mentioned, and saw that it agreed
+with the guardian's statement. All the accounts were scrutinized; and
+all the vouchers for expenditure compared with the various entries.
+Every thing appeared correct, and Claire expressed himself entirely
+satisfied. All legal forms were then complied with; and, in due time,
+the necessary documents were prepared ready for the signature of
+Claire, by which Jasper would be freed from the nervous anxiety he had
+for years felt whenever his thoughts went forward to this particular
+point of time.
+
+On the evening preceding the day when a consummation so long and
+earnestly looked for was to take place, Jasper, with his mind too much
+absorbed in business troubles to mingle with his family, sat alone in
+his library, deeply absorbed in plans and calculations. His confidence
+in fortune and his own prudence had been growing weaker, daily; and
+now it seemed to him as if a great darkness were gathering all around.
+He had fully trusted in himself; alas! how weak now seemed to him
+his human arm; how dim the vision with which he would penetrate the
+future. He was mocked of his own overweening and proud confidence.
+
+This was his state of mind when a servant came to the library-door,
+and announced a gentleman who wished to see him.
+
+"What is his name?" asked Jasper.
+
+"He said it was no difference. He was a friend."
+
+"It might make a great difference," Jasper muttered in an undertone.
+"Show him up," he said aloud.
+
+The servant retired, and Jasper waited for his visitor to appear. He
+was not long in suspense. The door soon reopened, and a man, poorly
+clad, and with a face bearing strong marks of intemperance and evil
+passions, came in.
+
+"You do not know me," said he, observing that the merchant, who had
+risen to his feet, did not recognise him.
+
+Jasper shook his head.
+
+"Look closer." There was an air of familiarity and rude insolence
+about the man.
+
+"Martin!" exclaimed Jasper, stepping back a few paces. "Is it
+possible!"
+
+"Quite possible, friend Jasper," returned the man, helping himself to
+a chair, and sinking into it with the air of one who felt himself at
+home.
+
+Surprise and perplexity kept the merchant dumb for some moments. He
+would quite as lief have been confronted with a robber, pistol in
+hand.
+
+"I do not wish to see you, Martin," said he, at length, speaking in a
+severe tone of voice. "Why have you intruded on me again? Are you not
+satisfied? Have you no mercy?"
+
+"None, Leonard Jasper, none," replied the man scowling. "I never knew
+the meaning of the word--no more than yourself."
+
+"You are nothing better than a robber," said the merchant, bitterly.
+
+"I only share with bolder robbers their richer plunder," retorted the
+man.
+
+"I will not bear this, Martin. Leave my presence."
+
+"I will relieve you certainly," said the visitor, rising, "when you
+have done for me what I wish. I arrived here, to-day, penniless; and
+have called for a trifling loan to help me on my way North."
+
+"Loan! what mockery! I will yield no further to your outrageous
+demands. I was a fool ever to have feared the little power you
+possess. Go, sir! I do not fear you."
+
+"I want your check for two hundred dollars--no more," said Martin, in
+a modified tone--"I will not be hard on you. Necessity drives me to
+this resort; but I hope never to trouble you again."
+
+"Not a dollar," replied Jasper, firmly. "And now, my friend, seek
+some other mode of sustaining yourself in vice and idleness. You have
+received from me your last contribution. In settling the estate
+of Reuben Elder to the entire satisfaction of all parties, I have
+disarmed you. You have no further power to hurt."
+
+"You may find yourself mistaken in regard to my power," replied
+Martin as he made a movement toward the door, and threw back upon the
+merchant a side-glance of the keenest malignity. "Many a foot has been
+stung by the reptile it spurned."
+
+The word "stay" came not to Jasper's lips. He was fully in earnest.
+Martin paused, with his hand on the door, and said--
+
+"One hundred dollars will do."
+
+"Not a copper, if it were to save you from the nether regions!"
+cried Jasper, his anger and indignation o'erleaping the boundaries of
+self-control.
+
+He was alone in the next moment. As his excitement cooled down, he
+felt by no means indifferent to the consequences which might follow
+this rupture with Martin. More than one thought presented itself,
+which, if it could have been weighed calmly a few minutes before,
+would have caused a slightly modified treatment of his unwelcome
+visitor.
+
+But having taken his position, Jasper determined to adhere to it, and
+brave all consequences.
+
+While Claire was yet seated at the breakfast-table on the next
+morning, word was brought that a gentleman was in the parlour and
+wished to see him.
+
+On entering the parlour, he found there a man of exceedingly ill
+appearance, both as to countenance and apparel.
+
+"My name is Martin," said this person--"though you do not, I presume,
+know me."
+
+Claire answered that he was to him an entire stranger.
+
+"I have," said the man, speaking in a low, confidential tone of voice,
+"became cognisant of certain facts, which it much concerns you, or at
+least your adopted daughter, Fanny Elder, to know."
+
+For a few moments, Claire was overcome with surprise.
+
+"Concerns Fanny Elder to know! What do you mean, sir?"
+
+"Precisely what I say. There has been a great fraud committed; and I
+know all the ins and the outs of it!"
+
+"By whom?" asked Claire.
+
+"Ah!" replied the visitor, "that we will come to after a while."
+
+"Upon whom, then?"
+
+"Upon the estate of Ruben Elder, the father of your adopted daughter."
+
+Not liking either the man's appearance or manner, Claire said, after a
+moment's reflection--
+
+"Why have you called to see me?"
+
+"To give the information I have indicated--provided, of course, that
+you desire to have it."
+
+"On what terms do you propose to act in this matter? Let us understand
+each other in the beginning."
+
+"I can put you in the way of recovering for Miss Elder from twenty to
+a hundred thousand dollars, out of which she has been cheated. But,
+before I give you any information on the subject, I shall require an
+honourable pledge on your part, as well as written agreement, to pay
+me twenty per cent. of the whole amount recovered. Will you give it?"
+
+Claire bent his head in thought for some moments. When he looked up he
+said--
+
+"No, sir. I can make no compact with you of this kind."
+
+"Very well, sir. That closes the matter," replied Martin, rising. "If
+you will not buy a fortune at so small a cost, you deserve to be poor.
+How far your conscience is clear in respect to Miss Elder, is another
+matter. But, perhaps you don't credit what I say. Let me give you a
+single hint. Fanny Elder was missing once for three days. I had a hand
+in that affair. Do you think she was carried off, and taken to another
+city for nothing? If so, you are wonderfully mistaken. But good
+morning, sir. If you should, on reflection, change your mind, you can
+hear of me by calling at the office of Grind, the lawyer."
+
+"Good morning," returned Claire, showing not the least disposition to
+retain the man, toward whom he experienced a strong feeling of dislike
+and sense of repulsion.
+
+Martin lingered a few moments, and then went out, leaving Claire
+bewildered by a rush of new thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+The meeting of Claire and Jasper, for the final settlement of Mr.
+Elder's estate, was to take place at the office of Grind, at ten
+o'clock. Before keeping his appointment, the former turned over in
+his mind, with careful deliberation, the circumstances which had just
+occurred; and the more he thought of it, the better satisfied was he
+that a fraud had been committed. The author of that fraud could be no
+one else but the guardian of Fanny; of whose honesty Claire had, with
+good reason, no very high opinion. His conclusion was, not to accept,
+at present, a settlement of the estate.
+
+With an uneasy foreboding of evil--he was, in fact, rarely now without
+that feeling--Leonard Jasper took his way to the office of Grind.
+Notwithstanding he had defied Martin, he yet feared him. But he was so
+near to the point of comparative safety, that he hoped soon to be past
+all real danger from this quarter. Too little time had elapsed, since
+he parted with him, for Martin to see Claire, even if a thought
+of assailing him in that quarter had crossed his mind. So Jasper
+believed. How sadly taken by surprise was he, therefore, when, on
+meeting Claire, the latter said--
+
+"Since I saw you yesterday, a matter has come to my knowledge which
+I feel bound to investigate, before proceeding any farther in this
+business."
+
+As if struck by a heavy blow, Jasper moved a pace or two backward,
+while an instant pallor overspread his face. Quickly recovering
+himself, he said--
+
+"Explain yourself, Edward. What matter has come to your knowledge?"
+
+"On that subject I would prefer speaking with you alone," replied
+Claire.
+
+"This room is at your service," said Grind, rising and retiring toward
+his front office. "You will be altogether free from intrusion." And he
+passed out, closing the door behind him.
+
+"Edward," said Jasper, in as firm a voice as he could assume, "What is
+the meaning of this? You look at me with an expression of countenance,
+and have spoken in a tone that implies a belief on your part that I
+have not acted fairly in the matter of this guardianship."
+
+"Such, at least, is my impression," replied Claire, firmly.
+
+"Have you come here to insult me, sir?" Jasper drew himself up with an
+offended manner.
+
+"No, Mr. Jasper. I have no such intention. All I purpose is, to
+ascertain how far certain information received by me this morning is
+correct."
+
+"What information?"
+
+The merchant became a good deal agitated.
+
+"A man named Martin called on me"--
+
+"Martin! oh, the wretch! My curses rest on him, for a base betrayer!"
+
+Claire was startled at the effect produced by his mention of the name
+of Martin. Jasper, on hearing this name, believed that every thing had
+been divulged, and, in the bitterness and despair of this conviction,
+threw off all concealment. His countenance, which had partly gained
+its usual colour, became pallid again, while large beads of sweat
+oozed from the relaxed pores and stood upon his forehead. Moving
+back a step or two, he sank into a chair, and averting his face, sat
+struggling with himself to regain the mastery over his feelings.
+
+How changed, in a few brief years, had become the relation of these
+two men. The poor, humble, despised, but honest clerk, now stood
+erect, while the merchant cowered before him in humiliation and fear.
+
+"Edward," said Jasper, as soon as he had sufficient composure of mind
+to think somewhat clearly and speak calmly, "What do you purpose doing
+in this matter?"
+
+"What is right, Mr. Jasper," answered Claire, firmly. "That is my
+duty."
+
+"Ruin! ruin! ruin!" exclaimed Jasper, in a low voice, again losing
+command of himself, and wringing his hands hopelessly. "Oh! that it
+should have come to this!"
+
+Astonished as Claire was by what he now heard and saw, he felt the
+necessity of preserving the most entire self-possession. When Jasper
+again put the question--
+
+"What do you purpose doing, Edward?" he replied.
+
+"I shall be better able to answer that question when I have all the
+particulars upon which to make up a decision. At present, I only know
+that a large amount of property has been withheld from Miss Elder; and
+that I have only to bring this man Martin into a court of justice to
+have every thing made clear."
+
+"And this you purpose doing?"
+
+"I shall do so, undoubtedly; unless the object to be gained by such a
+course is secured in another way."
+
+"Quite as much, believe me, Edward, can be gained through private
+arrangement as by legal investigation," returned Jasper, his manner
+greatly subdued. "You and I can settle every thing, I am sure, between
+ourselves; and, as far as my ability will carry me, it shall be to
+your entire satisfaction. I have greatly mistaken your character, or
+you will take no pleasure in destroying me."
+
+"Pleasure in destroying you?" Claire was still further affected with
+surprise. "In no man's destruction could I take pleasure."
+
+"I believe you Edward. And now let me give you a history of this
+matter from the beginning. You will know better what course to pursue
+when you comprehend it fully."
+
+And then, to the astonished ears of Claire, Jasper related how,
+through the man Martin, he became possessed of the fact that the
+supposed almost valueless piece of land in Pennsylvania which Mr.
+Elder had taken to secure a debt of five hundred dollars, contained
+a rich coal deposite--and how, as executor to his estate, and the
+guardian of his child, he had by presenting the child in person before
+commissioners appointed by the court, obtained an order for the sale
+of the land, with the declared purpose of investing the proceeds in
+some productive property. It was for this that he had been so anxious
+to get Fanny, and for this that he carried her off forcibly, although
+his agency in the matter did not appear. He then related how, in the
+sale, he became the real purchaser; and how, afterward, the tract,
+as coal land, was sold to a company for nearly a hundred thousand
+dollars.
+
+"But Edward," said Jasper, as he concluded his humiliating narrative,
+"I am worse off to-day than if I had never made this transaction. It
+gave me a large amount of capital for trade and speculation, but
+it also involved me in connections, and led me into schemes for
+money-making, that have wellnigh proved my ruin. In all truth, I am
+not, this day, worth one-half of what I received for that property."
+
+Jasper ceased speaking; but astonishment kept Claire silent.
+
+"And now, Edward," resumed the former, "I am ready to make restitution
+as far as in my power lies. You can drag me into court, and thus blast
+my reputation; or, you can obtain for Miss Elder as much, or even
+more, than you would probably get by law--for, if driven into the
+courts, I will contend to the last moment--through an amicable
+arrangement. Which course are you disposed to take?"
+
+"I have no desire to harm you, Mr. Jasper--none in the world. If the
+terms of settlement which you may offer are such as, under all the
+circumstances, I feel justified in accepting, I will meet your wishes.
+But you must bear in mind that, in this matter, I am not acting for
+myself."
+
+"I know--but your judgment of the case must determine."
+
+"True--and in that judgment I will endeavour to hold an equal
+balance."
+
+The two men now retired from the lawyer's office; and, ere parting,
+arranged a meeting for that evening at the store of Jasper, where they
+could be entirely alone. For two or three successive evenings these
+conferences were continued, until Claire was entirely satisfied that
+the merchant's final offer to transfer to the possession of Fanny
+Elder four houses, valued at five thousand dollars each, in full
+settlement of her father's estate, was the very best he could do; and
+far more than he would probably obtain if an appeal were made to the
+law.
+
+As quickly as this transfer could be made, it was done. Not until the
+long-desired documents, vouching for the equitable settlement of the
+estate, were in Jasper's hands, did he breathe freely. Oh! through
+what an ordeal he had passed. How his own pride, self-consequence, and
+self-sufficiency had been crushed out of him! And not only in spirit
+was he humbled and broken. In his anxiety to settle up the estate of
+Mr. Elder, and thus get the sword that seemed suspended over his head
+by a single hair, removed, he had overstepped his ability. The houses
+referred to were burdened with a mortgage of nearly ten thousand
+dollars; this had, of course, to be released; and, in procuring the
+money therefor, he strained to the utmost his credit, thus cutting
+off important facilities needed in his large, and now seriously
+embarrassed business.
+
+It is the last pound that breaks the camel's back. This abstraction of
+money and property took away from Jasper just what he needed to carry
+him safely through a period of heavy payments, at a time when there
+was some derangement in financial circles. In less than a month
+from the time he settled the estate of Reuben Elder, the news of his
+failure startled the business community. He went down with a heavy
+plunge, and never again rose to the surface. His ruin was complete. He
+had trusted in riches. Gold was his god; and the idol had mocked him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+Beyond what has already been written, there is not much, in the
+histories of those whom we have introduced, to be told, except
+briefly, worthy the reader's interested attention.
+
+Martin, the old accomplice of Jasper, finding his power over that
+individual gone, and failing in the card he played against Claire's
+nice sense of honour and integrity of purpose, now turned, like an
+ill-natured, hungry cur, and showed his teeth to the man through whose
+advice he had so long been able to extort money from Jasper. He felt
+the less compunction in so doing, from the fact that Grind, angry with
+him for having been the agent of Jasper's final destruction, which
+involved him in a severe loss, had expressed himself in no measured
+terms--had, in fact, lashed him with most bitter and opprobrious
+words.
+
+Several times, during the progress of events briefly stated in the
+concluding portions of the last chapter, Martin had, in his frequent
+visits to the lawyer, hinted, more or less remotely, at his great need
+of money. But to these intimations, Grind never gave the slightest
+response. At last the man said boldly--
+
+"Mr. Grind, you must help me to a little money." This was directly
+after the failure of Jasper.
+
+"I cannot do it," was the unequivocal reply. "You have, by your
+miserable vindictiveness, ruined Jasper, after having subsisted on
+him for years--base return for all you owe him--and, in doing so, half
+destroyed me. You have killed the goose that laid the golden egg, and
+there is no one but yourself to thank for this folly."
+
+"You must help me, Mr. Grind," said Martin, his brows knitting,
+and the muscles of his lips growing rigid. "You had a hand in that
+business as well as Jasper; you took a big slice, if he did keep
+the major part of the loaf; and so I have a right to ask some slight
+return for important service rendered."
+
+"What! This to me!" exclaimed Grind, roused to instant excitement.
+
+"This to you," was the cool, deliberate answer.
+
+"You have mistaken your man," returned the lawyer, now beginning to
+comprehend Martin more thoroughly. "I understand my whole relation to
+this affair too well to be moved by any attempt at extortion which
+you can make. But I can tell you a little secret, which it may be
+interesting for you to know."
+
+"What is it?" growled the man.
+
+"Why, that I hold the power to give you a term in the State's prison,
+whenever I may happen to feel inclined that way."
+
+"Indeed!" Martin spoke with a cold, defiant sneer.
+
+"I am uttering no vague threat. From the beginning, I have kept this
+trap over you, ready to spring, if need be, at a moment's warning."
+
+"I suppose you thought me a poor fool, did you not?" said Martin as
+coldly and contemptuously as before. "But you were mistaken. I have
+not been altogether willing to trust myself in your hands, without
+good advice from a limb of the law quite as shrewd as yourself."
+
+"What do you mean?" exclaimed Grind, somewhat startled by so
+unexpected a declaration.
+
+"Plainly," was answered, "while I took your advice as to the surest
+way to act upon Jasper, I consulted another as to the means of
+protecting myself from you, if matters ever came to a pinch."
+
+"Oh! Preposterous!" Grind forced a laugh. "That's only an
+afterthought."
+
+"Is it. Hark!" Martin bent close to his ear, and uttered a few words
+in an undertone. Grind started as if stung by a serpent.
+
+"Wretch!"
+
+"It is useless to call ill names, my friend. I have you in my power;
+and I mean to keep you there. But I shall not be very hard on you. So,
+don't look so awfully cut down."
+
+For once the scheming, unscrupulous lawyer found himself outwitted.
+His tool had proved too sharp for him. Without a doubt he was in his
+power to an extent by no means agreeable to contemplate. Grind now saw
+that conciliation was far better than antagonism.
+
+When Martin retired from the lawyer's office, he had in his pocket a
+check for two hundred dollars, while behind him was left his solemn
+pledge to leave the city for New Orleans the next day. The pledge,
+when given, he did not intend to keep; and it was not kept, as Grind
+soon afterward learned, to his sorrow. A drunkard and a gambler, it
+did not take Martin long to see once more the bottom of his purse. Not
+until this occurred did he trouble the lawyer again. Then he startled
+him with a second visit, and, after a few sharp words, came off with
+another check, though for a less amount.
+
+And for years, leech-like, Martin, sinking lower and lower all the
+time, continued his adhesion to the lawyer, abstracting continually,
+but in gradually diminishing sums, the money needed for natural life
+and sensual indulgence, until often his demands went not above a
+dollar. Grind, reluctantly as he yielded to these demands, believed it
+wiser to pay them than to meet the exposure Martin had it in his
+power to make. And so it went on, until, one day, to his inexpressible
+relief, Grind read in the morning papers an account of the sudden and
+violent death of his enemy. His sleep was sounder on the night that
+followed than it had been for a long, long time.
+
+Of Edward Claire, and his happy family--not happy merely from an
+improved external condition, for the foundation of their happiness was
+laid in a deeper ground--we have not much to relate.
+
+When Claire brought to Fanny the title-deeds of the property which he
+had recovered from Jasper, she pushed them back upon him, saying, as
+she did so--
+
+"Keep them, father--keep them. All is yours."
+
+"No, my dear child," replied Claire, seriously, yet with tenderness
+and emotion, "all is not mine. All is yours. This property, through
+a wise Providence, has come into your possession. I have no right to
+it."
+
+"If it is mine, father," said Fanny, "have I not a right to do with it
+what I please?"
+
+"In a certain sense you have."
+
+"Then I give it all to you--you, my more than father!"
+
+"For such a noble tender, my dear child, I thank you in the very
+inmost of my heart. But I cannot accept of it, Fanny."
+
+"Why not, father? Why not? You have bestowed on me more than wealth
+could buy! I know something of what you have borne and suffered for
+me. Your health, now impaired, was broken for me. Oh, my father! can
+I ever forget that? Can I ever repay you all I owe? Were the world's
+wealth mine, it should be yours."
+
+Overcome by her feelings, Fanny wept for some time on the breast of
+him she knew only as her father; and there the interview closed for
+the time.
+
+Soon after it was renewed; and the occasion of this was an
+advantageous business offer made to Claire by Mr. Melleville, if he
+could bring in a capital of twelve thousand dollars. Two of the houses
+received from Jasper, with some stocks, were sold to furnish this
+capital, and Claire, after his long struggle, found himself in a
+safe and moderately profitable business; and, what was more, with a
+contented and thankful spirit. Of what treasures was he possessed?
+Treasures of affection, such as no money could buy; and, above all,
+the wealth of an approving conscience.
+
+Mrs. Claire--happy wife and mother!--how large too was her wealth.
+From the beginning she had possessed the riches which have no
+wings--spiritual riches, that depend on no worldly changes; laid up in
+the heaven of her pure mind, where moth could not corrupt, nor thieves
+break through and steal. The better worldly fortune that now came
+added to her happiness, because it afforded the means of giving to
+their children higher advantages, and procured for them many blessings
+and comforts to which they were hitherto strangers.
+
+Five years, passed under an almost cloudless sky, succeeded, and
+then the sweet home circle was broken by the withdrawal of one whose
+presence made perpetual sunshine. One so good, so lovely, so fitted
+in every way to form the centre of another home circle as Fanny Elder,
+could hardly remain unwooed or unwon. Happily, in leaving the paternal
+haven, her life-boat was launched on no uncertain sea. The character
+of her husband was based on those sound, religious principles, which
+regard justice to man as the expression of love to God.
+
+A few weeks after the husband of Fanny had taken his lovely young wife
+to his own home, Claire waited upon him for the purpose of making a
+formal transfer of his wife's property.
+
+"There are four houses," said Claire, in describing the property;
+"besides twelve thousand dollars which I have in my business. A
+portion of this latter I will pay over; on the balance, while it
+remains"--
+
+"Mr. Claire," returned the young man, interrupting him, "the house you
+now live in, Fanny says, is your property--also the capital in your
+business."
+
+"No--no--no. This is not so. I do not want, and I will not keep a
+dollar of her patrimony."
+
+"You are entitled to every thing, in good right," said the young man,
+smiling. "But we will consent to take one-half as a good start in
+life."
+
+"But, my dear sir"--
+
+We will not, however, record the arguments, affirmations,
+protestations, etc., made by each party in this contention, but drop
+the curtain, and leave the reader to infer the sequel. He cannot go
+very far wide of the truth.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+  STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
+  PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+48 NORTH FOURTH ST., PHILADELPHIA; AND
+
+L.P. CROWN & CO.,
+
+61 CORNHILL, BOSTON,
+
+PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING
+
+WORKS BY JOHN FROST, LL.D.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THRILLING ADVENTURES AMONG THE INDIANS.
+
+Comprising the most remarkable Personal Narratives of events in
+the early INDIAN WARS, as well as of Incidents in the recent Indian
+Hostilities in Mexico and Texas. Illustrated with over 300 Engravings,
+from designs by W. CROOME, and other distinguished artists.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    "The matter contained in this handsome volume, is as well
+    calculated to give a correct idea of the character of the
+    Indians, and their modes of life, as that of any book ever
+    published. All that gives a charm to romance may be found in
+    the narrative contained in this work, but all of them possess
+    the never-failing attractions of truth. The sufferings of
+    numerous captives are also detailed, together with their
+    contrivances of escape from their savage captors. The
+    illustrations, by the well-known W. Croome, are excellent in
+    design and execution, and the printing and binding of the work
+    are fine specimens of each art."
+
+
+
+
+GREAT EVENTS IN MODERN HISTORY:
+
+
+Comprising the MOST REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES, CONQUESTS, REVOLUTIONS,
+GREAT BATTLES, and other Thrilling Incidents, chiefly in Europe and
+America, from the commencement of the Sixteenth Century to the present
+time. Embellished with over 600 Engravings, by W. CROOME, and other
+eminent artists. The following are extracts from notices of the press
+received by the Publisher.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    "We have here, within the compass of eight hundred pages, the
+    history of those events of modern history, which have been
+    'big with mighty consequences,' and with which, therefore, all
+    men should become acquainted. Beginning with the discovery
+    of America, by Columbus--that new starting-point of
+    civilization--the work proceeds through the history of the
+    various European nations, culling those great periods when,
+    either by wars or revolutions, each nation began to occupy
+    a conspicuous place in the general estimation of men, and to
+    make its influence felt by those without its limits. The
+    late revolutions in Europe, the Mexican war, and the gold
+    discoveries in California, are rapidly and vividly sketched.
+    The illustrations, principally from designs by Croome, are
+    numerous, well executed, serving to impress the striking
+    scenes and characters of history upon the tablet of memory.
+    The whole work, in design and execution, reflects great credit
+    upon all concerned in its production."
+
+
+
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+No. 48 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA;
+
+AND L.P. CROWN & CO.,
+
+61 CORNHILL, BOSTON,
+
+PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING WORKS BY T.S. ARTHUR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF REAL LIFE, with an autobiography and portrait of
+the author, over 600 pages octavo, with fine tinted engravings.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    In this volume may be found a "moral suasion," which cannot
+    but effect for good all who read. The mechanical execution of
+    the work is very beautiful throughout.--_New Haven Palladium_.
+
+    It is by far the most valuable book ever published of his
+    works, inasmuch as it is enriched with a very interesting,
+    though brief autobiography.--_American Courier_.
+
+    No family library is complete without a copy of this
+    book--_Scott's Weekly Paper_.
+
+    No better or worthier present could be made to the young,
+    no offering more pure, charitable, and practicable, could be
+    tendered to those who are interested in the truly benevolent
+    reforms of the day.--_Godey's Lady's Book_.
+
+    The paper, the engravings, the binding, and the literary
+    contents, are all calculated to make it a favourite.--_Penn.
+    Inquirer_.
+
+    This volume cannot be too highly recommended.--_N.Y. Tribune_.
+
+    More good has been effected, than by any other single medium
+    that we know of.--_N.Y. Sun_.
+
+    The work should be upon the centre-table of every parent in
+    the land.--_National Temperance Magazine_.
+
+    A single story is worth the price charged for the
+    book.--_Union, Newburyport, Mass_.
+
+
+ARTHUR'S SKETCHES OF LIFE AND CHARACTER, an octavo volume of over 400
+pages, beautifully illustrated, and bound in the best English muslin,
+gilt.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    The present volume, containing more than four hundred
+    finely-printed octavo pages, is illustrated by spirited
+    engravings, and made particularly valuable to those who
+    like to "see the face of him they talk withal," by a correct
+    likeness of the author, finely engraved on steel.--_Neal's
+    Gazette_.
+
+    In the princely mansions of the Atlantic merchants, and in
+    the rude log cabins of the backwoodsman, the name of Arthur
+    is equally known and cherished as the friend of
+    virtue.--_Graham's Magazine_.
+
+    We would not exchange our copy of these sketches, with
+    its story of "The Methodist Preacher," for any one of
+    the gilt-edged and embossed annuals which we have yet
+    seen.--_Lady's National Magazine_.
+
+    The first story in the volume, entitled, "The Methodist
+    Preacher, or Lights and Shadows in the Life of an Itinerant,"
+    is alone worth the price of the work.--_Evening Bulletin_.
+
+    It is emphatically a splendid work.--_Middletown Whig_.
+
+    Its worth and cheapness should place it in every person's
+    hands who desire to read an interesting book.--_Odd Fellow,
+    Boonsboro_.
+
+    "The Methodist Preacher," "Seed Time and Harvest," "Dyed in
+    the Wool," are full of truth, as well as instruction, and any
+    one of them is worth the whole price of the volume.--_Lowell
+    Daystar, Rev. D.C. Eddy, Editor_.
+
+    There is a fascination about these sketches which so
+    powerfully interests the reader, that few who commence one
+    of them will part with it till it is concluded; and they will
+    bear reading repeatedly.--_Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald_.
+
+    Those who have not perused these model stories have a
+    rich feast in waiting, and we shall be happy if we can
+    be instrumental in pointing them to it.--_Family Visitor,
+    Madison, Geo_.
+
+    No library for family reading should be considered complete
+    without this volume, which is as lively and entertaining in
+    its character, as it is salutary in its influence.--_N.Y.
+    Tribune_.
+
+    The work is beautifully illustrated. Those who are at all
+    acquainted with Arthur's writings need hardly be told that the
+    present work is a prize to whoever possess it.--_N.Y. Sun_.
+
+    We know no better book for the table of any family, whether
+    regarded for its neat exterior or valuable contents.--_Vox
+    Populi, Low_.
+
+    The name of the author is in itself a sufficient
+    recommendation of the work.--_Lawrence Sentinel_.
+
+    T.S. Arthur is one of the best literary writers of the
+    age.--_Watchman, Circleville, Ohio_.
+
+    The name alone of the author is a sufficient guaranty to the
+    reading public of its surpassing merit.--_The Argus, Gallatin,
+    Miss_.
+
+    Probably he has not written a line which, dying, he could wish
+    to erase.--_Parkersburg (Va.) Gazette_.
+
+
+THE WAY TO PROSPER, AND OTHER TALES,
+
+12mo, over 200 pages, with six illustrations.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    This is one of Mr. Arthur's best books. His object, and he
+    always has in view a noble one, is to recommend family union,
+    a firm adherence to the law which requires us to respect the
+    holy tie of family union, which requires brother to assist
+    brother, and sister, sister. By means of a lively and pleasing
+    narrative, he shows that this principle is not only right, but
+    politic, and that the law of family unions is really the true
+    way to prosper. We commend the volume to our readers as one
+    of the best and most profitable of the many useful works which
+    have been produced by the same accomplished writer.--_Godey's
+    Lady's Book_.
+
+    This is the title of a small volume published by Mr. J.W.
+    Bradley, of this city. It is from the pen of Mr. T.S.
+    Arthur--the story of two families, one of which prospers by
+    the union of good-will which prevails among the brothers,
+    and leads them always to aid each other in their worldly
+    undertakings; while the other goes to rack and ruin, because
+    the brothers always act upon the maxim, "Every one for
+    himself." The moral is excellent, and cannot be too earnestly
+    and widely inculcated.
+
+    Mr. Bradley has produced this little work in very handsome
+    style, with original embellishments from the fertile pencil of
+    Mr. Croome.--_Scotts Weekly_.
+
+
+GOLDEN GRAINS FROM LIFE'S HARVEST FIELD,
+
+bound in full gilt, with a beautiful mezzotint engraving, 12mo, 240
+pages.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    It is not too much to say, that the Golden Grains here
+    presented to the reader, are such as will be productive of a
+    far greater amount of human happiness than those, in search of
+    which, so many are willing to risk domestic peace, health, and
+    even life itself, in a distant and inhospitable region.
+
+    These narratives, like all of those which proceed from the
+    same able pen, are remarkable not only for their entertaining
+    and lively pictures of actual life, but for their admirable
+    moral tendency.
+
+    It is printed in excellent style, and embellished with a
+    mezzotint engraving. We cordially recommend it to the favour
+    of our readers.--_Godey's Lady's Magazine_.
+
+
+TRUE RICHES; or, WEALTH WITHOUT WINGS,
+
+12mo, 210 pages, with a fine mezzotint Frontispiece.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    This volume is written by T.S. Arthur, the most popular of all
+    our American writers on domestic subjects. His intention is to
+    direct the reader to the real riches of life, the wealth which
+    cannot be taken away by the adverse events of fortune. The
+    true wisdom of life, he shows us, is to place our fortune
+    in ourselves, to make our own minds rich in intellectual
+    treasures, and our hearts true to the legitimate purposes and
+    ends of life. When the doctrine of this little volume becomes
+    universally prevalent, a new era of happiness will dawn upon
+    mankind.--_Godey's Lady's Book_.
+
+    Mr. Arthur, in this volume, impresses upon his readers the
+    importance of laying up treasures in the really profitable
+    way--moral and intellectual treasures, which, in all the
+    storms of ill-fortune, never leave their possessor without
+    ample resources. The world acknowledges the truth of his
+    moral, but often forgets to reduce it to practice. It
+    therefore, becomes the duty of the world's moral teachers, of
+    which Mr. Arthur is one of the most successful, to impress the
+    truth by a well-written narrative.--_Scott's Weekly_.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A Home Scene]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of True Riches, by T.S. Arthur
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of True Riches, by T.S. Arthur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: True Riches
+       Or, Wealth Without Wings
+
+Author: T.S. Arthur
+
+Release Date: March 16, 2005 [EBook #15389]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE RICHES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Internet Archive Children's Library, Joshua Hutchinson,
+S.R.Ellison and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+          TRUE RICHES;
+
+              OR,
+
+      WEALTH WITHOUT WINGS.
+
+         BY T.S. ARTHUR.
+
+
+             BOSTON:
+  L.P. CROWN & CO., 61 CORNHILL.
+
+              1852.
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in
+and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
+
+STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
+
+PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The original title chosen for this book was "Riches without Wings;"
+but the author becoming aware, before giving it a permanent form, that
+a volume bearing a similar title had appeared some years ago, of which
+a new edition was about to be issued, thought it best to substitute
+therefor, "True Riches; or, Wealth without Wings," which, in fact,
+expresses more accurately the character and scope of his story.
+
+The lessons herein taught are such as cannot be learned too early, nor
+dwelt on too long or too often, by those who are engaged in the
+active and all-absorbing duties of life. In the struggle for natural
+riches--the wealth that meets the eye and charms the imagination--how
+many forget that _true_ riches can _only_ be laid up in the heart; and
+that, without these true riches, which have no wings, gold, the god
+of this world, cannot bestow a single blessing! To give this truth
+a varied charm for young and old, the author has made of it a new
+presentation, and, in so doing, sought to invest it with all the
+winning attractions in his power to bestow.
+
+To parents who regard the best interests of their children, and to
+young men and women just stepping upon the world's broad stage of
+action, we offer our book, in the confident belief that it contains
+vital principles, which, if laid up in the mind, will, like good seed
+in good ground, produce an after-harvest, in the garnering of which
+there will be great joy.
+
+
+
+
+TRUE RICHES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+"A fair day's business. A _very_ fair day's business," said Leonard
+Jasper, as he closed a small account-book, over which he had been
+poring, pencil in hand, for some ten minutes. The tone in which he
+spoke expressed more than ordinary gratification.
+
+"To what do the sales amount?" asked a young man, clerk to the dealer,
+approaching his principal as he spoke.
+
+"To just two hundred dollars, Edward. It's the best day we've had for
+a month."
+
+"The best, in more than one sense," remarked the young man, with a
+meaning expression.
+
+"You're right there, too," said Jasper, with animation, rubbing his
+hands together as he spoke, in the manner of one who is particularly
+well pleased with himself. "I made two or three trades that told
+largely on the sunny side of profit and loss account."
+
+"True enough. Though I've been afraid, ever since you sold that piece
+of velvet to Harland's wife, that you cut rather deeper than was
+prudent."
+
+"Not a bit of it--not a bit of it! Had I asked her three dollars a
+yard, she would have wanted it for two. So I said six, to begin with,
+expecting to fall extensively; and, to put a good face on the matter,
+told her that it cost within a fraction of what I asked to make the
+importation--remarking, at the same time, that the goods were too
+rich in quality to bear a profit, and were only kept as a matter of
+accommodation to certain customers."
+
+"And she bought at five?"
+
+"Yes; thinking she had obtained the velvet at seventy-five cents a
+yard less than its cost. Generous customer, truly!"
+
+"While you, in reality, made two dollars and a half on every yard she
+bought."
+
+"Precisely that sum."
+
+"She had six yards."
+
+"Yes; out of which we made a clear profit of fifteen dollars. That
+will do, I'm thinking. Operations like this count up fast."
+
+"Very fast. But, Mr. Jasper"--
+
+"But what, Edward?"
+
+"Is it altogether prudent to multiply operations of this character?
+Won't it make for you a bad reputation, and thus diminish, instead of
+increasing, your custom?"
+
+"I fear nothing of the kind. One-half the people are not satisfied
+unless you cheat them. I've handled the yardstick, off and on, for the
+last fifteen or twenty years, and I think my observation during that
+time is worth something. It tells me this--that a bold face, a smooth
+tongue, and an easy conscience are worth more in our business than
+any other qualities. With these you may do as you list. They tell far
+better than all the 'one-price' and fair-dealing professions, in which
+people have little faith. In fact, the mass will overreach if they
+can, and therefore regard these 'honest' assumptions with suspicion."
+
+The young man, Edward Claire, did not make a reply for nearly a
+minute. Something in the words of Mr. Jasper had fixed his thought,
+and left him, for a brief space of time, absorbed in his own
+reflections.
+
+Lifting, at length, his eyes, which had been resting on the floor, he
+said--
+
+"Our profit on to-day's sales must reach very nearly fifty dollars."
+
+"Just that sum, if I have made a right estimate," replied Jasper; "and
+that is what I call a fair day's business."
+
+While he was yet speaking, a lad entered the store, and laid upon the
+counter a small sealed package, bearing the superscription, "Leonard
+Jasper, Esq." The merchant cut the red tape with which it was tied,
+broke the seal, and opening the package, took therefrom several
+papers, over which he ran his eyes hurriedly; his clerk, as he did so,
+turning away.
+
+"What's this?" muttered Jasper to himself, not at first clearly
+comprehending the nature of the business to which the communication
+related. "Executor! To what? Oh! ah! Estate of Ruben Elder. Humph!
+What possessed him to trouble me with this business? I've no time to
+play executor to an estate, the whole proceeds of which would hardly
+fill my trousers' pocket. He was a thriftless fellow at best, and
+never could more than keep his head out of water. His debts will
+swallow up every thing, of course, saving my commissions, which I
+would gladly throw in to be rid of this business."
+
+With this, Jasper tossed the papers into his desk, and, taking up his
+hat, said to his clerk--"You may shut the store, Edward. Before you
+leave, see that every thing is made safe."
+
+The merchant than retired, and wended his way homeward.
+
+Edward Claire seemed in no hurry to follow this example. His first
+act was to close the window-shutters and door--turning the key in the
+latter, and remaining inside.
+
+Entirely alone, and hidden from observation, the young man seated
+himself, and let his thoughts, which seemed to be active on some
+subject, take their own way. He was soon entirely absorbed.
+Whatever were his thoughts, one thing would have been apparent to
+an observer--they did not run in a quiet stream. Something disturbed
+their current, for his brow was knit, his compressed lips had a
+disturbed motion, and his hands moved about at times uneasily. At
+length he arose, not hurriedly, but with a deliberate motion, threw
+his arms behind him, and, bending forward, with his eyes cast down,
+paced the length of the store two or three times, backward and
+forward, slowly.
+
+"Fifty dollars profit in one day," he at length said, half audibly.
+"That will do, certainly. I'd be contented with a tenth part of the
+sum. He's bound to get rich; that's plain. Fifty dollars in a single
+day! Leonard Jasper, you're a shrewd one. I shall have to lay aside
+some of my old-fashioned squeamishness, and take a few lessons from so
+accomplished a teacher. But, he's a downright cheat!"
+
+Some better thought had swept suddenly, in a gleam of light, across
+the young man's mind, showing him the true nature of the principles
+from which the merchant acted, and, for the moment, causing his whole
+nature to revolt against them. But the light faded slowly; a state of
+darkness and confusion followed, and then the old current of thought
+moved on as before.
+
+Slowly, and now with an attitude of deeper abstraction, moved the
+young man backward and forward the entire length of the room, of which
+he was the sole occupant. He _felt_ that he was alone, that no human
+eye could note a single movement. Of the all-seeing Eye he thought
+not--his spirit's evil counsellors, drawn intimately nigh to him
+through inclinations to evil, kept that consciousness from his mind.
+
+At length Claire turned to the desk upon which were the account-books
+that had been used during the day, and commenced turning the leaves of
+one of them in a way that showed only a half-formed purpose. There was
+an impulse to something in his mind; an impulse not yet expressed in
+any form of thought, though in the progress toward something definite.
+
+"Fifty dollars a day!" he murmurs. Ah, that shows the direction of his
+mind. He is still struggling in temptation, and with all his inherited
+cupidities bearing him downward.
+
+Suddenly he starts, turns his head, and listens eagerly, and with a
+strange agitation. Some one had tried the door. For a few moments he
+stood in an attitude of the most profound attention. But the trial was
+not repeated. How audibly, to his own ears, throbbed his heart! How
+oppressed was his bosom! How, in a current of fire, rushed the blood
+to his over-excited brain!
+
+The hand upon the door was but an ordinary occurrence. It might now
+be only a customer, who, seeing a light within, hoped to supply some
+neglected want, or a friend passing by, who wished for a few words of
+pleasant gossip. At any other time Claire would have stepped quickly
+and with undisturbed expectation to receive the applicant for
+admission. But guilty thoughts awakened their nervous attendants,
+suspicion and fear, and these had sounded an instant alarm.
+
+Still, very still, sat Edward Claire, even to the occasional
+suppression of his breathing, which, to him, seemed strangely loud.
+
+Several minutes elapsed, and then the young man commenced silently to
+remove the various account-books to their nightly safe deposite in
+the fire-proof. The cash-box, over the contents of which he lingered,
+counting note by note and coin by coin, several times repeated, next
+took its place with the books. The heavy iron door swung to, the key
+traversed noiselessly the delicate and complicated wards, was removed
+and deposited in a place of safety; and, yet unrecovered from his mood
+of abstraction, the clerk left the store, and took his way homeward.
+From that hour Edward Claire was to be the subject of a fierce
+temptation. He had admitted an evil suggestion, and had warmed it in
+the earth of his mind, even to germination. Already a delicate root
+had penetrated the soil, and was extracting food therefrom. Oh! why
+did he not instantly pluck it out, when the hand of an infant would
+have sufficed in strength for the task? Why did he let it remain,
+shielding it from the cold winds of rational truth and the hot sun of
+good affections, until it could live, sustained by its own organs of
+appropriation and nutrition? Why did he let it remain until its lusty
+growth gave sad promise of an evil tree, in which birds of night find
+shelter and build nests for their young?
+
+Let us introduce another scene and another personage, who will claim,
+to some extent, the reader's attention.
+
+There were two small but neatly, though plainly, furnished rooms, in
+the second story of a house located in a retired street. In one of
+these rooms tea was prepared, and near the tea-table sat a young
+woman, with a sleeping babe nestled to-her bosom. She was fair-faced
+and sunny-haired; and in her blue eyes lay, in calm beauty, sweet
+tokens of a pure and loving heart. How tenderly she looked down, now
+and then, upon the slumbering cherub whose winning ways and murmurs of
+affection had blessed her through the day! Happy young wife! these are
+thy halcyon days. Care has not thrown upon thee a single shadow from
+his gloomy wing, and hope pictures the smiling future with a sky of
+sunny brightness.
+
+"How long he stays away!" had just passed her lips, when the sound of
+well-known footsteps was heard in the passage below. A brief time, and
+then the room-door opened, and Edward Claire came in. What a depth of
+tenderness was in his voice as he bent his lips to those of his young
+wife, murmuring--
+
+"My Edith!" and then touching, with a gentler pressure, the white
+forehead of his sleeping babe.
+
+"You were late this evening, dear," said Edith, looking into the face
+of her husband, whose eyes drooped under her earnest gaze.
+
+"Yes," he replied, with a slight evasion in his tone and manner; "we
+have been busier than usual to-day."
+
+As he spoke the young wife arose, and taking her slumbering child into
+the adjoining chamber, laid it gently in its crib. Then returning, she
+made the tea--the kettle stood boiling by the grate--and in a little
+while they sat down to their evening meal.
+
+Edith soon observed that her husband was more thoughtful and less
+talkative than usual. She asked, however, no direct question touching
+this change; but regarded what he did say with closer attention,
+hoping to draw a correct inference, without seeming to notice his
+altered mood.
+
+"Mr. Jasper's business is increasing?" she said, somewhat
+interrogatively, while they still sat at the table, an expression of
+her husband's leading to this remark.
+
+"Yes, increasing very rapidly," replied Claire, with animation. "The
+fact is, he is going to get rich. Do you know that his profit on
+to-day's sales amounted to fifty dollars?"
+
+"So much?" said Edith, yet in a tone that showed no surprise or
+particular interest in the matter.
+
+"Fifty dollars a day," resumed Claire, "counting three hundred
+week-days in the year, gives the handsome sum of fifteen thousand
+dollars in the year. I'd be satisfied with as much in five years."
+
+There was more feeling in the tone of his voice than he had meant to
+betray. His young wife lifted her eyes to his face, and looked at him
+with a wonder she could not conceal.
+
+"Contentment, dear," said she, in a gentle, subdued, yet tender voice,
+"is great gain. We have enough, and more than enough, to make us
+happy. Natural riches have no power to fill the heart's most yearning
+affections; and how often do they take to themselves wings and fly
+away."
+
+"Enough, dear!" replied Edward Claire, smiling. "O no, not enough, by
+any means. Five hundred dollars a year is but a meagre sum. What does
+it procure for us? Only these two rooms and the commonest necessaries
+of life. We cannot even afford the constant service of a domestic."
+
+"Why, Edward! what has come over you? Have I complained?"
+
+"No, dear, no. But think you I have no ambition to see my wife take a
+higher place than this?"
+
+"Ambition! Do not again use that word," said Edith, very earnestly.
+"What has love to do with ambition? What have we to do with the world
+and its higher places? Will a more elegant home secure for us a
+purer joy than we have known and still know in this our Eden? Oh,
+my husband! do not let such thoughts come into your mind. Let us be
+content with what God in his wisdom provides, assured that it is best
+for us. In envying the good of another, we destroy our own good. There
+is a higher wealth than gold, Edward; and it supplies higher wants.
+There are riches without wings; they lie scattered about our feet;
+we may fill our coffers, if we will. Treasures of good affections and
+true thoughts are worth more than all earthly riches, and will bear
+us far more safely and happily through the world; such treasures are
+given to all who will receive them, and given in lavish abundance. Let
+us secure of this wealth, Edward, a liberal share."
+
+"Mere treasures of the mind, Edith, do not sustain natural life, do
+not supply natural demands. They build no houses; they provide not
+for increasing wants. We cannot always remain in the ideal world; the
+sober realities of life will drag us down."
+
+The simple-hearted, true-minded young wife was not understood by her
+husband. She felt this, and felt it oppressively.
+
+"Have we not enough, Edward, to meet every real want?" she urged. "Do
+we desire better food or better clothing? Would our bodies be more
+comfortable because our carpets were of richer material, and our
+rooms filled with costlier furniture? O no! If not contented with such
+things as Providence gives us to-day, we shall not find contentment in
+what he gives us to-morrow; for the same dissatisfied heart will beat
+in our bosoms. Let Mr. Jasper get rich, if he can; we will not envy
+his possessions."
+
+"I do not envy him, Edith," replied Claire. "But I cannot feel
+satisfied with the small salary he pays me. My services are, I know,
+of greater value than he estimates them, and I feel that I am dealt by
+unjustly."
+
+Edith made no answer. The subject was repugnant to her feelings,
+and she did not wish to prolong it. Claire already regretted its
+introduction. So there was silence for nearly a minute.
+
+When the conversation flowed on again, it embraced a different theme,
+but had in it no warmth of feeling. Not since they had joined hands at
+the altar, nearly two years before, had they passed so embarrassed and
+really unhappy an evening as this. A tempting spirit had found its way
+into their Paradise, burning with a fierce desire to mar its beauty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+"Oh, what a dream I have had!" exclaimed Mrs. Claire, starting
+suddenly from sleep, just as the light began to come in dimly through
+the windows on the next morning; and, as she spoke, she caught hold of
+her husband, and clung to him, frightened and trembling.
+
+"Oh, such a dream!" she added, as her mind grew clearer, and she felt
+better assured of the reality that existed. "I thought, love, that
+we were sitting in our room, as we sit every evening--baby asleep, I
+sewing, and you, as usual, reading aloud. How happy we were! happier,
+it seemed, than we had ever been before. A sudden loud knock startled
+us both. Then two men entered, one of whom drew a paper from his
+pocket, declaring, as he did so, that you were arrested at the
+instance of Mr. Jasper, who accused you with having robbed him of a
+large amount of money."
+
+"Why, Edith!" ejaculated Edward Claire, in a voice of painful
+surprise. He, too, had been dreaming, and in his dream he had done
+what his heart prompted him to do on the previous evening--to act
+unfaithfully toward his employer.
+
+"Oh, it was dreadful! dreadful!" continued Edith. "Rudely they seized
+and bore you away. Then came the trial. Oh, I see it all as plainly
+as if it had been real. You, my good, true, noble-hearted husband,
+who had never wronged another, even in thought--you were accused
+of robbery in the presence of hundreds, and positive witnesses were
+brought forward to prove the terrible charge. All they alleged was
+believed by those who heard. The judges pronounced you guilty, and
+then sentenced you to a gloomy prison. They were bearing you off,
+when, in my agony, I awoke. It was terrible, terrible! yet, thank God!
+only a dream, a fearful dream!"
+
+Claire drew his arms around his young wife, and clasped her with a
+straining embrace to his bosom. He made no answer for some time. The
+relation of a dream so singular, under the circumstances, had startled
+him, and he almost feared to trust his voice in response. At length,
+with a deeply-drawn, sighing breath, nature's spontaneous struggle for
+relief, he said--
+
+"Yes, dear, that was a fearful dream. The thought of it makes me
+shudder. But, after all, it was only a dream; the whispering of a
+malignant spirit in your ear. Happily, his power to harm extends no
+further. The fancy may be possessed in sleep, but the reason lies
+inactive, and the hands remain idle. No guilt can stain the spirit.
+The night passes, and we go abroad in the morning as pure as when we
+laid our heads wearily to rest."
+
+"And more," added Edith, her mind fast recovering itself; "with a
+clearer perception of what is true and good. The soul's disturbed
+balance finds its equilibrium. It is not the body alone that is
+refreshed and strengthened. The spirit, plied with temptation after
+temptation through the day, and almost ready to yield when the night
+cometh, finds rest also, and time to recover its strength. In the
+morning it goes forth again, stronger for its season of repose. How
+often, as the day dawned, have I lifted my heart and thanked God for
+sleep!"
+
+Thus prompted, an emotion of thankfulness arose in the breast of
+Claire, but the utterance was kept back from the lips. He had a
+secret, a painful and revolting secret, in his heart, and he feared
+lest something should betray its existence to his wife. What would he
+not have given at the moment to have blotted out for ever the memory
+of thoughts too earnestly cherished on the evening before, when he was
+alone with the tempter?
+
+There was a shadow on the heart of Edith Claire. The unusual mood of
+her husband on the previous evening, and the dream which had haunted
+her through the night, left impressions that could not be shaken off.
+She had an instinct of danger--danger lurking in the path of one in
+whom her very life was bound up.
+
+When Edward was about leaving her to go forth for the day, she
+lingered by his side and clung to him, as if she could not let him
+pass from the safe shelter of home.
+
+"Ah! if I could always be with you!" said Edith--"if we could ever
+move on, hand in hand and side by side, how full to running over would
+be my cup of happiness!"
+
+"Are we not ever side by side, dear?" replied Claire, tenderly. "You
+are present to my thought all the day."
+
+"And you to mine. O yes! yes! We _are_ moving side by side; our mutual
+thought gives presence. Yet it was the bodily presence I desired. But
+that cannot be."
+
+"Good-bye, love! Good-bye, sweet one!" said Claire, kissing his wife,
+and gently pressing his lips upon those of the babe she held in her
+arms. He then passed forth, and took his way to the store of Leonard
+Jasper, in whose service he had been for two years, or since the date
+of his marriage.
+
+A scene transpired a few days previous to this, which we will briefly
+describe. Three persons were alone in a chamber, the furniture
+of which, though neither elegant nor costly, evinced taste and
+refinement. Lying upon a bed was a man, evidently near the time of his
+departure from earth. By his side, and bending over him, was a woman
+almost as pale as himself. A little girl, not above five years of age,
+sat on the foot of the bed, with her eyes fixed on the countenance of
+her father, for such was the relation borne to her by the sick man.
+A lovely creature she was--beautiful even beyond the common beauty of
+childhood. For a time a solemn stillness reigned through the chamber.
+A few low-spoken words had passed between the parents of the child,
+and then, for a brief period, all was deep, oppressive silence. This
+was interrupted, at length, by the mother's unrestrained sobs, as she
+laid her face upon the bosom of her husband, so soon to be taken from
+her, and wept aloud.
+
+No word of remonstrance or comfort came from the sick man's lips. He
+only drew his arm about the weeper's neck, and held her closer to his
+heart.
+
+The troubled waters soon ran clear: there was calmness in their
+depths.
+
+"It is but for a little while, Fanny," said he, in a feeble yet steady
+voice; "only for a little while."
+
+"I know; I feel that here," was replied, as a thin, white hand was
+laid against the speaker's bosom. "And I could patiently await my
+time, but"----
+
+Her eyes glanced yearningly toward the child, who sat gazing upon her
+parents, with an instinct of approaching evil at her heart.
+
+Too well did the dying man comprehend the meaning of this glance.
+
+"God will take care of her. He will raise her up friends," said he
+quickly; yet, even as he spoke, his heart failed him.
+
+"All that is left to us is our trust in Him," murmured the wife and
+mother. Her voice, though so low as to be almost a whisper, was firm.
+She realized, as she spoke, how much of bitterness was in the parting
+hours of the dying one, and she felt that duty required her to sustain
+him, so far as she had the strength to do so. And so she nerved her
+woman's heart, almost breaking as it was, to bear and hide her own
+sorrows, while she strove to comfort and strengthen the failing spirit
+of her husband.
+
+"God is good," said she, after a brief silence, during which she was
+striving for the mastery over her weakness. As she spoke, she leaned
+over the sick man, and looked at him lovingly, and with the smile of
+an angel on her countenance.
+
+"Yes, God is good, Fanny. Have we not proved this, again and again?"
+was returned, a feeble light coming into the speaker's pale face.
+
+"A thousand times, dear! a thousand times!" said the wife, earnestly.
+"He is infinite in his goodness, and we are his children."
+
+"Yes, his children," was the whispered response. And over and over
+again he repeated the words, "His children;" his voice falling lower
+and lower each time, until at length his eyes closed, and his in-going
+thought found no longer an utterance.
+
+Twilight had come. The deepening shadows were fast obscuring all
+objects in the sick-chamber, where silence reigned, profound almost as
+death.
+
+"He sleeps," whispered the wife, as she softly raised herself from
+her reclining position on the bed. "And dear Fanny sleeps also," was
+added, as her eyes rested upon the unconscious form of her child.
+
+Two hours later, and the last record was made in Ruben Elder's Book of
+Life.
+
+For half an hour before the closing scene, his mind was clear, and
+he then spoke calmly of what he had done for those who were to remain
+behind.
+
+"To Leonard Jasper, my old friend," said he to his wife, "I have left
+the management of my affairs. He will see that every thing is done
+for the best. There is not much property, yet enough to insure a small
+income; and, when you follow me to the better land, sufficient for the
+support and education of our child."
+
+Peacefully, after this, he sank away, and, like a weary child falling
+into slumber, slept that sleep from which the awakening is in another
+world.
+
+How Leonard Jasper received the announcement of his executorship has
+been seen. The dying man had referred to him as an old friend; but, as
+the reader has already concluded, there was little room in his sordid
+heart for so pure a sentiment as that of friendship. He, however, lost
+no time in ascertaining the amount of property left by Elder, which
+consisted of two small houses in the city, and a barren tract of about
+sixty acres of land, somewhere in Pennsylvania, which had been taken
+for a debt of five hundred dollars. In view of his death, Elder had
+wound up his business some months before, paid off what he owed, and
+collected in nearly all outstanding accounts; so that little work
+remained for his executor, except to dispose of the unprofitable tract
+of land and invest the proceeds.
+
+On the day following the opening of our story, Jasper, who still felt
+annoyed at the prospect of more trouble than profit in the matter of
+his executorship, made a formal call upon the widow of his old friend.
+
+The servant, to whom he gave his name, stated that Mrs. Elder was so
+ill as not to be able to leave her room.
+
+"I will call again, then, in a few days," said he. "Be sure you give
+her my name correctly. Mr. Jasper--Leonard Jasper."
+
+The face of the servant wore a troubled aspect.
+
+"She is very sick, sir," said she, in a worried, hesitating manner.
+"Won't you take a seat, for a moment, until I go up and tell her that
+you are here? Maybe she would like to see you. I think I heard her
+mention your name a little while ago."
+
+Jasper sat down, and the domestic left the room. She was gone but a
+short time, when she returned and said that Mrs. Elder wished to see
+him. Jasper arose and followed her up-stairs. There were some strange
+misgivings in his heart--some vague, troubled anticipations, that
+oppressed his feelings. But he had little time for thought ere he was
+ushered into the chamber of his friend's widow.
+
+A single glance sufficed to tell him the whole sad truth of the case.
+There was no room for mistake. The bright, glazed eyes, the rigid,
+colourless lips, the ashen countenance, all testified that the hour
+of her departure drew nigh. How strong, we had almost said, how
+beautiful, was the contrasted form and features of her lovely child,
+whose face, so full of life and rosy health, pressed the same pillow
+that supported her weary head.
+
+Feebly the dying woman extended her hand, as Mr. Jasper came in,
+saying, as she did so--
+
+"I am glad you have come; I was about sending for you."
+
+A slight tremor of the lips accompanied her words, and it was plain
+that the presence of Jasper, whose relation to her and her child she
+understood, caused a wave of emotion to sweep over her heart.
+
+"I am sorry, Mrs. Elder, to find you so very ill," said Jasper,
+with as much of sympathy in his voice as he could command. "Has your
+physician been here to-day?"
+
+"It is past that, sir--past that," was replied. "There is no further
+any hope for me in the physician's art."
+
+A sob choked all further utterance.
+
+How oppressed was the cold-hearted, selfish man of the world! His
+thoughts were all clouded, and his lips for a time sealed. As the
+dying woman said, so he felt that it was. The time of her departure
+had come. An instinct of self-protection--protection for his
+feelings--caused him, after a few moments, to say, and he turned
+partly from the bed as he spoke--
+
+"Some of your friends should be with you, madam, at this time. Let me
+go for them. Have you a sister or near relative in the city?"
+
+The words and movement of Mr. Jasper restored at once the conscious
+self-possession of the dying mother, and she raised herself partly up
+with a quick motion, and a gleam of light in her countenance.
+
+"Oh, sir," she said eagerly, "do not go yet. I have no sister, no near
+relative; none but you to whom I can speak my last words and give my
+last injunction. You were my husband's friend while he lived, and to
+you has he committed the care of his widow and orphan. I am called,
+alas, too soon! to follow him; and now, in the sight of God, and
+in the presence of his spirit--for I feel that he is near us now--I
+commit to you the care of this dear child. Oh, sir! be to her as a
+father. Love her tenderly, and care for her as if she were your own.
+Her heart is rich with affection, and upon you will its treasures be
+poured out. Take her! take her as your own! Here I give to you, in
+this the solemn hour of my departure, that which to me is above all
+price."
+
+And as she said this, with a suddenly renewed strength, she lifted
+the child, and, ere Jasper could check the movement, placed her in his
+arms. Then, with one long, eager, clinging kiss pressed upon the
+lips of that child, she sank backward on the bed; and life, which had
+flashed up brightly for a moment, went out in this world for ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Leonard Jasper would have been less than human had he borne such an
+assault upon his feelings without emotion; less than human had his
+heart instantly and spontaneously rejected the dying mother's wildly
+eloquent appeal. He was bewildered, startled, even deeply moved.
+
+The moment he could, with propriety and a decent regard for
+appearances, get away from the house where he had witnessed so painful
+a scene, he returned to his place of business in a sobered, thoughtful
+state of mind. He had not anticipated so direct a guardianship of
+Ruben Elder's child as it was evident would now devolve upon him,
+in consequence of the mother's death. Here was to be trouble for
+him--this was his feeling so soon as there was a little time for
+reaction--and trouble without profit. He would have to take upon
+himself the direct charge of the little girl, and duly provide for her
+maintenance and education.
+
+"If there is property enough for this, well and good," he muttered
+to himself; he had not yet become acquainted with the real state of
+affairs. "If not," he added, firmly, "the loss will be hers; that is
+all. I shall have sufficient trouble and annoyance, without being put
+to expense."
+
+For some time after his return to his store, Jasper refrained from
+entering upon any business. During at least fifteen or twenty minutes,
+he sat at his desk, completely absorbed in thought. At length he
+called to Edward Claire, his principal clerk, and said that he wished
+to speak a few words with him. The young man came back from the
+counter to where he was sitting, wondering what had produced the very
+apparent change in his employer's state of mind.
+
+"Edward," said Mr. Jasper, in a low, serious voice, "there is a
+little matter that I must get you to attend to for me. It is not very
+pleasant, it is true; though nothing more than people are required to
+do every day. You remember Mr. Elder, Ruben Elder, who formerly kept
+store in Second street?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+"He died last week."
+
+"I noticed his death in the papers."
+
+"He has appointed me his executor."
+
+"Ah?"
+
+"Yes; and I wish to my heart he had appointed somebody else. I've too
+much business of my own to attend to."
+
+"Of course," said Claire, "you will receive your regular commissions
+for attending to the settlement of his estate."
+
+"Poor picking there," replied Jasper, shrugging his shoulders. "I'd
+very cheerfully give up the profit to be rid of the trouble. But that
+doesn't signify now. Elder has left his affairs in my hands, and I
+must give them at least some attention. I'm not coming to the point,
+however. A little while ago I witnessed the most painful scene that
+ever fell under my eyes."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Yes, truly. Ugh! It makes the chills creep over me as I think of
+it. Last evening I received regular notification of my appointment as
+executor to Elder's estate, and to-day thought it only right to call
+upon the widow, and see if any present service were needed by the
+family. Such a scene as I encountered! Mrs. Elder was just at the
+point of death, and expired a few moments after my entrance. Besides
+a single domestic and a child, I was the only witness of her last
+extremity."
+
+"Shocking!"
+
+"You may well say shocking, Edward, unprepared as I was for such an
+occurrence. My nerves are quivering yet."
+
+"Then the widow is dead also?"
+
+"Yes; both have gone to their long home."
+
+"How many children are left?"
+
+"Only one--a little girl, not, I should think, above four years of
+age."
+
+"Some near relative will, I presume, take charge of her."
+
+"In dying, the mother declared that she had no friend to whom she
+could leave the child. On me, therefore, devolves the care of seeing
+to its maintenance."
+
+"No friend. Poor child! and of so tender an age!"
+
+"She is young, certainly, to be left alone in the world."
+
+Jasper uttered these words, but felt nothing of the sad meaning they
+involved.
+
+"What disposition will you make of her?" asked Claire.
+
+"I've had no time to think of that yet. Other matters are first to be
+regarded. So let me come to the point. Mrs. Elder is dead; and, as far
+as I could see, there is no living soul, beyond a frightened servant,
+to do any thing. Whether she will have the presence of mind to call in
+the neighbours, is more than I can say. I left in the bewilderment of
+the moment; and now remember me that something is to be done for the
+dead. Will you go to the house, and see what is needed? In the next
+block is an undertaker; you had better call, on your way, and ask him
+to go with you. All arrangements necessary for the funeral can be left
+in his hands. Just take this whole matter off of me, Edward, and I
+will be greatly obliged to you. I have a good many things on my mind,
+that must receive close attention."
+
+The young man offered no objection, although the service was far from
+being agreeable. On his return, after the absence of an hour, Jasper
+had, of course, many inquiries to make. Claire appeared serious. The
+fact was, he had seen enough to touch his feelings deeply. The grief
+of the orphaned child, as he was a witness thereto, had brought tears
+upon his cheeks, in spite of every manly effort to restrain them. Her
+extreme beauty struck him at the first glance, even obscured as it was
+under a vail of sorrow and weeping.
+
+"There were several persons in, you say?" remarked Jasper, after
+Claire had related a number of particulars.
+
+"Yes, three or four."
+
+"Ladies, of course?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did any of them propose to take the child home with them?"
+
+"Not directly. One woman asked me a number of questions about the
+little girl."
+
+"Of what nature?"
+
+"As to whether there were any relatives or particular friends who
+would take charge of her?"
+
+"And you told her there were none?"
+
+"Yes; none of whom I had any knowledge."
+
+"Well? What had she to say to that?"
+
+"She wanted to know if there would be any thing for the child's
+support. I said that there would, in all probability."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Then she gave me to understand, that if no one took the child, she
+might be induced to board her for a while, until other arrangements
+were made."
+
+"Did you give her to understand that this was practicable?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Why not? She will have to be boarded, you know."
+
+"I neither liked the woman's face, manner, nor appearance."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Oh, she was a vulgar, coarse, hard-looking creature to my eyes."
+
+"Kind hearts often lie concealed under unpromising externals."
+
+"True; but they lie not concealed under that exterior, be well
+assured, Mr. Jasper. No, no. The child who has met with so sad a loss
+as that of a mother, needs the tenderest guardianship. At best, the
+case is hard enough."
+
+Jasper did not respond to this humane sentiment, for there was no pity
+in him. The waves of feeling, stirred so suddenly a few hours before,
+had all subsided, and the surface of his heart bore no ripple of
+emotion. He thought not of the child as an object claiming his regard,
+but as a trouble and a hinderance thrown in his way, to be disposed of
+as summarily as possible.
+
+"I'm obliged to you, Edward, for the trouble you have taken in my
+stead," he remarked, after a slight pause. "To-morrow, I may wish
+you to call there again. Of course, the neighbours will give needful
+attention until the funeral takes place. By that time, perhaps, the
+child will have made a friend of some one of them, and secure, through
+this means, a home for the present. It is, for us, a troublesome
+business at best, though it will soon be over."
+
+A person coming in at the moment, Claire left his employer to attend
+at the counter. The new customer, it was quickly perceived by the
+clerk, was one who might readily be deceived into buying the articles
+for which she inquired, at a rate far in advance of their real value;
+and he felt instantly tempted to ask her a very high price. Readily,
+for it was but acting from habit, did he yield to this temptation. His
+success was equal to his wishes. The woman, altogether unsuspicious
+of the cheat practised upon her, paid for her purchases the sum of
+ten dollars above their true value. She lingered a short time after
+settling her bill, and made some observation upon a current topic
+of the day. One or two casually-uttered sentiments did not fall like
+refreshing dew upon the feelings of Claire, but rather stung him like
+words of sharp rebuke, and made him half regret the wrong he had done
+to her. He felt relieved when she retired.
+
+It so happened that, while this customer was in, Jasper left the
+store. Soon after, a clerk went to dinner. Only a lad remained with
+Claire, and he was sent up-stairs to arrange some goods.
+
+The hour of temptation had again come, and the young man's mind was
+overshadowed by the powers of darkness.
+
+"Ten dollars clear gain on that transaction," said he to himself, as
+he drew open the money-drawer in which he had deposited the cash paid
+to him by his late customer.
+
+For some time his thoughts were busy, while his fingers toyed with the
+gold and bills in the drawer. Two five-dollar pieces were included in
+the payment just received.
+
+"Jasper, surely, ought to be satisfied with one of these." Thus he
+began to argue with himself. "I drove the bargain; am I not entitled
+to a fair proportion of the profit? It strikes me so. What wrong will
+it be to him? Wrong? Humph! Wrong? The wrong has been done already;
+but it falls not on his head.
+
+"If I am to do this kind of work for him,"--the feelings of Claire
+now commenced running in a more disturbed channel; there were deep
+contractions on his forehead, and his lips were shut firmly,--"this
+kind of work, I must have a share of the benefit. If I am to sell my
+soul, Leonard Jasper shall not have the whole price."
+
+Deliberately, as he spoke this within himself, did Claire take from
+the drawer a five-dollar gold piece, and thrust it into his pocket.
+
+"Mine, not his," were the words with which he approved the act. At
+the same instant Jasper entered. The young man's heart gave a sudden
+bound, and there was guilt in his face, but Jasper did not read its
+true expression.
+
+"Well, Edward," said he, cheerfully, "what luck did you have with the
+old lady? Did she make a pretty fair bill?"
+
+"So-so," returned Claire, with affected indifference; "about thirty
+dollars."
+
+"Ah! so much?"
+
+"Yes; and, what is better, I made her pay pretty strong. She was from
+the country."
+
+"That'll do." And Jasper rubbed his hands together energetically. "How
+much over and above a fair percentage did you get?"
+
+"About five dollars."
+
+"Good, again! You're a trump, Edward."
+
+If Edward Claire was relieved to find that no suspicion had been
+awakened in the thoughts of Jasper, he did not feel very strongly
+flattered by his approving words. The truth was, at the very moment he
+was relating what he had done, there came into his mind, with a
+most startling distinctness, the dream of his wife, and the painful
+feelings it had occasioned.
+
+"What folly! What madness! Whither am I going?"
+
+These were his thoughts now, born of a quick revulsion of feeling.
+
+"It is your dinner-time, Edward. Get back as soon as possible. I want
+to be home a little earlier than usual to-day."
+
+Thus spoke Mr. Jasper; and the young man, taking up his hat, left the
+store. He had never felt so strangely in his life. The first step in
+crime had been taken; he had fairly entered the downward road to ruin.
+Where was it all to end? Placing his fingers, almost without thought,
+in his pocket, they came in contact with the gold-piece obtained by
+a double crime--the robbery both of a customer and his employer.
+Quickly, as if he had touched a living coal, was the hand of Claire
+withdrawn, while a low chill crept along his nerves. It required some
+resolution for the young man to meet his pure-hearted, clear-minded
+wife, whose quick intuitions of good or evil in others he had over and
+over again been led to remark. Once, as he moved along, he thrust his
+hand into his pocket, with the suddenly-formed purpose of casting the
+piece of money from him, and thus cancelling his guilt. But, ere the
+act was accomplished, he remembered that in this there would be no
+restoration, and so refrained.
+
+Edward Claire felt, while in the presence of his young wife, that she
+often looked into his face with more than usual earnestness. This not
+only embarrassed but slightly fretted him, and led him to speak once
+in a way that brought tears to her eyes.
+
+Not a minute longer than necessary did Claire remain at home. The fact
+that his employer had desired him to return to the store as quickly
+as possible, was an all-sufficient reason for his unusual hurry to get
+away.
+
+The moment the door closed upon him, his wife burst into tears. On
+her bosom lay a most oppressive weight, and in her mind was a vague,
+troubled sense of approaching evil. She felt that there was danger in
+the path of her husband; but of its nature she could divine little
+or nothing. All day her dream had haunted her; and now it reproduced
+itself in her imagination with painful distinctness. Vainly she strove
+to drive it from her thoughts; it would not be gone. Slowly the hours
+wore on for her, until the deepening twilight brought the period
+when her husband was to return again. To this return her mind looked
+forward with an anxiety that could not be repressed.
+
+The dreaded meeting with his wife over, Claire thought with less
+repugnance of what he had done, and was rather inclined to justify
+than condemn himself.
+
+"It's the way of the world," so he argued; "and unless I do as the
+world does, I must remain where I am--at the bottom of the ladder. But
+why should I stay below, while all around me are struggling upward? As
+for what preachers and moralists call strictly fair dealing, it may be
+all well enough in theory, pleasant to talk about, and all that; but
+it won't do in practice, as the world now is. Where each is grasping
+all that he can lay his hands on, fair or foul, one must scramble
+with the rest, or get nothing. That is so plain that none can deny the
+proposition. So, Edward Claire, if you wish to rise above your present
+poor condition, if you wish to get rich, like your enterprising
+neighbours, you must do as they do. If I go in for a lamb, I might as
+well take a sheep: the morality of the thing is the same. If I take a
+large slice off of a customer, why shall not a portion of that slice
+be mine; ay, the whole of it, if I choose to make the appropriation?
+All Jasper can fairly ask, is a reasonable profit: if I, by my
+address, get more than this, surely I may keep a part thereof. Who
+shall say nay?"
+
+Justifying himself by these and similar false reasonings, the young
+man thrust aside the better suggestions, from which he was at first
+inclined to retrace the false step he had taken; and wilfully shutting
+his eyes, resolved to go forward in his evil and dangerous course.
+
+During the afternoon of that day a larger number of customers than
+usual were in, and Claire was very busily occupied. He made three or
+four large sales, and was successful in getting several dollars in
+excess of fair profit from one not very well skilled in prices. In
+making an entry of this particular transaction in the memorandum
+sales-book, the figures recorded were three dollars less than the
+actual amount received. So, on this, the first day of the young
+man's lapse from honesty, he had appropriated the sum of eight
+dollars--nearly equal to his entire week's salary! For such a recent
+traveller in this downward road, how rapid had already become his
+steps!
+
+Evening found him again alone, musing and debating with himself, ere
+locking up the store and returning home. The excitement of business
+being over, his thoughts flowed in a calmer current; and the stillness
+of the deserted room gave to his feelings a hue of sobriety. He was
+not altogether satisfied with himself. How could he be? No man ever
+was satisfied with himself, when seclusion and silence found him after
+his first departure from the right way. Ah, how little is there
+in worldly possessions, be it large or small, to compensate for a
+troubled, self-accusing spirit! how little to throw in the balance
+against the heavy weight of conscious villany!
+
+How tenderly, how truly, how devotedly had Edward Claire loved the
+young wife of his bosom, since the hour the pulses of their spirits
+first beat in joyful unity! How eager had he ever been to turn his
+face homeward when the shadows of evening began to fall! But now he
+lingered--lingered, though all the business of the day was over. The
+thought of his wife created no quick impulse to be away. He felt more
+like shunning her presence. He even for a time indulged a motion of
+anger toward her for what he mentally termed her morbid sensitiveness
+in regard to others' right--her dreamy ideal of human perfection.
+
+"We are in the world, and we must do as it does. We must take it as it
+is, not as it should be."
+
+So he mused with himself, in a self-approving argument. Yet he could
+not banish the accusing spirit; he could not silence the inward voice
+of warning.
+
+Once there came a strong revulsion. Good impulses seemed about to
+gain the mastery. In this state of mind, he took from his pocket his
+ill-gotten gains, and threw them into the money-box, which had already
+been placed in the fire-closet.
+
+"What good will that do?" said he to himself, as the wave of better
+feelings began to subside. "All the sales-entries have been made, and
+the cash balanced; Jasper made the balance himself. So the cash
+will only show an excess to be accounted for; and from this may
+come suspicion. It is always more hazardous to go backward than
+forward--(false reasoner!)--to retrace our steps than to press boldly
+onward. No, no. This will not mend the matter."
+
+And Claire replaced the money in his pocket. In a little while
+afterward, he left the store, and took his way homeward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+As on the previous evening, Mrs. Claire was alone for some time later
+than usual, but now with an anxious, almost fearful looking for her
+husband's return. Suddenly she had taken the alarm. A deep, brooding
+shadow was on her heart, though she could not see the bird of night
+from whose wings it had fallen. Frequently, during the afternoon,
+tears had wet her cheek; and when an old friend of her mother's, who
+lived in the country, and who had come to the city in order to make
+a few purchases, called to see her, it was with difficulty she could
+hide her disturbed feelings from observation.
+
+The absent one came in at last, and with so much of the old, frank,
+loving spirit in his voice and manner, that the troubled heart of Mrs.
+Claire beat with freer pulsations. And yet something about her husband
+appeared strange. There was a marked difference between his state of
+mind now, and on the evening before. Even at dinner-time he was silent
+and abstracted.
+
+In fact, Edward Claire was, for the first time, acting a part toward
+his wife; and, as in all such cases, there was sufficient over-action
+to betray the artifice, or, at least, to awaken a doubt. Still, Edith
+was greatly relieved by the change, and she chided herself for having
+permitted doubt and vague questionings to find a harbour in her
+thoughts.
+
+During tea-time, Claire chatted freely, as was his custom; but he grew
+serious as they sat together, after the table was cleared away, and
+Edith had taken her sewing. Then, for the first time, he thought out
+of himself sufficiently to remember his visit to the house of death in
+the morning, and he said--
+
+"I witnessed something this morning, dear, that has made me feel sad
+ever since."
+
+"What was that, Edward?" inquired the wife, looking instantly into his
+face, with a strongly manifested interest.
+
+"I don't think you knew Mr. Elder or his family--Ruben Elder?"
+
+"I have heard the name, nothing more."
+
+"Mr. Elder died last week."
+
+"Ah! What family did he leave?"
+
+"A wife and one child."
+
+Mrs. Claire sighed.
+
+"Did he leave them comfortably off in the world?" she asked, after a
+brief silence.
+
+"I don't know; but I'm afraid, he's not left much, if any thing. Mr.
+Jasper has been appointed the executor."
+
+"Mr. Jasper!"
+
+"Yes. This morning he called to see Mrs. Elder, and found her in a
+very low state. In fact, she died while he was there."
+
+"Edward! Died?"
+
+"Yes, died; and her only child, a sweet little girl, not five years
+old, is now a friendless orphan."
+
+"How very sad!"
+
+"Sad enough, Edith, sad enough. Mr. Jasper, who has no taste for
+scenes of distress, wished me to look after the funeral arrangements;
+so I went to the house, and attended to matters as well as I could. Ah
+me! It has cast a gloom over my feelings that I find it hard to cast
+off."
+
+"Did you see the child?" inquired Mrs. Claire, the mother's impulse
+giving direction to her thoughts.
+
+"Yes; and a lovely child it is. Poor thing!"
+
+"There are near relatives, I presume?"
+
+"None; at least, so Jasper says."
+
+"What is to become of the child?"
+
+"Dear above knows! As for her legal guardian, she has nothing to hope
+from his humanity. She will naturally find a home somewhere--a home
+procured for money. But her future comfort and well-being will depend
+more on a series of happy accidents than on the good-will of the
+hard-hearted man to whose tender mercies the dying parents have
+committed her."
+
+"Not happy accidents, Edward," said Mrs. Claire, with a tender smile;
+"say, wise providences. There is no such thing as chance."
+
+"As you will, dear," returned the husband, with a slight change in his
+tone. "I would not call that providence wise by which Leonard Jasper
+became the guardian of a friendless child."
+
+"This is because you cannot see the end from the beginning, Edward.
+The Lord's providence does not regard merely the external comfort and
+well-being of his creatures; it looks far beyond this, and regards
+their internal interests. It permits evil and suffering to-day, but
+only that good, a higher than earthly good, may come on the morrow.
+It was no blind chance, believe me, my husband, that led to the
+appointment of Mr. Jasper as the guardian of this poor child. Eternal
+purposes are involved therein, as surely as God is infinitely wise and
+good. Good to one, perhaps to many, will grow out of what now seems a
+deeply to be regretted circumstance."
+
+"You're a happy reasoner, Edith. I wish I could believe in so
+consoling a philosophy."
+
+"Edward!" There was a change in Mrs. Claire's voice, and a look
+blending surprise with a gentle rebuke in her countenance. "Edward,
+how can you speak so? Is not mine the plain Christian doctrine? Is it
+not to be found everywhere in the Bible?"
+
+"Doubtless, Edith; but I'm not one of the pious kind, you know."
+
+Claire forced a smile to his face, but his wife looked serious, and
+remarked--
+
+"I don't like to hear you talk so, Edward. There is in it, to
+me, something profane. Ah, my dear husband, in this simple yet
+all-embracing doctrine of providence lies the whole secret of human
+happiness. If our Creator be infinite, wise, and good, he will seek
+the well-being of his creatures, even though they turn from him to do
+violence to his laws; and, in his infinite love and wisdom, will so
+order and arrange events as to make every thing conspire to the end
+in view. Both bodily and mental suffering are often permitted to take
+place, as the only agencies by which to counteract hereditary evils
+that would otherwise destroy the soul."
+
+"Ah, Edie! Edie!" said Claire, interrupting his wife, in a fond,
+playful tone, "you are a wise preacher, and as good as you are wise.
+I only wish that I could see and feel as you do; no doubt it would be
+better for me in the end. But such a wish is vain."
+
+"Oh, say not so, dear husband!" exclaimed Edith, with unexpected
+earnestness; "say not so! It hurts me almost like words of personal
+unkindness."
+
+"But how can I be as good as you are? It isn't in me."
+
+"I am not good, Edward. There is none good but God," answered the wife
+solemnly.
+
+"Oh yes, yes! You are an angel!" returned Claire, with a sudden
+emotion that he could not control. "And I--and I--"
+
+He checked himself, turned his face partly away to conceal its
+expression, sat motionless for a moment, and then burying his face
+on the bosom of his wife, sobbed for the space of nearly a minute,
+overcome by a passion that he in vain struggled to master.
+
+Never had Edith seen her husband so moved. No wonder that she was
+startled, even frightened.
+
+"Oh, Edward, dear Edward! what ails you?" were her eager, agitated
+words, so soon as she could speak. "What has happened? Oh, tell me, my
+husband, my dear husband!"
+
+But Claire answered not, though he was gaining some control over his
+feelings.
+
+"Oh, Edward! won't you speak to me? Won't you tell me all your
+troubles, all your heart? Am I not your wife, and do I not love you
+with a love no words can express? Am I not your best and closest
+friend? Would I not even lay down my life for your good? Dear Edward,
+what has caused this great emotion?"
+
+Thus urged, thus pleaded the tearful Edith. But there was no reply,
+though the strong tremor which had thrilled through the frame of
+Claire had subsided. He was still bowed forward, with his face hid
+on her bosom, while her arm was drawn lovingly around him. So they
+remained for a time longer. At length, the young man lifted himself
+up, and fixed his eyes upon her. His countenance was pale and sad, and
+bore traces of intense suffering.
+
+"My husband! my dear husband!" murmured Edith.
+
+"My wife! my good angel!" was the low, thrilling response; and Claire
+pressed his lips almost reverently upon the brow of his wife.
+
+"I have had a fearful dream, Edith!" said he; "a very fearful dream.
+Thank God, I am awake now."
+
+"A dream, Edward?" returned his wife, not fully comprehending him.
+
+"Yes, love, a dream; yet far too real. Surely, I dreamed, or was
+under some dire enchantment. But the spell is gone--gone, I trust, for
+ever."
+
+"What spell, love? Oh, speak to me a plainer language!"
+
+"I think, Edith," said the young man, after remaining thoughtfully
+silent for some time, "that I will try and get another place. I don't
+believe it is good for me to live with Leonard Jasper. Gold is the god
+he worships; and I find myself daily tempted to bend my knee in the
+same idolatry."
+
+"Edward!" A shadow had fallen on the face of Edith.
+
+"You look troubled at my words, Edith," resumed the young man; "yet
+what I say is true, too true. I wish it were not so. Ah! this
+passage through the world, hard and toilsome as it is, has many, many
+dangers."
+
+"If we put our trust in God, we need have no fear," said Edith, in a
+gentle yet earnest and penetrating voice, laying her hand lovingly on
+the hot forehead of her husband, and gazing into his eyes.
+
+"Nothing without can harm us. Our worst enemies are within."
+
+"Within?"
+
+"Yes, love; within our bosoms. Into our distrusts and unsatisfied
+desires they enter, and tempt us to evil."
+
+"True, true," said Claire, in an abstracted manner, and as if speaking
+to himself.
+
+"What more do we want to make us happy?" asked Edith, comprehending
+still more clearly her husband's state of mind.
+
+Claire sighed deeply, but made no answer.
+
+"More money could not do it," she added.
+
+"Money would procure us many comforts that we do not now possess,"
+said the young man.
+
+"I doubt this, Edward. It might give more of the elegancies of life;
+but, as I have often said, these do not always produce corresponding
+pleasure. If they come, without too ardent seeking, in the good
+pleasure of Providence, as the reward of useful and honest labour,
+then they may increase the delights of life; but never otherwise.
+If the heart is set on them, their acquirement will surely end in
+disappointment. Possession will create satiety; and the mind too
+quickly turns from the good it has toiled for in hope so long, to fret
+itself because there is an imagined higher good beyond. Believe me,
+Edward, if we are not satisfied with what God gives us as the reward
+of useful toil to-day, we will not be satisfied with what he gives
+to-morrow."
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Edith; I believe you are. My mind has a
+glimpse of the truth, but to fully realize it is hard. Ah, I wish that
+I possessed more of your trusting spirit!"
+
+"We are both cared for, Edward, by the same infinite love--cared for,
+whether we doubt and fear, or trust confidingly."
+
+"It must be so. I see it now, I feel it now--see it and feel it in
+the light of your clearer intuitions. Ah, how different from this pure
+faith is the faith of the world! Men worship gold as their god; they
+trust only in riches."
+
+"And their god is ever mocking them. To-day he smiles upon his
+votary, and to-morrow hides his face in darkness. To-day he gives
+full coffers, that are empty to-morrow. But the true riches offered so
+freely to all by the living God are blessed both in the getting and
+in the keeping. These never produce satiety, never take to themselves
+wings. Good affections and true thoughts continually nourish and
+re-create the mind. They are the soul's wealth, the perennial
+fountains of all true enjoyment. With these, and sufficient for the
+body's health and comfort, all may be happy: without them, the riches
+of the world have no power to satisfy."
+
+A pause ensued, during which the minds of both wandered back a little.
+
+"If you feel," said Edith, recalling the words of her husband, "that
+there is danger in remaining where you are"--
+
+"That was hastily spoken," Edward Claire interrupted his wife, "and in
+a moment of weakness. I must resist the evil that assaults me. I must
+strive with and overcome the tempter. I must think less of this world
+and its riches; and in my thoughts place a higher value upon the
+riches without wings of which you have spoken to me so often."
+
+"Can you remain where you are, and be out of danger?" asked Edith.
+
+"There is danger everywhere."
+
+"Ay; but in some positions more imminent danger. Is it well to court
+temptation?"
+
+"Perhaps not. But I cannot afford to give up my place with Jasper."
+
+"Yet, while remaining, you will be strongly tempted."
+
+"Jasper is dishonest at heart. He is ever trying to overreach in
+dealing, and expects every one in his employment to be as keen as
+himself."
+
+"Oh, Edward, do not remain with him a day longer! There is death to
+the spirit in the very atmosphere around such a man. You cannot serve
+such a master, and be true to yourself and to God. It is impossible."
+
+"I believe you are right in that, Edith; I know you are right," said
+the young man, with a strong emphasis on the last sentence. "But
+what am I to do? Five hundred dollars a year is little enough for our
+wants; I have, as you know, been dissatisfied with that. I can hardly
+get as much in another situation. I know of but one opening, and that
+is with Melleville."
+
+"Go back to him, Edward," said his wife.
+
+"And get but four hundred a year? It is all he can pay."
+
+"If but three hundred, it were a situation far to be preferred to the
+one you now hold."
+
+"A hundred dollars a year, Edith, taken from our present income, would
+deprive us of many comforts."
+
+"Think of how much we would gain in true inward enjoyment, Edward, by
+such a change. Have you grown happier since you entered the store of
+Mr. Jasper?"
+
+The young man shook his head sadly, and murmured, "Alas! no."
+
+"Can anything compensate for the anguish of mind we have both suffered
+in the last few hours, Edward?"
+
+There was a quick flushing of the face, as Edith said this.
+
+"Both suffered!" exclaimed Edward, with a look of surprise.
+
+"Ay, both, love. Can the heart of my husband feel a jar of discord,
+and mine not thrill painfully? Can he be in temptation, without an
+overshadowing of my spirit? Can he be in darkness, and I at the same
+time in light? No, no; that were impossible. You have been in great
+peril; I knew that some evil threatened you, even before you confessed
+it with your lips. Oh, Edward, we have both tasted, in the last few
+hours, a bitterer cup than has yet been placed to our lips. May we not
+be called upon to drink it to the very dregs!"
+
+"Amen!" fell solemnly from the lips of Edward Claire, as a cold
+shudder crept along his nerves. If there had been any wavering in his
+mind before, there was none now. He resolved to make restitution in
+the morning, and, as soon as opportunity offered, to leave a place
+where he was so strongly tempted to step aside from the path of
+integrity. The virtue of his wife had saved him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+"Edward," said Mr. Jasper, on the next morning, soon after he came to
+the store, "Was any time fixed for the funeral yesterday?"
+
+"I believe not."
+
+"That was an oversight. It might as well take place to-day as
+to-morrow, or a week hence, if there are no intimate friends or
+relatives to be thought of or consulted. I wish you would take the
+forenoon to see about this troublesome matter. The undertaker will, of
+course, do every thing according to your directions. Let there be as
+little expense as possible."
+
+While they were yet speaking, the undertaker came in to make inquiry
+as to the funeral arrangements to be observed.
+
+"Is the coffin ready?" asked Jasper, in a cold, business manner.
+
+"It is," was the reply.
+
+"What of the ground? Did you see to her husband's funeral?"
+
+"Yes. I have attended to all these matters. Nothing remains but to fix
+the time, and notify the clergyman."
+
+"Were you at the house this morning?" asked Jasper.
+
+"I was."
+
+"Who did you find there?"
+
+"One or two of the neighbours were in."
+
+"No near relatives of the deceased?"
+
+"Not to my knowledge."
+
+"Was any thing said about the time for burying Mrs. Elder?"
+
+"No. That matter, I suppose, will rest with you."
+
+"In that case, I see no reason for delay," said Jasper. "What end is
+served?"
+
+"The sooner it is over the better."
+
+"So I think. Suppose we say this afternoon?"
+
+"Very well. The time might be fixed at five. The graveyard is not very
+distant. How many carriages shall I order?"
+
+"Not many. Two, I should think, would be enough," replied Jasper.
+"There will not be much left, I presume; therefore, the lighter the
+funeral expenses the better. By the way, did you see the child, when
+you were there this morning?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Some neighbour has, in all probability, taken it."
+
+"Very likely. It is a beautiful child."
+
+"Yes--rather pretty," was Jasper's cold response.
+
+"So young to be left alone in the world. Ah, me! But these things will
+happen. So, you decide to have the funeral at five this afternoon?"
+
+"Yes; unless something that we do not now know of, interferes to
+prevent. The quicker a matter like this is over the better."
+
+"True. Very well."
+
+"You will see to every thing?"
+
+"Certainly; that is my business. Will you be at the house this
+afternoon?"
+
+"At the time of the funeral?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I think not. I can't do any good."
+
+"No,--only for the looks of the thing."
+
+The undertaker was already beginning to feel the heartless
+indifference of Jasper, and his last remark was half in irony, half in
+smothered contempt.
+
+"Looks! Oh! I never do any thing for looks. If I can be of any
+service, I will be there--but, if not, not. I'm a right up-and-down,
+straight-forward man of the world, you see."
+
+The undertaker bowed, saying that all should be as he wished.
+
+"You can step around there, after a while, Edward," said Jasper, as
+soon as the undertaker had retired. "When you go, I wish you would
+ascertain, particularly, what has been done with the child. If a
+neighbour has taken her home, make inquiry as to whether she will be
+retained in the family; or, better still, adopted. You can hint, in a
+casual way, you know, that her parents have left property, which may,
+some time or other, be valuable. This may be a temptation, and turn
+the scale in favour of adoption; which may save me a world of trouble
+and responsibility."
+
+"There is some property left?" remarked Claire.
+
+"A small house or two, and a bit of worthless land in the mountains.
+All, no doubt, mortgaged within a trifle of their value. Still, it's
+property you know; and the word 'property' has a very attractive sound
+in some people's ears."
+
+A strong feeling of disgust toward Jasper swelled in the young man's
+heart, but he guarded against its expression in look or words.
+
+A customer entering at the moment, Claire left his principal and moved
+down behind the counter. He was not very agreeably affected, as the
+lady approached him, to see in her the person from whom he had taken
+ten dollars on the previous day, in excess of a reasonable profit. Her
+serious face warned him that she had discovered the cheat.
+
+"Are you the owner of this store?" she asked, as she leaned upon the
+counter, and fixed her mild, yet steady eyes, upon the young man's
+face.
+
+"I am not, ma'am," replied Claire, forcing a smile as he spoke.
+"Didn't I sell you a lot of goods yesterday?"
+
+"You did, sir."
+
+"I thought I recognised you. Well, ma'am, there was an error in your
+bill--an overcharge."
+
+"So I should think."
+
+"A overcharge of five dollars."
+
+Claire, while he affected an indifferent manner, leaned over toward
+the woman and spoke in a low tone of voice. Inwardly, he was trembling
+lest Jasper should became cognizant of what was passing.
+
+"Will you take goods for what is due you; or shall I hand you back the
+money?" said he.
+
+"As I have a few more purchases to make, I may as well take goods,"
+was replied, greatly to the young man's relief.
+
+"What shall I show you, ma'am?" he asked, in a voice that now reached
+the attentive ears of Jasper, who had been wondering to himself as to
+what was passing between the clerk and customer.
+
+A few articles were mentioned, and, in a little while, another bill of
+seven dollars was made.
+
+"I am to pay you two dollars, I believe?" said the lady, after Claire
+had told her how much the articles came to. As she said this, Jasper
+was close by and heard the remark.
+
+"Right, ma'am," answered the clerk.
+
+The customer laid a ten-dollar bill on the counter. Claire saw that
+the eyes of Jasper were on him. He took it up, placed it in the
+money-drawer, and stood some time fingering over the change and small
+bills. Then, with his back turned toward Jasper, he slipped a five
+dollar gold piece from his pocket. This, with a three dollar bill from
+the drawer, he gave to the lady, who received her change and departed.
+
+Other customers coming in at the moment, both Jasper and his clerk
+were kept busy for the next hour. When they were alone again, the
+former said--
+
+"How large a bill did you sell the old lady from the country, who was
+in this morning?"
+
+"The amount was seven dollars, I believe."
+
+"I thought she said two dollars?"
+
+"She gave me a ten-dollar bill, and I only took three from the
+drawer," said the young man.
+
+"I thought you gave her a piece of gold?"
+
+"There was no gold in the drawer," was replied, evasively.
+
+Much to the relief of Claire, another customer entered, thus putting
+an end to the conference between him and Jasper.
+
+The mind of the latter, ever suspicious, was not altogether satisfied.
+He was almost sure that two dollars was the price named for the
+goods, and that he had seen a gold coin offered in change. And he
+took occasion to refer to it at the next opportunity, when his clerk's
+positive manner, backed by the entry of seven dollars on the sales'
+book, silenced him.
+
+As for Claire, this act of restitution, so far as it was in his power
+to make it, took from his mind a heavy burden. He had, still, three
+dollars in his possession that were not rightfully his own. It was by
+no means probable that a similar opportunity to the one just embraced
+would occur. What then was it best for him to do? This question was
+soon after decided, by his throwing the money into the cash-drawer of
+Jasper.
+
+On his way home to dinner that day, Claire called into the store of a
+Mr. Melleville, referred to in the conversation with his wife on the
+previous evening. This gentleman, who was somewhat advanced in years,
+was in the same business with Jasper. He was known as a strictly
+upright dealer--"Too honest to get along in this world," as some said.
+"Old Stick-in-the-mud," others called him. "A man behind the times,"
+as the new-comers in the trade were pleased to say. Claire had lived
+with him for some years, and left him on the offer of Jasper to give
+him a hundred dollars more per annum than he was getting.
+
+"Ah, Edward! How do you do to-day?" said Mr. Melleville, kindly, as
+the young man came in.
+
+"Very well in body, but not so well in mind," was the frank reply, as
+he took the proffered hand of his old employer.
+
+"Not well in mind, ah! That's about the worst kind of sickness I know
+of, Edward. What's the matter?"
+
+"As I have dropped in to talk with you a little about my own affairs,
+I will come at once to the point."
+
+"That is right. Speak out plainly, Edward, and you will find in me,
+at least, a sincere friend, and an honest adviser. What is the matter
+now?"
+
+"I don't like my present situation, Mr. Melleville!"
+
+"Ah! Well? What's the trouble? Have you and Jasper had a
+misunderstanding?"
+
+"Oh no! Nothing of that. We get on well enough together. But I don't
+think its a good place for a young man to be in, sir!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I can be plain with you. In a word, Mr. Jasper is not an honest
+dealer; and he expects his clerks to do pretty much as he does."
+
+Mr. Melleville shook his head and looked grave.
+
+"To tell the truth," continued Edward, "I have suffered myself to
+fall, almost insensibly, into his way of doing business, until I have
+become an absolute cheat--taking, sometimes, double and treble profit
+from a customer who happened to be ignorant about prices."
+
+"Edward!" exclaimed the old man, an expression of painful surprise
+settling on his countenance.
+
+"It is all too true, Mr. Melleville--all too true. And I don't think
+it good for me to remain with Mr. Jasper."
+
+"What does he give you now?"
+
+"The same as at first. Five hundred dollars."
+
+The old man bent his head and thought for a few moments.
+
+"His system of unfair dealing toward his customers is your principal
+objection to Mr. Jasper?"
+
+"That is one objection, and a very serious one, too: particularly as
+I am required to be as unjust to customers as himself. But there is
+still another reason why I wish to get away from this situation. Mr.
+Jasper seems to think and care for nothing but money-getting. In his
+mind, gold is the highest good. To a far greater extent than I was,
+until very recently, aware, have I fallen, by slow degrees, into his
+way of thinking and feeling; until I have grown dissatisfied with
+my position. Temptation has come, as a natural result; and, before I
+dreamed that my feet were wandering from the path of safety, I have
+found myself on the brink of a fearful precipice."
+
+"My dear young friend!" said Mr. Melleville, visibly moved, "this is
+dreadful!"
+
+"It is dreadful. I can scarcely realize that it is so," replied
+Claire, also exhibiting emotion.
+
+"You ought not to remain in the employment of Leonard Jasper. That,
+at least, is plain. Better, far better, to subsist on bread and water,
+than to live sumptuously on the ill-gotten gold of such a man."
+
+"Yes, yes, Mr. Melleville, I feel all the truth of what you affirm,
+and am resolved to seek for another place. Did you not say, when
+we parted two years ago, that if ever I wished to return, you would
+endeavour to make an opening for me?"
+
+"I did, Edward; and can readily bring you in now, as one of my young
+men is going to leave me for a higher salary than I can afford to pay.
+There is one drawback, however."
+
+"What is that, Mr. Melleville?"
+
+"The salary will be only four hundred dollars a year."
+
+"I shall expect no more from you."
+
+"But can you live on that sum now? Remember, that you have been
+receiving five hundred dollars, and that your wants have been
+graduated by your rate of income. Let me ask--have you saved any thing
+since you were married?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"So much the worse. You will find it difficult to fall back upon a
+reduced salary. How far can you rely on your wife's co-operation?"
+
+"To the fullest extent. I have already suggested to her the change,
+and she desires, above all things, that I make it."
+
+"Does she understand the ground of this proposed change?" asked Mr.
+Melleville.
+
+"Clearly."
+
+"And is willing to meet privation--to step down into even a humbler
+sphere, so that her husband be removed from the tempting influence of
+the god of this world?"
+
+"She is, Mr. Melleville. Ah! I only wish that I could look upon life
+as she does. That I could see as clearly--that I could gather, as she
+is gathering them in her daily walk, the riches that have no wings."
+
+"Thank God for such a treasure, Edward! She is worth more than the
+wealth of the Indies. With such an angel to walk by your side, you
+need feel no evil."
+
+"You will give me a situation, then, Mr. Melleville?"
+
+"Yes, Edward," replied the old man.
+
+"Then I will notify Mr. Jasper this afternoon, and enter your service
+on the first of the coming month. My heart is lighter already. Good
+day."
+
+And Edward hurried off home.
+
+During the afternoon he found no opportunity to speak to Mr. Jasper
+on the subject first in his thoughts, as that individual wished him
+to attend Mrs. Elder's funeral, and gather for him all possible
+information about the child. It was late when he came back from
+the burial-ground--so late that he concluded not to return, on that
+evening, to the store. In the carriage in which he rode, was the
+clergyman who officiated, and the orphan child who, though but half
+comprehending her loss, was yet overwhelmed with sorrow. On their way
+back, the clergyman asked to be left at his own dwelling; and this was
+done. Claire was then alone with the child, who shrank close to him in
+the carriage. He did not speak to her; nor did she do more than lift,
+now and then, her large, soft, tear-suffused eyes to his face.
+
+Arrived, at length, at the dwelling from which they had just borne
+forth the dead, Claire gently lifted out the child, and entered the
+house with her. Two persons only were within, the domestic and the
+woman who, on the day previous, had spoken of taking to her own home
+the little orphaned one. The former had on her shawl and bonnet, and
+said that she was about going away.
+
+"You will not leave this child here alone," said Edward.
+
+"I will take her for the present," spoke up the other. "Would you like
+to go home with me, Fanny?" addressing the child. "Come,"--and she
+held out her hands.
+
+But the child shrank closer to the side of Edward, and looked up into
+his face with a silent appeal that his heart could not resist.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am," he returned politely. "But we won't trouble you
+to do that. I will take her to my own home for the present. Would you
+like to go with me, dear?"
+
+Fanny answered with a grateful look, as she lifted her beautiful eyes
+again to his face.
+
+And so, after the woman and the domestic had departed, Edward Claire
+locked up the house, and taking the willing child by the hand, led her
+away to his own humble dwelling.
+
+Having turned himself resolutely away from evil, already were the
+better impulses of his nature quickened into active life. A beautiful
+humanity was rising up to fill the place so recently about to be
+consecrated to the worship of a hideous selfishness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Edward Claire was in no doubt as to the reception the motherless child
+would receive from his kind-hearted wife. A word or two of explanation
+enabled her to comprehend the feeling from which he had acted.
+
+"You were right, Edward," said she in hearty approval. "I am glad
+you brought her home. Come, dear," speaking to the wondering, partly
+shrinking orphan, "let me take off your bonnet."
+
+She kissed the child's sweet lips and then gazed for some moments into
+her face, pleased, yet half surprised, at her remarkable beauty.
+
+Little Fanny felt that she was among friends. The sad expression of
+her face soon wore off, light came back to her eyes, and her prattling
+tongue released itself from a long silence. An hour afterward, when
+she was laid to sleep in a temporary bed, made for her on the floor,
+her heavy eyelids fell quickly, with their long lashes upon her
+cheeks, and she was soon in the world of dreams.
+
+Then followed a long and serious conference between Edward and his
+wife.
+
+"I saw Mr. Melleville to-day," said the former.
+
+"Did you? I am glad of that," was answered.
+
+"He will give me a place."
+
+"Glad again."
+
+"But, Edith, as I supposed, he can only pay me a salary of four
+hundred dollars."
+
+"No matter," was the prompt reply; "it is better than five hundred
+where you are."
+
+"Can we live on it, Edith?" Edward spoke in a troubled voice.
+
+"Why not? It is but to use a little more economy in our expenses--to
+live on two dollars a week less than we now spend; and that will not
+be very hard to do. Trust it to me, dear. I will bring the account
+out even. And we will be just as happy. As happy? Oh, a thousand times
+happier! A hundred dollars! How poorly will that compensate for broken
+peace and a disquieted conscience. Edward, is it possible for you to
+remain where you are, and be innocent?"
+
+"I fear not, Edith," was the unhesitating reply. "And yet, dear, I
+should be man enough, should have integrity enough, to resist the
+temptations that might come in my way."
+
+"Do not think of remaining where you are," said the young wife
+earnestly. "If Mr. Melleville will pay you four hundred dollars a
+year, take his offer and leave Mr. Jasper. It will be a gain rather
+than a loss to us."
+
+"A gain, Edith?"
+
+"Yes, a gain in all that is worth having in life--peace of mind
+flowing from a consciousness of right action. Will money buy this? No,
+Edward. Highly as riches are esteemed--the one great good in life as
+they are regarded--they never have given and never will give this
+best of all blessings. How little, how very little of the world's
+happiness, after all, flows from the possession of money. Did you ever
+think of that, Edward?"
+
+"Perhaps not."
+
+"And yet, is it not worth a passing thought? Mr. and Mrs. Casswell are
+rich--we are poor. Which do you think the happiest?"
+
+"Oh, we are happiest, a thousand times," said Edward warmly. "I
+would not exchange places with him, were he worth a million for every
+thousand."
+
+"Nor I with his wife," returned Edith. "So money, in their case, does
+not give happiness. Now look at William Everhart and his wife. When
+we were married they occupied two rooms, at a low rent, as we now do.
+Their income was just what ours has been. Well, they enjoyed life. We
+visited them frequently, and they often called to see us. But for a
+little ambition on the part of both to make some show, they would have
+possessed a large share of that inestimable blessing, contentment.
+After a while, William's salary was raised to one thousand dollars.
+Then they must have a whole house to themselves, as if their two nice
+rooms were not as large and comfortable, and as well suited to their
+real wants as before. They must, also, have showy furniture for their
+friends to look at. Were they any happier for this change?--for this
+marked improvement in their external condition? We have talked this
+over before, Edward. No, they were not. In fact, they were not so
+comfortable. With added means had come a whole train of clamorous
+wants, that even the doubled salary could not supply."
+
+"Everhart gets fifteen hundred a year, now," remarked Claire.
+
+"That will account, then," said Edith, smiling, "for Emma's unsettled
+state of mind when I last saw her. New wants have been created; and
+they have disturbed the former tranquillity."
+
+"All are not so foolish as they have been. I think we might bear an
+increased income without the drawbacks that have attended theirs."
+
+"If it had been best for us, my husband, God would have provided it.
+It is in his loving-kindness that he has opened the way so opportunely
+for you to leave the path of doubt and danger for one of confidence
+and safety; and, in doing it, he has really increased your salary."
+
+"Increased it, Edith! Why do you say that?"
+
+"Will we not be happier for the change?" asked Edith, smiling.
+
+"I believe so."
+
+"Then, surely, the salary is increased by so much of heartfelt
+pleasure. Why do you desire an increase rather than a diminution of
+income?"
+
+"In order to procure more of the comforts of life," was answered.
+
+"Comfort for the body, and satisfaction for the mind?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Could our bodies really enjoy more than they now enjoy? They are
+warmly clothed, fully fed, and are in good health. Is it not so?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"Then, if by taking Mr. Melleville's offer, you lose nothing for the
+body, and gain largely for the mind, is not your income increased?"
+
+"Ah, Edith!" said Claire, fondly, "you are a wonderful reasoner. Who
+will gainsay such arguments?"
+
+"Do I not argue fairly? Are not my positions sound, and my deductions
+clearly brought forth?"
+
+"If I could always see and feel as I do now," said Claire, in a low,
+pleased tone of voice, "how smoothly would life glide onward. Money is
+not every thing. Ah! how fully that is seen. There are possessions not
+to be bought with gold."
+
+"And they are mental possessions--states of the mind, Edward," spoke
+up Edith quickly. "Riches that never fade, nor fail; that take to
+themselves no wings. Oh, let us gather of these abundantly, as we walk
+on our way through life."
+
+"Heaven has indeed blessed me." Such was the heartfelt admission
+of Edward Claire, made in the silence of his own thoughts. "With
+a different wife--a lover of the world and its poor vanities--how
+imminent would have been my danger! Alas! scarcely any thing less
+than a miracle would have saved me. I shudder as I realize the fearful
+danger through which I have just passed. I thank God for so good a
+wife."
+
+The first inquiry made by Jasper, when he met Edward on the next
+morning, was in relation to what he had seen at the funeral, and,
+particularly, as to the disposition that had been made of the child.
+
+"I took her home with me," was replied, in answer to a direct
+question.
+
+"You did!" Jasper seemed taken by surprise. "How came that, Edward?"
+
+"When I returned from the cemetery, I found the domestic ready to
+leave the house. Of course the poor child could not remain there
+alone; so I took her home with me for the night."
+
+"How did your wife like that?" asked Jasper, with something in his
+tone that showed a personal interest in the reply.
+
+"Very well. I did just what she would have done under the
+circumstances."
+
+"You have only one child, I believe?" said Jasper, after a pause of
+some moments.
+
+"That is all."
+
+"Only three in family?"
+
+"Only three."
+
+"How would you like to increase it? Suppose you keep this child of
+Elder's, now she is with you. I have been looking a little into
+the affairs of the estate, and find that there are two houses,
+unincumbered, that are rented each for two hundred and fifty dollars a
+year. Of course, you will receive a reasonable sum for taking care
+of the child. What do you say to it? As executor, I will pay you five
+dollars a week for boarding and clothing her until she is twelve years
+of age. After that, a new arrangement can be made."
+
+"I can't give an answer until I consult my wife," said Claire, in
+reply to so unexpected a proposition.
+
+"Urge her to accept the offer, Edward. Just think what it will add to
+your income. I'm sure it won't cost you one-half the sum, weekly, that
+I have specified, to find the child in every thing."
+
+"Perhaps not. But all will depend on my wife. We are living, now,
+in two rooms, and keep no domestic. An addition of one to our family
+might so increase her care and labour as to make a servant necessary.
+Then we should have to have an additional room; the rent of which and
+the wages and board of the servant would amount to nearly as much as
+we would receive from you on account of the child."
+
+"Yes, I see that," returned Jasper. And he mused for some moments. He
+was particularly anxious that Claire should take the orphan, for then
+all the trouble of looking after and caring for her would be taken
+from him, and that would be a good deal gained.
+
+"I'll tell you what, Edward," he added. "If you will take her, I will
+call the sum six dollars a week--or three hundred a year. That will
+make the matter perfectly easy. If your wife does not seem at first
+inclined, talk to her seriously. This addition to your income will be
+a great help. To show her that I am perfectly in earnest, and that
+you can depend on receiving the sum specified, I will draw up a little
+agreement, which, if all parties are satisfied, can be signed at
+once."
+
+Claire promised to talk the matter over with his wife at dinner-time.
+
+The morning did not pass without varied assaults upon the young man's
+recent good resolutions. Several times he had customers in from
+whom it would have been easy to get more than a fair profit, but he
+steadily adhered to what he believed to be right, notwithstanding
+Jasper once or twice expressed dissatisfaction at his not having
+made better sales, and particularly at his failing to sell a piece
+of cloth, because he would not pledge his word as to its colour and
+quality--neither of which were good.
+
+The proposition of Jasper for him to make, in his family, a place
+for the orphan, caused Claire to postpone the announcement of his
+intention to leave his service, until after he had seen and conferred
+with his wife.
+
+At the usual dinner-hour, Claire returned home. His mind had become
+by this time somewhat disturbed. The long-cherished love of money,
+subdued for a brief season, was becoming active again. Here were six
+dollars to be added, weekly, to his income, provided his wife approved
+the arrangement,--and it was to come through Jasper. The more he
+thought of this increase, the more his natural cupidity was stirred,
+and the less willing he felt to give up the proposed one hundred
+dollars in his salary. If he persisted in leaving Jasper, there would,
+in all probability, be a breach between them, and this would, he felt
+certain, prevent an arrangement that he liked better and better the
+more he thought about it. He was in this state of mind when he arrived
+at home.
+
+On pushing open the door of their sitting-room, the attention of
+Claire was arrested by the animated expression of his wife's face. She
+raised her finger to enjoin silence. Tripping lightly to his side, she
+drew her arm within his, and whispered--
+
+"Come into the chamber, dear--tread softly--there, isn't that
+sweet?--isn't it lovely?"
+
+The sight was lovely indeed. A pillow had been thrown on the floor,
+and upon this lay sleeping, arm in arm, the two children. Pressed
+close together were their rosy checks; and the sunny curls of Fanny
+Elder were mixed, like gleams of sunshine, amid the darker ringlets
+that covered profusely the head of little Edith.
+
+"Did you ever see any thing so beautiful?" said the delighted mother.
+
+"What a picture it would make!" remarked Edward, who was charmed with
+the sight.
+
+"Oh, lovely! How I would like just such a picture!
+
+"She is a beautiful child," said Edward.
+
+"Very," was the hearty response. "Very--and so sweet-tempered and
+winning in her ways. Do you know, I am already attached to her. And
+little Edie is so delighted. They have played all the morning like
+kittens; and a little while ago lay down, just as you see them--tired
+out, I suppose--and fell off to sleep. It must have been hard for the
+mother to part with that child--hard, very hard."
+
+And Mrs. Claire sighed.
+
+"You will scarcely be willing to give her up, if she remains here
+long," said Edward.
+
+"I don't know how I should feel to part from her, even now. Oh, isn't
+it sad to think that she has no living soul to love or care for her in
+the world."
+
+"Mr. Jasper is her guardian, you know."
+
+"Yes; and such a guardian!"
+
+"I should not like to have my child dependent on his tender mercies,
+certainly. But he will have little to do with her beyond paying the
+bills for her maintenance. He will place her in some family to board;
+and her present comfort and future well-being will depend very much
+upon the character of the persons who have charge of her."
+
+Edith sighed.
+
+"I wish," said she, after a pause, "that we were able to take her. But
+we are not."
+
+And she sighed again.
+
+"Mr. Jasper will pay six dollars a week to any one who will take the
+entire care of her until she is twelve years of age."
+
+"Will he?" A sudden light had gleamed over the face of Mrs. Claire.
+
+"Yes; he said so this morning."
+
+"Then, why may not we take her? I am willing," was Edith's quick
+suggestion.
+
+"It is a great care and responsibility," said Edward.
+
+"I shall not feel it so. When the heart prompts, duty becomes a
+pleasure. O yes, dear, let us take the child by all means."
+
+"Can we make room for her?"
+
+"Why not? Her little bed, in a corner of our chamber, will in noway
+incommode us; and through the day she will be a companion for Edie.
+If you could only have seen how sweetly they played together! Edie has
+not been half the trouble to-day that she usually is."
+
+"It will rest altogether with you, Edith," said Claire, seriously. "In
+fact, Mr. Jasper proposed that we should take Fanny. I did not give
+him much encouragement, however."
+
+"Have you any objection, dear?" asked Edith.
+
+"None. The sum to be paid weekly will more than cover the additional
+cost of housekeeping. If you are prepared for the extra duties that
+must come, I have nothing to urge against the arrangement."
+
+"If extra duties are involved, I will perform them as a labour of
+love. Without the sum to be paid for the child's maintenance, I would
+have been ready to take her in and let her share our home. She is now
+in the special guardianship of the Father of the fatherless, and he
+will provide for her, no matter who become the almoners of his bounty.
+This is my faith, Edward, and in this faith I would have freely acted
+even without the provision that has been made."
+
+"Let it be then, as you wish, Edith."
+
+"How providential this increase of our income, Edward!" said his wife,
+soon afterward, while the subject of taking Fanny into their little
+household was yet the burden of their conversation. "We shall gain
+here all, and more than all that will be lost in giving up your
+situation with Mr. Jasper. Did I not say to you that good would come
+of this guardianship; and is there not, even now, a foreshadowing of
+things to come?"
+
+"Perhaps there is," replied Edward thoughtfully. "But my eye of faith
+is not so clear as yours."
+
+"Let me see for you then, dear," said Edith, in a tender voice. "I
+am an earnest confider in the good purposes of our Heavenly Father. I
+trust in them, as a ship trusts in its well-grounded anchor. That,
+in summing up the events of our life, when the time of our departure
+comes, we shall see clearly that each has been wisely ordered or
+provided for by One who is infinitely good and wise, I never for an
+instant doubt. Oh, if you could only see with me, eye to eye, Edward!
+But you will, love, you will--that my heart assures me. It may be some
+time yet--but it will come."
+
+"May it come right speedily!" was the fervent response of Edward
+Claire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+"Well, Edward, what does your wife say?" Such was the inquiry of
+Jasper, immediately on the return of his clerk from dinner.
+
+"There will be no difficulty, so far as she is concerned," the young
+man answered.
+
+"None, did you say, Edward?"
+
+"None. She is willing to take the child, under the arrangement you
+propose."
+
+"That is, for three hundred dollars a year, to find her in every
+thing?"
+
+"Yes; until she is twelve years of age."
+
+"So I understand it. After that, as the expense of her clothing and
+education will increase, we can make a new arrangement. Very well. I'm
+glad you have decided to take the child. It won't cost you six dollars
+a week, for the present, I am sure: so the additional income will be
+quite a help to you."
+
+"I don't know how that will be. At any rate, we are willing to take
+the child into our family."
+
+"Suppose then, Edward, we mutually sign this little agreement to that
+effect, which I have drawn up."
+
+And Jasper took a paper from his desk, which he handed to Edward.
+
+"I've no objection," said the latter, after he had read it over. "It
+binds me to the maintenance of the child until she is twelve years of
+age, and you to the payment therefor of three hundred dollars a year,
+in quarterly payments of seventy-five dollars each."
+
+"Yes, that is the simple statement of the matter. You see, I have
+prepared duplicates: one for you, and one for myself. I will sign them
+first."
+
+And Jasper took a pen and placed upon each of the documents his
+sign-manual.
+
+Claire did the same; and a clerk witnessed the signatures. Each, then,
+took a copy. Thus, quickly and fully, was the matter arranged.
+
+This fact of giving to the contract a legal form, was, under the
+circumstances, the very thing Claire most desired. He had already
+begun to see difficulties ahead, so soon as he announced his intention
+of leaving Jasper's service; particularly, as no reason that he could
+give would satisfy the merchant--difficulties growing out of this new
+relation as the personal guardian of little Fanny Elder. The signing
+of a regular contract for the payment of a certain sum of money,
+quarterly, for the child's maintenance, gave him a legal right to
+collect that sum, should Jasper, from any change of feeling, be
+disposed at some future time to give him trouble. This was something
+gained.
+
+It was with exceeding reluctance that Claire forced himself, during
+the afternoon, to announce his intention to leave Mr. Jasper. Had
+he not promised Mr. Melleville and his wife to do this, it would
+certainly have been postponed for the present; perhaps altogether.
+But his word was passed to both of them, and he felt that to defer the
+matter would be wrong. So, an opportunity offering, he said--
+
+"I believe, Mr. Jasper, that I shall have to leave you."
+
+"Leave me, Edward!" Mr. Jasper was taken altogether by surprise. "What
+is the meaning of this? You have expressed no dissatisfaction. What is
+wrong?"
+
+The position of Edward was a trying one. He could not state the true
+reasons for wishing to leave his present situation, without giving
+great offence, and making, perhaps, an enemy. This he wished, if
+possible, to avoid. A few days before he would not have scrupled at
+the broadest equivocation, or even at a direct falsehood. But there
+had been a birth of better principles in his mind, and he was in the
+desire to let them govern his conduct. As he did not answer promptly
+the question of Jasper as to his reasons for wishing to leave him, the
+latter said--
+
+"This seems to be some sudden purpose, Edward. Are you going to
+receive a higher salary?"
+
+Still Edward did not reply; but looked worried and irresolute. Taking
+it for granted that no motive but a pecuniary one could have prompted
+this desire for change, Jasper continued--
+
+"I have been satisfied with you, Edward. You seem to understand
+me, and to comprehend my mode of doing business. I have found you
+industrious, prompt, and cheerful in performing your duties. These are
+qualities not always to be obtained. I do not, therefore, wish to part
+with you. If a hundred, or even a hundred and fifty dollars a year,
+will be any consideration, your salary is increased from to-day."
+
+This, to Edward, was unexpected. He felt more bewildered and
+irresolute than at first. So important an advance in his income, set
+against a reduction of the present amount, was a strong temptation,
+and he felt his old desires for money arraying themselves in his mind.
+
+"I will think over your offer," said he. "I did not expect this. In
+the morning I will be prepared to decide."
+
+"Very well, Edward. If you remain, your salary will be increased to
+six hundred and fifty dollars."
+
+To Claire had now come another hour of darkness. The little strength,
+just born of higher principles, was to be sorely tried. Gold was
+in one scale, and the heavenly riches that are without wings in the
+other. Which was to overbalance?
+
+The moment Claire entered the presence of his wife, on returning home
+that evening, she saw that a change had taken place--an unfavourable
+change; and a shadow fell upon her pure spirit.
+
+"I spoke to Mr. Jasper about leaving him," he remarked, soon after he
+came in.
+
+"What did he say?" inquired Edith.
+
+"He does not wish me to go."
+
+"I do not wonder at that. But, of course, he is governed merely by a
+selfish regard to his own interests."
+
+"He offers to increase my salary to six hundred and fifty dollars,"
+said Edward, in a voice that left his wife in no doubt as to the
+effect which this had produced.
+
+"A thousand dollars a year, Edward," was the serious answer, "would
+be a poor compensation for such services as he requires. Loss of
+self-respect, loss of honour, loss of the immortal soul, are all
+involved. Think of this, my dear husband! and do not for a moment
+hesitate."
+
+But Edward did hesitate. This unexpected offer of so important an
+increase in his salary had excited his love of money, temporarily
+quiescent. He saw in such an increase a great temporal good; and
+this obscured his perception of a higher good, which, a little while
+before, had been so clear.
+
+"I am not so sure, Edith," said he, "that all these sad consequences
+are necessarily involved. I am under no obligation to deal unfairly
+with his customers. My duty will be done, when I sell to them all I
+can at a fair profit. If he choose to take an excess of profit in his
+own dealing, that is his affair. I need not be partaker in his guilt."
+
+"Edward!" returned his wife, laying her hand upon his arm, and
+speaking in a low, impressive voice--"Do you really believe that you
+can give satisfaction to Mr. Jasper in all things, and yet keep your
+conscience void of offence before God and man? Think of his character
+and requirements--think of the kind of service you have, in too many
+instances, rendered him--and then say whether it will be possible to
+satisfy him without putting in jeopardy all that a man should hold
+dear--all that is worth living for? Oh, Edward! do not let this offer
+blind you for a moment to the real truth."
+
+"Then you would have me reject the offer?"
+
+"Without an instant's hesitation, Edward."
+
+"It is a tempting one. And then, look at the other side, Edith. Only
+four hundred dollars a year, instead of six hundred and fifty."
+
+"I feel it as no temptation. The latter sum, in the present case,
+is by far the better salary, for it will give us higher sources of
+enjoyment. What are millions of dollars, and a disquiet mind, compared
+to a few hundreds, and sweet peace? If you remain with Jasper, an
+unhappy spirit will surely steal into our dwelling--if you take, for
+the present, your old place with Mr. Melleville, how brightly will
+each morning's sun shine in upon us, and how calmly will the blessed
+evening draw around her curtains of repose!"
+
+Edith had always possessed great influence over her husband. He loved
+her very tenderly; and was ever loth to do any thing to which she made
+opposition. She was no creature of mere impulse--of weak caprices--of
+captious, yet unbending will. If she opposed her husband in any thing,
+it was on the ground of its non-agreement with just principles; and
+she always sustained her positions with the clearest and most direct
+modes of argumentation. Not with elaborate reasonings, but rather in
+the declaration of things self-evident--the quick perceptions of a
+pure, truth-loving mind. How inestimable the blessing of such a wife!
+
+"No doubt you have the better reason on your side, Edith," replied her
+husband, his manner very much subdued. "But it is difficult for me to
+unclasp my hand to let fall therefrom the natural good which I can see
+and estimate, for the seemingly unreal and unsubstantial good that, to
+your purer vision, looms up so imposingly."
+
+"Unreal--unsubstantial--Edward!" said Edith, in reply to this. "Are
+states of mind unreal?"
+
+"I have not always found them so," was answered.
+
+"Is happiness, or misery, unreal? Oh, are they not our most palpable
+realizations? It is not mere wealth that is sought for as an end--that
+is not the natural good for which the many are striving. It is the
+mental enjoyment that possession promises--the state of mind that
+would be gained through gold as a means. Is it not so? Think."
+
+"Yes--that is, undoubtedly, the case."
+
+"But, is it possible for money to give peace and true enjoyment, if,
+in the spirit, even though not in the letter, violence is done to
+the laws of both God and man? Can ill-gotten gain produce heavenly
+beatitudes?--and there are none others. The heart never grows truly
+warm and joyous except when light from above streams through the
+darkened vapours with which earth-fires have surrounded it. Oh, my
+husband! Turn yourself away from this world's false allurements, and
+seek with me the true riches. Whatever may be your lot in life--I care
+not how poor and humble--I shall walk erect and cheerful by your side
+if you have been able to keep a conscience void of offence; but if
+this be not so, and you bring to me gold and treasure without stint,
+my head will lie bowed upon my bosom, and my heart throb in low,
+grief-burdened pulsations. False lights, believe me, Edward, are hung
+out by the world, and they lure life's mariner on to dangerous coasts.
+Let us remain on a smooth and sunny sea, while we can, and not tempt
+the troubled and uncertain wave, unless duty requires the venture.
+Then, with virtue at the helm, and the light of God's love in the sky,
+we will find a sure haven at last."
+
+"It shall be as you wish, Edith," said Claire, as he gazed with
+admiring affection into the bright and glowing face of his wife, that
+was lovely in her beautiful enthusiasm.
+
+"No--no, Edward! Don't say as _I_ wish," was her quick reply. "I
+cannot bear that you should act merely under my influence as an
+external pressure. If I have seemed to use persuasion, it has not been
+to force you over to my way of thinking. But, cannot you see that I am
+right? Does not your reason approve of what I say?"
+
+"It does, Edith. I can see, as well as feel, that you are right. But,
+the offer of a present good is a strong temptation. I speak freely."
+
+"And I thank you for doing so. Oh! never conceal from me your inmost
+thoughts. You say that you can see as well as feel that I am right?"
+
+"Yes; I freely acknowledge that."
+
+"Your reason approves what I have said?"
+
+"Fully."
+
+"This tells you that it will be better for you in the end to accept
+of four hundred dollars from Mr. Melleville, than to remain with Mr.
+Jasper at six hundred and fifty?"
+
+"It does, Edith."
+
+"Then, my husband, let the reason which God has given to you as a
+guide, direct you now in the right way. Do not act under influence
+from me--for then the act will not be freely your own--but, as a truly
+rational, and, therefore, a wise man, choose now the way in which an
+enlightened reason tells you that you ought to walk."
+
+"I have chosen, Edith," was the young man's low, but firm reply.
+
+"How?" The wife spoke with a sudden, trembling eagerness, and held her
+breath for an answer.
+
+"I will leave my present place, and return to Mr. Melleville."
+
+"God be thanked!" came sobbing from the lips of Edith, as she threw
+herself in unrestrained joy upon the bosom of her husband.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+"I don't just understand this," said Jasper to himself, after the
+interview with his clerk described in another chapter. "I thought him
+perfectly satisfied. He didn't say he was offered a higher salary. Ah!
+guess I've got it now. It's only a bit of a ruse on his part to get
+me to increase his wages. I didn't think of this before. Well, it has
+succeeded; and, in truth, he's worth all I've offered him. Shrewd,
+quick, and sharp; he's a young man just to my mind. Should he grow
+restless again, I must tempt him with the idea of a partnership at
+some future period. If business goes on increasing, I shall want
+some one with me whom I can trust and depend on more fully than on a
+clerk."
+
+Thus, in the mind of Jasper, all was settled; and he was fully
+prepared, on the next morning, when he met Edward to hear from him
+that he would remain in his service. A different decision took him
+altogether by surprise.
+
+"Where are you going?" he asked. Edward hesitated a moment ere
+replying.
+
+"Back to Mr. Melleville's."
+
+"To Melleville's! Will he give you more salary than I have agreed to
+pay?"
+
+"No," was the answer; "but I have reasons for wishing to accept the
+place he offers me."
+
+"Well, just as you please," said Jasper, coldly. "Every one must suit
+himself."
+
+And, with the air of a person offended, he turned himself from the
+young man. Soon after he went out, and did not come back for two or
+three hours. When he re-entered the store there was an angry flash in
+his eyes, which rested somewhat sternly upon Claire.
+
+"Let me say a word with you, Edward."
+
+There happened to be no customer in to engage the clerk's attention,
+and he retired, with his employer, to the back part of the store.
+Jasper then turned and confronted him with a stern aspect.
+
+"Well, young man!" said he sharply, "it seems that you have been
+making rather free with my good name, of late; representing me as a
+cheat and a swindler."
+
+For a few moments the mind of Claire was strongly excited and in a
+perfect maze of confusion. The blood mounted to his face, and he felt
+a rising and choking sensation in his throat. Wisely he forbore
+any answer until he had regained his self-possession. Then, with a
+coolness that surprised even himself, he said--
+
+"That's a broad accusation, Mr. Jasper. Will you go with me to your
+authority?"
+
+Jasper was not just prepared for a response like this; and he cooled
+down, instantly, several degrees.
+
+"My authority is quite satisfactory," he returned, still manifesting
+angry feeling. "That you have been slandering me is plain; and, also,
+betraying the confidential transactions of the house. It is full time
+we parted--full time. I didn't dream that I was warming an adder to
+sting me?"
+
+"I must insist, Mr. Jasper," said Claire firmly, "that you give me
+your authority for all this. Let me stand face to face with the man
+who has so broadly accused me."
+
+"Then you deny it all?"
+
+"I shall neither affirm nor deny any thing. You have angrily accused
+me of having done you a great wrong. All I ask is your authority, and
+the right to stand face to face with that authority. This is no light
+matter, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Well said, young man. It is no light matter, as you will, perhaps,
+know to your sorrow in the end. Don't suppose, for a moment, that I
+shall either forget or forgive this outrage. Leave me because I cheat
+in my business!" An expression of unmitigated contempt was on his
+face. "Poh! What hypocrisy! I know you! And let Mr. Melleville beware.
+He, I more than suspect, is at the bottom of this. But he'll rue the
+day he crossed my path--he will!"
+
+And Jasper ground his teeth in anger.
+
+By this time, Claire had become entirely self-possessed. He was both
+surprised and troubled; yet concealed, as far as possible, the real
+state of his feelings.
+
+"So far as Mr. Melleville is concerned," said he, "I wish you to
+understand, that I applied to _him_ for the situation."
+
+"Exactly! That is in agreement with what I heard. I was such a rogue
+that you could not live with me and keep a clear conscience--so you
+sought for a place with an honest man."
+
+Claire dropped his eyes to the floor, and stood musing for some
+considerable time. When he raised them, he looked steadily at his
+employer and said--
+
+"Mr. Jasper, I never made use of the words you have repeated."
+
+"If not the very words, those of a like signification?"
+
+"To whom? There is no need of concealment, Mr. Jasper." Claire was
+feeling less and less anxious for the result of this conference every
+moment. "Speak out freely, and you will find me ready to do the
+same. There had been some underhand work here--or some betrayal of an
+ill-advised confidence. The former, I am most ready to believe. In a
+word, sir, and to bring this at once to an issue--your informant in
+this matter is Henry Parker, who lives with Mr. Melleville."
+
+The change instantly perceptible in the manner of Jasper showed that
+Edward's suspicion was right. He had, all at once, remembered that,
+during his conversation with Melleville, this young man was near.
+
+"I see how it is," he continued. "An eavesdropper has reported, with
+his own comments and exaggerations, a strictly confidential interview.
+Such being the case, I will state the plain truth of the matter. Are
+you prepared to hear it?"
+
+"Oh, certainly," replied Jasper, with a covert sneer in his voice.
+"I'm prepared to hear any thing."
+
+"Very well. What I have to say is now wrung from me. I did not wish to
+leave you in anger. I did not wish to draw upon me your ill-will. But,
+what is unavoidable must be borne. It is true, Mr. Jasper, as you
+have been informed, that I am not satisfied with your way of doing
+business."
+
+"How long since, pray?" asked Jasper, with ill-disguised contempt.
+
+"I did not like it in the beginning, but gradually suffered myself to
+think that all was fair in trade, until I found I was no better than a
+common cheat! Happily, I have been able to make a sudden pause in the
+way I was going. From this time, I will serve no man who expects me to
+overreach a customer in dealing. So soon as my mind was fully made
+up to leave your employment, I called to see my old friend, Mr.
+Melleville; stated to him, frankly and fully, what I thought and felt;
+and asked him if he could not make room for me in his store. Parker
+doubtless overheard a part of what we were saying, and reported it to
+you. I would, let me say in passing, much rather hold my relation to
+this unpleasant business than his. Mr. Melleville offered me my old
+salary--four hundred dollars--and I agreed to enter his service."
+
+"Four hundred dollars!" Jasper said this in unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Yes, sir; that is all he can afford to pay, and of course all I will
+receive."
+
+"And I offered you six hundred and fifty."
+
+"True."
+
+"Edward, you are the most consummate fool I ever heard of."
+
+"Time will show that," was the undisturbed reply. "I have made my
+election thoughtfully, and am prepared to meet the result."
+
+"You'll repent of this; mark my word for it."
+
+"I may regret your ill-will, Mr. Jasper; but never repent this step.
+I'm only thankful that I possessed sufficient resolution to take it."
+
+"When are you going?"
+
+"Not before the end of this month, unless you wish it otherwise. I
+would like to give you full time to supply my place."
+
+"You can go at once, if it so please you. In fact, after what has just
+passed, I don't see how you can remain, or I tolerate your presence."
+
+"I am ready for this, Mr. Jasper," coolly replied the young man.
+
+"How much is due you?" was inquired, after a brief silence.
+
+"Twenty-five dollars, I believe," answered Claire.
+
+Jasper threw open a ledger that lay on the desk, and, turning to the
+young man's account, ran his eyes up the two columns of figures, and
+then struck a balance.
+
+"Just twenty-seven dollars," said he, after a second examination of
+the figures. "And here's the money," he added, as he took some bills
+from the desk and counted out the sum just mentioned. "Now sign me a
+receipt in full to date, and that ends the matter."
+
+The receipt was promptly signed.
+
+"And now," sneered Jasper, bowing with mock deference, "I wish you
+joy of your better place. You will, in all probability, hear from me
+again. I haven't much faith in your over-righteous people; and will
+do myself the justice to make some very careful examinations into your
+doings since you entered my service. If all is right, well; if not, it
+won't be good for you. I'm not the man to forgive ingratitude, injury,
+and insult--of all three of which you have been guilty."
+
+"We will not bandy words on that subject, Mr. Jasper," said Claire--"I
+simply deny that I have been guilty of either of the faults you
+allege. As for an investigation into my business conduct, that you can
+do as early and as thoroughly as you please. I shall feel no anxiety
+for the result."
+
+Jasper did not reply. For a few moments the young man stood as if
+expecting some remark; none being made, he turned away, gathered
+together a few articles that were his own private property, tied
+them into a bundle and marked his name thereon. Then bowing to the
+merchant, he retired--oppressed from recent painful excitement, yet
+glad, in his inmost feelings, that a connection so dangerous as that
+with Jasper had been dissolved--dissolved even at the cost of making
+an enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+As no event of particularly marked interest occurred with those whose
+histories we are writing, during the next few years, we will pass over
+that time without a record. Some changes of more or less importance
+have taken place, in the natural progress of things; but these will
+become apparent as we pursue the narrative.
+
+A dull, damp November day was losing itself in the sombre twilight,
+when Edward Claire left the store of Mr. Melleville, and took his
+way homeward. An errand for his wife led him past his old place of
+business. As he moved along the street, opposite, he noticed a new
+sign over the door, the large gilt letters of which were strongly
+reflected in the light of a gas-lamp. It bore the words, JASPER &
+PARKER.
+
+Involuntarily the young man sighed. If he had remained with Jasper,
+there was little doubt but that his name would have been the one now
+associated with his in a copartnership. Parker was the young man who
+had betrayed the conversation between Claire and Mr. Melleville. His
+end in doing this was to gain the favour of Jasper, and thus secure
+the place left vacant by the departing clerk. He had succeeded in his
+purpose. Jasper offered him the situation, and he took it. Five
+years afterward, in which time Jasper had made money rapidly, he
+was elevated to the position of partner, with a fair interest in the
+business. He had been honest toward his employer, because he saw that
+through him there was a chance to rise. Honest in heart he was not,
+for he never scrupled to overreach a customer.
+
+Edward Claire, as we have remarked, sighed involuntarily. His own
+prospects in life were not what are called flattering. His situation
+with Mr. Melleville was now worth five hundred dollars a year, but his
+family had increased, and with the increase had come new wants. The
+condition of Mr. Melleville's business gave him no encouragement to
+hope for a larger income while in his service. Several times during
+the last two years he had made application for vacant places, but
+without success. Sometimes he felt restless and discouraged, as his
+vision penetrated the future; but there was ever a cheerful light at
+home that daily dispelled the coming shadows.
+
+Scarcely had the sigh lost itself on the air, when a hand was laid on
+his arm, and an old acquaintance said--
+
+"Ah, Edward! How are you?"
+
+Claire seeing the face of his friend, returned the greeting cordially.
+
+"What have you been doing with yourself?" asked the latter. "It is
+months, I believe, since I had the pleasure of meeting you."
+
+"Busy all day," returned Clare, "and anchored at home in the evening.
+So the time is passing."
+
+"Pleasantly and profitably, I hope," said the friend.
+
+"Pleasantly enough, I will own," was answered; "as to the profit--if
+you mean in a money sense--there is not much to boast of."
+
+"You are still with Melleville?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"At what salary?"
+
+"Five hundred."
+
+"Is that all? How much family have you?"
+
+"Three children; or, I might say four; but the fourth brings us three
+hundred dollars a year for her maintenance."
+
+"That is something."
+
+"Oh yes. It is quite a help."
+
+"By the way, Edward--the new store we just past reminds me of it--your
+old friend Jasper has just given one of his clerks, named Parker, an
+interest in his business."
+
+"So I am aware."
+
+"Jasper is doing first-rate."
+
+"He is making money, I believe."
+
+"Coining it. The fact is, Edward, you never should have left him. Had
+you kept that situation, you would have been the partner now. And, by
+the way, there was rather a strange story afloat at the time you took
+it into your head to leave Jasper."
+
+"Ah! what was it?"
+
+"It is said that you thought him a little too close in his dealings,
+and left him on that account. I hadn't given you credit for quite so
+tender a conscience. How was it, Edward?"
+
+"I didn't like his modes of doing business, and, therefore, left him.
+So far you heard truly."
+
+"But what had you to do with _his_ modes of doing business?"
+
+"A great deal. As one of his employees, I was expected to carry out
+his views."
+
+"And not being willing to do that, you left his service."
+
+"That is the simple story."
+
+"Excuse me, Edward, but I can't help calling you a great fool. Just
+see how you have stood in your own light. But for this extra bit of
+virtue, for which no one thinks a whit the better of you, you might
+this day have been on the road to fortune, instead of Parker."
+
+"I would rather be in my own position than in his," replied Claire
+firmly.
+
+"You would!" His companion evinced surprise. "He is in the sure road
+to wealth."
+
+"But not, I fear, in the way to happiness."
+
+"How can you say that, Edward?"
+
+"No man, who, in the eager pursuit of money, so far forgets the rights
+of others as to trample on them, can be in the way to happiness."
+
+"Then you think he tramples on the rights of others?"
+
+"I know but little, if any thing, about him," replied Claire; "but
+this I do know, that unless Leonard Jasper be a different man from
+what he was five years ago, fair dealing between man and man is a
+virtue in a clerk that would in nowise recommend him to the position
+of an associate in business. His partner must be shrewd, sharp,
+and unscrupulous--a lover of money above every thing else--a man
+determined to rise, no matter who is trampled down or destroyed in the
+ascent."
+
+"In business circles such men are by no means scarce."
+
+"I am aware of it."
+
+"And it is unhesitatingly affirmed by many whom I know, that, as the
+world now is, no really honest man can trade successfully."
+
+"That is more than I am ready to admit."
+
+"The sharpest and shrewdest get on the best."
+
+"Because it is easier to be sharp and shrewd than to be intelligent,
+persevering, industrious, patient, and self-denying. The eagerness to
+get rich fast is the bane of trade. I am quite ready to admit that no
+man can get rich at railroad speed, and not violate the law of doing
+as you would be done by."
+
+"Doing as you would be done by! O dear!" said the friend; "you
+certainly don't mean to bring that law down into the actual life of
+the world?"
+
+"It would be a happier world for all of us if this law were
+universally obeyed."
+
+"That may be. But, where all are selfish, how is it possible to act
+from an unselfish principle?"
+
+"Do you approve of stealing?" said Claire, with some abruptness.
+
+"Of course not," was the half-indignant answer.
+
+"I need not have asked the question, for I now remember to have seen
+the fact noticed in one of our papers, that an unfaithful domestic in
+your family had been handed over to the police."
+
+"True. She was a thief. We found in her trunk a number of valuable
+articles that she had stolen from us."
+
+"And you did right. You owed this summary justice as well to the
+purloiner as to the public. Now, there are many ways of stealing,
+besides this direct mode. If I deprive you of your property with
+design, I steal from you. Isn't that clear?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And I am, to use plain words, a thief. Well, now take this easily
+to be understood case. I have a lot of goods to sell, and you wish to
+purchase them. In the trade I manage to get from you, through direct
+misrepresentation, or in a tacit advantage of your ignorance, more
+than the goods are really worth. Do I not cheat you?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"And having purposely deprived you of a portion of your money, am I
+not a thief?"
+
+"In all that goes to make up the morality of the case, you are."
+
+"The truth, unquestionably. Need I proceed further? By your own
+admission, every businessman who takes undue advantage of another in
+dealing, steals."
+
+"Pretty close cutting, that, friend Claire. It wouldn't do to talk
+that right out at all times and in all places."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I rather think it would make some people feel bad; and others regard
+themselves as insulted."
+
+"I can believe so. But we are only talking this between ourselves.
+And now I come back to my rather abrupt question--Do you approve of
+stealing? No, you say, as a matter of course. And yet, you but just
+now were inclined to justify sharp dealing, on the ground that all
+were sharpers--quoting the saying of some, that no honest man could
+trade successfully in the present time. For the direct stealing of
+a few articles of trifling value, you hand a poor, ignorant domestic
+over to the police, yet feel no righteous indignation against the
+better-taught man of business, who daily robs his customers in some
+one form or another."
+
+"You are too serious by far, Edward," returned his companion, forcing
+a laugh. "Your mind has fallen into a morbid state. But you will get
+over this one of these times. Good evening! Our ways part here. Good
+evening!"
+
+And the young man turned off abruptly.
+
+"A morbid state," mused Claire to himself, as he continued on alone.
+"So thousands would say. But is it so? Is honesty or dishonesty the
+morbid state? How direct a question! How plain the answer! Honesty is
+health--dishonesty the soul's sickness. To be honest, is to live in
+obedience to social and divine laws; dishonesty is the violation of
+these. Is it possible for a diseased body to give physical enjoyment?
+No! Nor can a diseased mind give true mental enjoyment. To seek
+happiness in the possession of wealth obtained through wrong to
+the neighbour, is as fruitless as to seek bodily pleasure in those
+practices which inevitably destroy the health. To me, this is
+self-evident, and may God give me strength to live according to my
+clear convictions!"
+
+The very earnestness with which Claire mentally confirmed himself in
+his honest convictions, and especially his upward looking for strength
+in conscious weakness, showed that his mind was in temptation. He
+had felt somewhat depressed during the day, in view of his external
+relation to the world; and this feeling was increased by his
+observation of the fact that Parker had been advanced to the position
+of a partner to his old employer. It seemed like a reward for unfair
+dealing, while honesty was suffered to remain poor. The young man's
+enlightened reason--enlightened during five years' earnest search
+after and practice of higher truths than govern in the world's
+practice--strongly combated all the false arguments that were
+presented to his mind, during this season of his overshadowing. The
+combat was severe, and still continued on his arrival at home--causing
+his mind to be in a measure depressed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The increase of Claire's family had caused him, some time before, to
+remove from the two comfortable rooms in which were passed the first
+pleasant years of his married life. He now occupied a small house in
+a retired street, the rent of which, though moderate, drew pretty
+heavily on his income. But he had managed, through the prudent
+co-operation of his wife, not only to keep even with the world, but to
+lay by a small sum of money.
+
+Few homes, in the large city wherein dwelt this obscure family, were
+so full of all the elements of happiness. If, sometimes, the spirit of
+Claire was overshadowed by passing clouds--as would unavoidably happen
+from his contact with the world, and his own variant states--the
+evening's return to the bosom of his family, generally made all bright
+again.
+
+Little Fanny Elder, now ten years of age, had been steadily growing
+into his affections from the first. It is questionable whether his
+love for his own children was a purer passion. Older, by several
+years, than Edith, she had been to him more companionable; and had
+ever greeted his return at evening with warmer expressions of pleasure
+than were manifested by Edith, or the two younger children who had
+been added to the number of his household treasures.
+
+On this evening, as Claire drew nearer and nearer to his home, and
+his thoughts began to make pictures of the scene within, its light
+and warmth penetrated his feelings, and when he opened, at length, the
+door, he was himself again.
+
+First to bound into his arms was Fanny Elder. What a beautiful,
+fairy-like creature she was! How more than fulfilled the promise of
+her early childhood! Next came Edith, now six years of age, side by
+side with her brother Harry, a wild little rogue, and were only a few
+seconds behind Fanny in throwing themselves upon their father; while
+little baby Mary, as she sat on the carpet, fluttered her tiny arms,
+and crowed out her joyous welcome.
+
+What a merry romp they all had for the next two or three minutes.
+When quiet came back again, baby was sitting on one knee, Harry on the
+other, and Fanny leaning her face on the shoulder of her "father"--for
+so she called him with the rest--while her glossy curls were resting
+in sunny clusters upon his bosom. The memory of the child's former
+home and parents seemed to have faded almost entirely. If the past
+ever came back to her, like a dream, with its mingled web of sunshine
+and tears, she never spoke of it. Fully had she been taken into the
+hearts and home of her now parents; and she rested there as one having
+a right to her position.
+
+And the pure spirit who presided over this little Paradise, where was
+she? Present--observing all, and sharing in the delight her husband's
+return had occasioned. The expected kiss had not long been kept from
+her loving lips.
+
+Happy household! What have its inmates to envy in those around
+them? Within the circle of many squares were none so rich in all the
+elements of happiness.
+
+Soon after the evening meal was over, the children, after another
+merry romp with their father, went off to bed. When Mrs. Claire
+returned from the chamber, whither she had accompanied them, she held
+a letter in her hand.
+
+"I had forgotten all about this letter, Edward," said she. "It was
+left here for you, this afternoon."
+
+Claire took the letter and broke the seal, running his eye down to the
+signature as he unfolded it.
+
+"Leonard Jasper! What is this?"
+
+His brow contracted instantly, as he commenced reading the letter. It
+was brief, and in these words--
+
+"MR. EDWARD CLAIRE--_Sir_: From this time I relieve you of the burden
+of my ward, Fanny Elder. Mrs. Jasper and myself have determined to
+take her into our own family, in order that we may give the needful
+care to her education. Call around and see me to-morrow, and we will
+arrange this matter. Yours, &c. LEONARD JASPER."
+
+The face of the young man had become pale by the time he had finished
+reading this letter; but that of his wife, who did not yet know a word
+of its contents, was almost white--the effect produced on her husband
+filling her with a vague alarm.
+
+"What is it, Edward?" she asked, in a low, eager whisper.
+
+"Jasper wants us to give up Fanny."
+
+Edith sank into a chair, exclaiming--
+
+"Oh, Edward!"
+
+"But she is only ten years of age," said the husband, "and our
+contract is to keep her until she is twelve."
+
+"We cannot give her up," murmured Edith, tears already beginning to
+flow over her cheeks. "I never thought of this. What can it mean?"
+
+"Some sudden determination on the part of Jasper, and based on nothing
+good," was the reply. "But, as I said, our contract is binding until
+Fanny is twelve years of age, and I will never consent to its being
+broken. He was over anxious to hold me in writing. He did not value
+his own word, and would not trust mine. It was well. The dear child
+shall remain where she is."
+
+"But, after she is twelve, Edward? What then? Oh, I can never part
+with her," said Mrs. Claire, now weeping freely.
+
+"Two years will pass ere that time. Jasper may have other purposes in
+view when our present contract expires."
+
+"You will see him in the morning?"
+
+"O yes. I must understand all about this matter. What can it mean?
+'Needful care to her education!' A mere hypocritical pretence. What
+does he care for her, or her education? What, in fact, does he know of
+her? Nothing at all. Has he ever called to see her? Has he ever made
+the first inquiry after her? No. There is something wrong, without
+doubt. This movement bodes no good to our dear child. But she has one
+friend who will stand between her and harm--who will protect her, if
+need be, at the risk of his own life."
+
+Claire, as his words indicate, had suffered himself to become much
+excited. Seeing this, his wife recovered, to some extent, her own
+self-possession, and spoke to him soothingly.
+
+"We will wait and see what it means," said she. "Mr. Jasper cannot
+force her away from us now, if he would."
+
+"After seeing him to-morrow, you can understand better what we are to
+expect. This note may have been written from some momentary feeling. I
+cannot think that he has a settled purpose to take the child from us."
+
+"Time will show," was the abstracted response.
+
+Not for years had so unhappy an evening been spent by Edward Claire
+and his wife; and when they retired, it was to pass the night in
+broken intervals of sleep.
+
+Early on the next morning, Claire called at the store of Jasper, who
+received him with cold politeness, and at once came to the matter
+uppermost in both their thoughts, by saying--
+
+"You received my note?"
+
+"I did," was the reply.
+
+"Well? All right, I suppose?"
+
+"Fanny is not twelve years of age yet!"
+
+"Isn't she? Well, what of that?" There was some impatience in the
+manner of Jasper.
+
+"I agreed to take the care of her until she was twelve."
+
+"Well--well--suppose you did? I'm her guardian, and wish to have her
+now in my own family. If you agreed to keep her, I did not say that
+she should positively remain."
+
+"There was a contract signed to that effect," firmly replied Claire.
+
+"A contract! Humph! Are you sure?"
+
+"Very sure. You drew it yourself."
+
+"Have you a copy of it?"
+
+"I have."
+
+Jasper seemed thrown aback by this. He had not forgotten the contract,
+for all his affected ignorance thereof. He only hoped that Edward had,
+through carelessness, lost his copy. But he was mistaken.
+
+"A contract! A contract?" said Jasper, as if communing with his own
+thoughts. "I do remember, now, something of the kind. And so there was
+a written contract?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and I have a copy in your own hand."
+
+"And I am to understand, Edward, that notwithstanding my wish, as
+the child's legal guardian, and, therefore, the representative of
+her parents, to have her in my own family, that you will interpose a
+hasty-signed contract?"
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said the young man, changing his manner, "we have had
+this child in our family for over five years, and have grown strongly
+attached to her. In fact, she seems to us as one of our own children;
+and we, to her, are in the place of parents. To remove her would,
+therefore, be doing a great violence to our feelings, and I know it
+would make her unhappy. Let her remain where she is, and you may rest
+assured that she will be cared for as tenderly as our own."
+
+"No, Edward, it is no use to talk of that," replied Jasper,
+positively. "I wish, now, to have her in my own family, and trust that
+you will not stand for a moment in the way."
+
+"But, Mr. Jasper"--
+
+"It will be of no avail to argue the point, Edward," said the
+merchant, interrupting him. "I was fully in earnest when I wrote to
+you, and am no less in earnest now. I am certainly entitled to the
+possession of my ward, and will not bear, patiently, any attempt on
+your part to deprive me of that right."
+
+There was an angry quivering of the lips, and a stern knitting of the
+brows, on the part of Jasper, as he closed this emphatic sentence.
+Claire felt excited, yet was so fully conscious of the necessity of
+self-control, that he quieted down his feelings, and endeavoured to
+think calmly.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" imperatively demanded Jasper, after waiting
+some moments for a reply.
+
+"We cannot part with the child," said the young man, in a low,
+appealing voice.
+
+"You _must_ part with her!" was the quick, resolute response.
+
+"Must? That is a strong word, Mr. Jasper." Claire's manner underwent
+another change, as was shown by the firm compression of his lips, and
+the steady gaze of his eyes, as he fixed them on the merchant.
+
+"I know it is strong, but no stronger than my purpose; and I warn you
+not to stand in my way. I've got an old grudge against you, so don't
+provoke me too far in this matter. A pretty affair, indeed, when _you_
+attempt to come between me and my legal rights and duties."
+
+"Duties!" There was a stinging contempt in the young man's voice. The
+manner of Jasper had chafed him beyond all manner of self-control.
+
+"You forget to whom you are speaking," said the latter, offended now,
+as well as angry. "But we will not bandy words. Will you, without
+further trouble, give into my hands the child of Mr. Elder?"
+
+"I cannot do it, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Speak positively. Will you, or will you not do as I wish?"
+
+"I will not," was the decided answer.
+
+"Enough." And Jasper turned away, muttering in an undertone, "We'll
+soon see who is to be master here."
+
+Claire lingered a short time, but, as Jasper showed no disposition
+to renew the conversation, he left the store, greatly disturbed and
+troubled in his mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+When Edward Claire and his wife drew together on the evening of that
+day, after the children were in bed, both were calmer than at their
+previous interview on a subject that necessarily brought with it
+strong excitement of feeling. Both had thought much and felt much, and
+were now prepared to look calmly at the new relation affairs had so
+suddenly assumed. At dinner-time, Edward had related the substance of
+his interview with Jasper.
+
+"What can he do?" asked Edith, referring now to the muttered threat of
+that individual.
+
+"I don't know that he can do any thing more than withhold the regular
+sums heretofore paid for the support of Fanny. If he does that, I will
+collect them legally."
+
+"Can't he take her away by force? Won't the law compel us to give her
+up?" asked Edith, in a troubled voice.
+
+"Our contract gives us a right to her possession until she is twelve
+years of age. In that, the law will undoubtedly sustain us."
+
+"The law is very uncertain, Edward."
+
+"But our contract is plainly worded, and, in this State, private
+written contracts between parties to an agreement are good in law.
+At best, however, we can only keep her two years longer; that is what
+troubles me most."
+
+"We must do our duty by her," said Edith, endeavouring to speak
+calmly, "during that time; and wean our hearts from her as much as
+possible, so that the giving of her up, when it has to be done, will
+cause as little grief as possible. Poor child! It will be hard for her
+to leave us, and go to her new home. That thought is beginning to pain
+me most."
+
+"And such a home! I have seen Mrs. Jasper frequently, and, if my
+observation is correct, she is no true woman. Dress, it seemed to me,
+was all she cared for; and there was a captiousness and ill-temper
+about her, at times, that was, to say the least of it, very
+unbecoming."
+
+"And to her care we must resign this precious one," said Edith, with a
+sigh. "Oh, how the thought pains me! Dear, dear child!"
+
+"The time is yet distant," remarked Claire--"distant by nearly two
+years. Let it be our duty to prepare her as fully for the new relation
+as possible. Two years is a long time--many changes will take place,
+and among them, it may be, a change in the purpose of Mr. Jasper.
+We will hope for this, at least; yet wisely prepare for a different
+result."
+
+"As things now appear, I do not see what else remains for us to do.
+Ah me! How like lightning from a summer sky has this flashed suddenly
+over us. But, Edward, we must not, in the strong trial of our natural
+feelings, permit ourselves to forget that dear Fanny is in the higher
+guardianship of One who is infinitely wise and good. If she is to pass
+from our care to that of Mr. Jasper and his family, it is through His
+permission, and He will bring out of it good to all."
+
+"I can see that in my understanding, Edith," replied her husband;
+"but, it is hard to _feel_ that it is so."
+
+"Very hard, Edward. Yet, it is something--a great deal--to have the
+truth to lean upon, even though it seems to bend under our weight.
+Oh! without this truth, it seems as if I would now fall to the
+ground helpless. But, let us try and view this painful subject in its
+brightest aspect. It is our duty to the child to keep her, if we can,
+until she passes her twelfth year."
+
+"Clearly," replied the husband.
+
+"And you think we can do so?"
+
+"We have two advantages--possession and a written contract
+guaranteeing the possession."
+
+"True."
+
+"These on our side, I think we have little to fear from Jasper. The
+great trial will come afterward."
+
+To this conclusion, that is, to retain Fanny until her twelfth year,
+if possible--they came, after once more carefully reviewing the whole
+subject; and, resting here, they patiently awaited the result.
+
+With what a new interest was the child regarded from this time! How
+the hearts of Claire and his wife melted toward her on all occasions!
+She seemed to grow, daily, more and more into their affections;
+and, what to them appeared strange--it might only have been
+imagination--manifested a more clinging tenderness, as if conscious of
+the real truth.
+
+Weeks elapsed and nothing further was heard from Jasper. Claire and
+his wife began to hope that he would make no attempt to separate Fanny
+from them; at least not until her twelfth year. Let us turn to him,
+and see what he is doing, or proposing to do, in the case.
+
+Two or three days subsequent to the time when Claire received the
+notification from Jasper, just referred to, two men sat, in close
+conference, in the office of an attorney noted for his legal
+intelligence, but more noted for his entire want of principle. For
+a good fee, he would undertake any case, and gain for his client, if
+possible, no matter how great the wrong that was done. His name was
+Grind. The two men here introduced, were this lawyer and Jasper.
+
+"Do you really think," said the latter, "that, in the face of my
+guardianship, he can retain possession of the child?"
+
+"He has, you say, a copy of this contract?" Grind held a sheet of
+paper in his hand.
+
+"Yes. To think that I was such a fool as to bind myself in this way!
+But I did not dream, for a moment, that things were going to turn up
+as they have."
+
+"It is a contract that binds you both," said the lawyer, "and I do not
+see that you can go round it."
+
+"I must go round it!" replied Jasper, warmly. "You know all the quirks
+and windings of the law, and I look to you for help in this matter.
+The possession of that child, is, to me, a thing of the first
+importance."
+
+"After two years she will come into your hands without trouble, Mr.
+Jasper. Why not wait?"
+
+"Wait! I will not hear the word. No! no! I must have her now."
+
+"The law will not give her to you, Mr. Jasper," returned Grind, with
+the utmost self-possession. "The contract is clearly expressed; and it
+is binding."
+
+"Is there no way to accomplish my end?" said Jasper, impatiently.
+"There must be. I cannot be foiled in this matter. Even pride would
+forbid this. But, there are stronger motives than pride at work now."
+
+"Can you allege ill-treatment against the young man or his wife? Or
+neglect of your ward's comfort? Have they failed to do their duty by
+her in any respect?"
+
+"I should not wonder; but, unfortunately, I can prove nothing."
+
+"You might call for an investigation."
+
+"And if every thing was proved right on their part?"
+
+"The court would, most probably, return the child to their care. I
+am ready to take all necessary steps for you; but, Mr. Jasper, I very
+strongly incline to the opinion that the least noise you make in this
+matter, the better. Couldn't you--for a consideration in money, for
+instance--overcome the reluctance of Claire and his wife to part with
+the child? Honey, you know, catches more flies than vinegar."
+
+"Buy him off, you mean?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No--no! I hate him too cordially for that. He's a villain in
+disguise; that's my opinion of him. A low, canting hypocrite. Buy him
+off for money. Oh no!"
+
+"Could he be bought?" asked the lawyer.
+
+"Could he?" A flush of surprise lit up, for a moment, the face of
+Jasper. "What a question for _you_ to ask. Hasn't every man his price?
+Bought! Yes, I could buy him fifty times over."
+
+"Then do so, and in the quietest manner. That is my advice."
+
+"I'll steal the child!" exclaimed Jasper, rising up in his excitement,
+and moving uneasily about the room.
+
+Grind shook his head, as he replied--
+
+"All folly. No man ever did a wise thing while he was in a passion.
+You must permit yourself to cool down a great many degrees before you
+can act judiciously in this matter."
+
+"But to be thwarted by him!" An expression of the deepest disgust was
+in the face of Jasper.
+
+"All very annoying, of course," was the response of Grind. "Still,
+where we can't make things bend exactly to our wishes, it is generally
+the wisest policy to bend a little ourselves. We often, in this way,
+gain a purchase that enables us to bring all over to our side."
+
+It must not be supposed that Grind, in giving his client advice
+that was to prevent an appeal to law, did so from any unselfish
+friendliness. Nothing of the kind. He saw a great deal to gain,
+beyond; and, in his advice, regarded his own interests quite as much
+as he did those of Jasper. He was not, however, at this interview,
+able to induce the merchant to attempt to settle the matter with
+Claire by compromise. The most he could do was to get him to promise,
+that, for the present, he would make no effort to get the person of
+the child into his possession.
+
+Jasper, when he left his lawyer, was less satisfied with him than
+he had ever been. In previous cases, he had found Grind ready to
+prosecute or defend, and to promise him the fullest success--though
+success did not always come.
+
+Several more consultations were held during the succeeding two or
+three weeks, and, finally, Jasper was brought over fully to his
+lawyer's way of thinking.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The minds of Claire and his wife were yet in a state of suspense,
+when, some weeks after the first interview, the former received a
+politely worded note from Jasper, requesting him to call at his store.
+He went, accordingly, and Jasper received him with marked suavity
+and kindness of manner, and, after making a few inquiries about his
+family, said--
+
+"Edward: I believe I must confess to having been a little over-excited
+at our last interview. The fact is, I had forgotten all about that
+contract; and when you brought it to my mind so abruptly, I was thrown
+somewhat off of my guard, and said things for which I have since felt
+regret. So let what is past go. I now wish to have another talk with
+you about Fanny Elder. How is the child?"
+
+"She is very well."
+
+"And she has grown, I presume, finely?"
+
+"Yes. She's now quite a stout girl."
+
+"What kind of a child is she? Docile and obedient?"
+
+"None could be more so. A sweeter disposition I have never seen."
+
+"How are you getting on now, Edward?" Mr. Jasper's voice was kind and
+insinuating.
+
+"Comfortably," was answered.
+
+"What is your salary?"
+
+There was a momentary hesitation on the part of Claire, and then he
+replied--
+
+"Five hundred dollars."
+
+"Is that all? I was under the impression that you received a thousand.
+I am very certain that some one told me so. Too little, Edward--too
+little. You are worth more than that to any one. Are you acquainted at
+Edgar & Co.'s?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I wish you were. One of their young men is going to leave, and
+they will have to fill his place immediately. The salary is twelve
+hundred."
+
+Claire's heart gave a quick bound.
+
+"Shall I speak to Edgar for you?" added the merchant.
+
+"If you will do so, Mr. Jasper," said Edward, with a sudden
+earnestness of manner, "I shall be greatly indebted to you. I find it
+a little difficult to get along on five hundred dollars a year."
+
+"How much family have you now?"
+
+"Three children."
+
+"Indeed. Oh yes, you should have a higher salary. I know you would
+just suit Edgar & Co., and I think the place may be secured for you."
+
+A few moments of silence followed, and then Jasper resumed--
+
+"But, as just said, I wish to talk with you about this ward of mine.
+Your salary is so light that you, no doubt, find the income received
+through her quite a help to you?"
+
+"No--no," replied Claire; "it costs for her boarding, clothes,
+schooling, etc., quite as much as we receive."
+
+"It does?" Jasper manifested some surprise.
+
+"Oh yes. We have no wish to make any profit out of her."
+
+"That being the case, Edward," said the merchant, "why are you so
+reluctant to give her up?"
+
+"Because," was the reply, "both myself and wife have become strongly
+attached to her. In fact, she seems like one of our own children."
+
+"When she is twelve, you know," Edward, returned Jasper, "you will
+have to resign her. Our agreement only extends to that time." He spoke
+in a mild, insinuating, friendly tone of voice. So much so, in fact,
+that Claire, well as he knew him, was partially deceived and thrown
+off of his guard.
+
+"True; unless you have seen reason by that time, which we hope will
+be the case, to let her remain in her present home. Believe me, Mr.
+Jasper,"--Claire spoke earnestly--"that Fanny will take the parting
+very hard, if ever it comes."
+
+"As come it must, Edward, sooner or later," was the mild, yet firm
+response.
+
+"Are you so earnest about this, Mr. Jasper? I have flattered myself
+that you did not really care a great deal about having Fanny."
+
+"I am entirely in earnest, Edward," was the reply. "I may have seemed
+to you indifferent about this child, but such has not been the case.
+I have feelings and purposes in regard to her which I cannot explain,
+but which are near my heart. I see your position and that of your
+wife, and I feel for you. If compatible with what I conceive to be
+my duty, I would let her remain under your care. But such is not the
+case. Surely, it will be far better for both you and Fanny for the
+change that must come to be made now."
+
+The calm, kind, insinuating manner of Jasper disarmed Claire, and made
+him wish that he could meet the desire of his old employer, without
+the painful breach in his home circle which must be the consequence.
+With his eyes cast upon the floor, he sat silently communing with his
+own thoughts for some time. The announcement of a vacancy in the house
+of Edgar & Co., and the offer to try and get the situation for
+him, had flattered his mind considerably. If he did not make some
+compromise in the present case, he could count nothing on the
+influence of Jasper. But, how could he compromise? There was but one
+way--to give up Fanny--and that he was not prepared to do.
+
+Seeing that the young man remained silent, Jasper said--
+
+"Edward, I will make you this very liberal offer. Understand, now,
+that I am deeply in earnest--that the possession of Fanny is a thing
+of great moment to me; and that to gain this desired object, I
+am prepared to go very far. If you will meet me in a spirit of
+compromise, I will become as I was some years ago, your friend; and I
+have the ability to aid any one materially. As just said, I will make
+you this liberal offer:--Let me have the child now, and for the next
+two years I will pay you the same that you have been receiving for her
+maintenance."
+
+Claire lifted his head quickly. There was already a flush on his
+cheeks and a sharp light in his eyes.
+
+"Stay--one moment," interrupted Jasper, who saw by the motion of his
+lips that he was about replying. "I will pay you the whole sum, six
+hundred dollars, in advance, and, in addition thereto, pledge myself
+to procure for you, within three mouths, a situation worth a thousand
+dollars per annum, at least."
+
+This was too broad an attempt to buy over the young man, and it
+failed. Starting to his feet, with a feeling of indignation in his
+heart so strong that he could not repress it, he answered, with knit
+brows and eyes fixed sternly and steadily on the merchant--"Leonard
+Jasper! I thought you knew me better! I am not to be bought with your
+money."
+
+As sudden was the change that passed over the merchant. He, too,
+sprang to his feet, and conscious that his offer of bribery, which he
+had humiliated himself to make, had failed, with clenched hand and set
+teeth, he fairly hissed out--
+
+"You'll rue this day and hour, Edward Claire--rue it even to the
+moment of death! I will never forget nor forgive the wrong and insult.
+Don't think to escape me--don't think to foil me. The child is mine by
+right, and I will have her, come what will."
+
+Feeling how useless it would be to multiply words, Claire turned away
+and left the store. He did not go home immediately, as he had thought
+of doing, in order to relieve the suspense of his wife, who was, he
+knew, very anxious to learn for what purpose Jasper had sent for him;
+but went to his place of business and laid the whole substance of his
+interview before his fast friend, Mr. Melleville, whose first response
+was one of indignation at the offer made by Jasper to buy him over to
+his wishes with money. He then said--
+
+"There is something wrong here, depend upon it. Was there much
+property left by the child's parents?"
+
+"Two houses in the city."
+
+"Was that all?"
+
+"All, I believe, of any value. There was a tract of land somewhere in
+the State, taken for debt; but it was considered of little account."
+
+"Regard for the child has nothing to do with this movement," remarked
+Mr. Melleville. "The character of Jasper precludes the supposition."
+
+"Entirely. What can it mean? The thing comes on me so suddenly that I
+am bewildered."
+
+Claire was distressed.
+
+"You are still firm in your purpose to keep Fanny until she is twelve
+years old?"
+
+"As firm as ever, Mr. Melleville. I love the child too well to give
+her up. If a higher good to her were to be secured, then I might
+yield--then it would be my duty to yield. But, now, every just and
+humane consideration calls on me to abide by my purpose--and there I
+will abide."
+
+"In my mind you are fully justified," was the reply of Mr. Melleville.
+"Keep me fully advised of every thing that occurs, and I will aid you
+as far as lies in my power. To-day I will call upon Edgar & Co., and
+do what I can toward securing for you the place said by Jasper to be
+vacant. I presume that I have quite as much influence in this quarter
+as he has."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Scarcely had Edward Claire left the store of Jasper, ere the latter
+went out hurriedly, and took his way to the office of Grind, the
+lawyer, to whom he said, as he entered--
+
+"It's just as I feared. The miserable wretch proved as intractable as
+iron." Jasper was not only strongly excited, but showed, in his voice
+and manner, that he had suffered no ordinary disappointment.
+
+"Couldn't you buy him over?" There was a mixture of surprise and
+incredulity in the lawyer's tones.
+
+"No," was the emphatic response.
+
+"That's strange! He's poor?"
+
+"He gets five hundred a year, and has a wife and three children to
+support."
+
+"Why didn't you tempt him with the offer to get him a place worth a
+thousand?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"With what effect?"
+
+"He wouldn't give up the child."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"Isn't it too bad, that a mean-souled fellow like him should stand in
+our way at such a point of time? I could spurn him with my foot! Hah!"
+
+And Jasper clenched his teeth and scowled malignantly.
+
+"I am disappointed, I confess", said Grind. "But angry excitement
+never helped a cause, good or bad. We must have possession of this
+child somehow. Martin came down from Reading this morning. I saw him
+but an hour ago."
+
+"Indeed! What does he say?"
+
+"The indications of coal are abundant. He made very careful
+examinations at a great number of points. In several places he found
+it cropping out freely; and the quality, as far as he was able to
+judge, is remarkably good."
+
+"Will he keep our secret?" said Jasper.
+
+"It is his interest to do so."
+
+"We must make it his interest, in any event. No time is now to be
+lost."
+
+"I agree with you there. A single week's delay may ruin every thing.
+The coal is our discovery, and we are, in all equity, entitled to the
+benefit."
+
+"Of course we are. It's a matter of speculation, at best; the lucky
+win. If we can get an order for the sale, we shall win handsomely.
+But, without producing the child, it will be next to impossible to get
+the order. So we must have her, by fair means or by foul."
+
+"We must," said the lawyer, compressing his lips firmly.
+
+"And have her now."
+
+"Now," responded Grind.
+
+Jasper rose to his feet.
+
+"It's easy enough to say what we must have," remarked Grind, "but the
+means of gaining our ends are not always at hand. What do you propose
+doing?"
+
+"I shall get the child."
+
+"Don't act too precipitately. Violence will excite suspicion, and
+suspicion is a wonderful questioner."
+
+"We must play a desperate game, as things now are, or not play at
+all," said Jasper.
+
+"True; but the more desperate the game, the more need of coolness,
+forethought, and circumspection. Don't forget this. How do you mean to
+proceed?"
+
+"That is yet to be determined."
+
+"Will you make another effort to influence Claire?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you regard him as altogether impracticable?"
+
+"No influence that I can bring would move him."
+
+"You will, then, resort to stratagem or force?"
+
+"One or the other--perhaps both. The child we must have."
+
+"Let me beg of you, Jasper, to be prudent. There is a great deal at
+stake."
+
+"I know there is; and the risk increases with every moment of delay."
+
+Grind showed a marked degree of anxiety.
+
+"If the child were in our possession now," said Jasper, "or, which is
+the same, could be produced when wanted, how soon might an order for
+the sale be procured?"
+
+"In two or three weeks, I think," replied the lawyer.
+
+"Certain preliminary steps are necessary?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"If these were entered upon forthwith, how soon would the child be
+wanted?"
+
+"In about ten days."
+
+"Very well. Begin the work at once. When the child is needed, I will
+see that she is forthcoming. Trust me for that. I never was foiled
+yet in any thing that I set about accomplishing, and I will not suffer
+myself to be foiled here."
+
+With this understanding, Jasper and the lawyer parted.
+
+A week or more passed, during which time Claire heard nothing from
+the guardian of Fanny; and both he and his wife began to hope that no
+further attempt to get her into his possession would be made, until
+the child had reached her twelfth year.
+
+It was in the summer-time, and Mrs. Claire sat, late in the afternoon
+of a pleasant day, at one of the front-windows of her dwelling,
+holding her youngest child in her arms.
+
+"The children are late in coming home from school," said she, speaking
+aloud her thought. "I wonder what keeps them!"
+
+And she leaned out of the window, and looked for some time earnestly
+down the street.
+
+But the children were not in sight. For some five or ten minutes Mrs.
+Claire played with and talked to the child in her arms; then she bent
+from the window again, gazing first up and then down the street.
+
+"That's Edie, as I live!" she exclaimed. "But where is Fanny?"
+
+As she uttered this inquiry, a sudden fear fell like a heavy weight on
+her heart. Retiring from the window, she hastened to the door, where,
+by this time, a lady stood holding little Edie by the hand. The
+child's eyes were red with weeping.
+
+"Is this your little girl?" asked the lady.
+
+"Oh, mamma! mamma!" cried Edie, bursting into tears, as she sprang to
+her mother's side and hid her face in her garments.
+
+"Where did you find her, ma'am? Was she lost?" asked Mrs. Claire,
+looking surprised as well as alarmed. "Won't you walk in, ma'am?" she
+added, before there was time for a reply.
+
+The lady entered, on this invitation, and when seated in Mrs. Claire's
+little parlour, related that while walking through Washington Square,
+she noticed the child she had brought home, crying bitterly. On asking
+her as to the cause of her distress, she said that she wanted Fanny:
+and then ran away to some distance along the walks, searching for her
+lost companion. The lady's interest being excited, she followed and
+persuaded the child to tell her where she lived. After remaining some
+time longer in the square, vainly searching for Fanny, she was induced
+to let the lady take her home. After hearing this relation, Mrs.
+Claire said to Edith, in as calm a voice as she could assume, in order
+that the child might think without the confusion of mind consequent
+upon excitement--
+
+"Where is Fanny, dear?"
+
+"She went with the lady to buy some candies," replied the child.
+
+"What lady?" asked the mother.
+
+"The lady who took us to the square."
+
+"The lady who took you to the square?" said the mother, repeating the
+child's words from the very surprise they occasioned.
+
+"Yes, mamma," was the simple response.
+
+"What lady was it?"
+
+"I don't know. She met us as we were coming home from school, and
+asked us to go down and walk in the square. She knew Fanny."
+
+"How do you know, dear?" disked Mrs. Claire.
+
+"Oh, she called her Fanny; and said what a nice big girl she was
+growing to be."
+
+"And so you went down to the square with her?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+"And what then?"
+
+"We walked about there for a little while, and then the lady told me
+to wait while she took Fanny to the candy-store to buy some candy. I
+waited, and waited ever so long; but she didn't come back; and then I
+cried."
+
+The meaning of all this, poor Mrs. Claire understood but too well.
+With what a shock it fell upon her. She asked no further question.
+What need was there? Edie's artless story made every thing clear.
+Fanny had been enticed away by some one employed by Jasper, and was
+now in his possession! With pale face and quivering lips, she sat
+bending over Edie, silent for several moments. Then recollecting
+herself, she said to the lady---
+
+"I thank you, ma'am, most sincerely, for the trouble you have taken in
+bringing home my little girl. This is a most distressing affair. The
+other child has, evidently, been enticed away."
+
+"You will take immediate steps for her recovery," said the lady.
+
+"Oh, yes. I expect my husband home, now, every moment."
+
+While she was yet speaking, Claire came in. Seeing the white face of
+his wife, he exclaimed--
+
+"Mercy, Edith! What has happened?"
+
+Edith could only murmur the word "Fanny," as she started forward, and
+buried her face, sobbing, on his bosom.
+
+"Fanny! What of her? Oh, Edith! speak!"
+
+The agitation of the wife was, for the time, too overpowering to admit
+of words, and so Claire turned to the lady and said, hurriedly--
+
+"Will you tell me, madam, what has happened?"
+
+"It appears, sir," she replied, "that a strange lady enticed the
+children to Washington Square, on their way from school"--
+
+"And then carried off our dear, dear Fanny!" sobbed out Edith.
+
+"Carried off Fanny!" exclaimed Claire.
+
+"This lady," said Edith, growing calmer, "found our little Edie
+crying, in the square, and brought her home. Edie says the lady took
+them down there, and then told her to wait until she went with Fanny
+to buy some candies. They went, but did not return."
+
+The meaning of all this was quite as clear to the mind of Edward
+Claire as it was to his wife. He understood, likewise, that this was
+the work of Jasper, and that Fanny was now in his possession. What was
+to be done?
+
+"Our first step," said Claire, after the stranger had retired, "must
+be to ascertain, if possible, whether what we believe to be true in
+regard to Fanny is really true. We must know certainly, whether she be
+really in the hands of Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Where else can she be?" asked Edith, a new fear throwing its quick
+flash into her face.
+
+"We, naturally," replied her husband, "take it for granted that Mr.
+Jasper has put his threat into execution. There is a bare possibility
+that such is not the case; and we must not rest until we have, on this
+point, the most absolute certainty."
+
+"For what other purpose could she have been enticed away?" said Mrs.
+Claire, her face again blanching to a deadly paleness.
+
+"We know nothing certain, Edith; and while this is the case, we cannot
+but feel a double anxiety. But, I must not linger here. Be as calm as
+possible, my dear wife, in this painful trial. I will go at once to
+Mr. Jasper, and learn from him whether he has the child."
+
+"Go quickly, Edward," said Edith. "Oh! it will be such a relief to
+have a certainty; to know even that she is in his hands."
+
+Without further remark, Claire left his house and hurried off to the
+store of Jasper. The merchant was not there. From one of his clerks he
+learned his present residence, which happened not to be far distant.
+Thither he went, and, on asking to see him, was told by the servant
+that he was not at home. He then inquired for Mrs. Jasper, who, on
+being summoned, met him in one of the parlours. The manner of Claire
+was very much agitated, and he said, with an abruptness that evidently
+disconcerted the lady--
+
+"Good evening, madam! My name is Claire. You remember me, of course?"
+
+The lady bowed coldly, and with a frown on her brow.
+
+"Is little Fanny Elder here?" was asked, and with even greater
+abruptness.
+
+"Fanny Elder? No! Why do you ask that question?"
+
+There was something so positive in the denial of Mrs. Jasper, that
+Claire felt her words as truth.
+
+"Not here?" said he, catching his breath in a gasping manner. "Not
+here?"
+
+"I said that she was not here," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, where then is she, madam?" exclaimed the young man, evincing
+great distress.
+
+"How should I know? Is she not in your possession? What is the meaning
+of this, Mr. Claire?"
+
+The lady spoke sternly, and with the air of one both offended and
+irritated.
+
+"Somebody enticed her away, on her return from school this afternoon,"
+said Claire. "Mr. Jasper said that he would have her; and my first and
+natural conclusion was that he had executed his threat. Oh, ma'am, if
+this be so, tell me, that my anxiety for the child's safety may have
+rest. As it is, I am in the most painful uncertainty. If she is here,
+I will feel, at least"--
+
+"Have I not told you that she is not here, and that I know nothing of
+her," said Mrs. Jasper, angrily, interrupting the young man. "This is
+insolent."
+
+"How soon do you expect Mr. Jasper home?" inquired Claire.
+
+"Not for several days," replied Mrs. Jasper.
+
+"Days! Is he not in the city?"
+
+"No, sir. He left town yesterday."
+
+Claire struck his hands together in disappointment and grief. This
+confirmed to him the lady's assertion that she knew nothing of Fanny.
+In that assertion she had uttered the truth.
+
+Sadly disappointed, and in far deeper distress of mind than when he
+entered the house, Edward Claire retired. If Mr. Jasper left the city
+on the day previous, and his wife had, as he could not help believing,
+no knowledge whatever of Fanny, then the more distressing inference
+was that she had been enticed away by some stranger.
+
+On his way home, Claire called again at the store of Jasper. It
+occurred to him to ask there as to his absence from the city. The
+reply he received was in agreement with Mrs. Jasper's assertion. He
+had left town on the previous day.
+
+"Where has he gone?" he inquired.
+
+"To Reading, I believe," was the answer.
+
+"Will he return soon?"
+
+"Not for several days, I believe."
+
+With a heavy heart, Claire bent his way homeward. He cherished a
+faint hope that Fanny might have returned. The hope was vain. Here he
+lingered but a short time. His next step was to give information
+to the police, and to furnish for all the morning papers an
+advertisement, detailing the circumstances attendant on the child's
+abduction. This done, he again returned home, to console, the best
+he could, his afflicted wife, and to wait the developments of the
+succeeding day.
+
+Utterly fruitless were all the means used by Claire to gain
+intelligence of the missing child. Two days went by, yet not the
+least clue to the mystery of her absence had been found. There was
+no response to the newspaper advertisements; and the police confessed
+themselves entirely at fault.
+
+Exhausted by sleepless anxiety, broken in spirit by this distressing
+affliction, and almost despairing in regard to the absent one, Mr. and
+Mrs. Claire were seated alone, about an hour after dark on the evening
+of the third day, when the noise of rumbling wheels ceased before
+their door. Each bent an ear, involuntarily, to listen, and each
+started with an exclamation, as the bell rang with a sudden jerk.
+Almost simultaneously, the noise of wheels was again heard, and a
+carriage rolled rapidly away. Two or three quick bounds brought Claire
+to the door, which he threw open.
+
+"Fanny!" he instantly exclaimed; and in the next moment the child was
+in his arms, clinging to him, and weeping for joy at her return.
+
+With a wonderful calmness, Mrs. Claire received Fanny from her
+husband, murmuring as she did so, in a subdued, yet deeply gratified
+voice--
+
+"O, God! I thank thee!"
+
+But this calmness in a little while gave way, and her overstrained,
+but now joyful feelings, poured themselves forth in tears.
+
+Poor child! She too had suffered during these three
+never-to-be-forgotten days, and the marks of that suffering were sadly
+visible in her pale, grief-touched countenance.
+
+To the earnest inquiries of her foster-parents, Fanny could give no
+very satisfactory answer. She had no sooner left the square with the
+lady mentioned by little Edith, than she was hurried into a carriage,
+and driven off to the cars, where a man met them. This man, she said,
+spoke kindly to her, showed her his watch, and told her if she would
+be a good girl and not cry, he would take her home again. In the cars,
+they rode for a long time, until it grew dark; and still she said the
+cars kept going. After a while she fell asleep, and when she awoke it
+was morning, and she was lying on a bed. The same lady was with her,
+and, speaking kindly, told her not to be frightened--that nobody would
+hurt her, and that she should go home in a day or two.
+
+"But I did nothing but cry," said the child, in her own simple way,
+as she related her story. "Then the lady scolded me, until I was
+frightened, and tried to keep back the tears all I could. But they
+would run down my cheeks. A good while after breakfast," continued
+Fanny, "the man who had met us at the cars came in with another man.
+They talked with the lady for a good while, looking at me as they
+spoke. Then they all came around me, and one of the men said--
+
+"'Don't be frightened, my little dear. No one will do you any harm;
+and if you will be a right good girl, and do just as we want you to
+do, you shall go home to-morrow.'
+
+"I tried not to cry, but the tears came running down my face. Then the
+other man said sharply--
+
+"'Come now, my little lady, we can't have any more of this! If you
+wish to go home again tomorrow, dry your tears at once. There! there!
+Hush all them sobs. No one is going to do you any harm.'
+
+"I was so frightened at the way the man looked and talked, that I
+stopped crying at once.
+
+"'There!' said he, 'that is something like. Now,' speaking to the lady,
+'put on her things. It is time she was there.'
+
+"I was more frightened at this, and the men saw it; so one of them
+told me not to be alarmed, that they were only going to show me a
+large, handsome house, and would then bring me right back; and that in
+the morning, if I would go with them now, and be a good girl, I should
+go home again.
+
+"So I went with them, and tried my best not to cry. They brought me
+into a large house, and there were a good many men inside. The men all
+looked at me, and I was so frightened! Then they talked together, and
+one of them kept pointing toward me. At last I was taken back to
+the house, where I stayed all day and all night with the lady. This
+morning we got into the cars, and came back to the city. The lady took
+me to a large house in Walnut street, where I stayed until after dark,
+and then she brought me home in a carriage."
+
+Such was the child's story; and greatly puzzled were Claire and his
+wife to comprehend its meaning. Their joy at her return was intense.
+She seemed almost as if restored to them from the dead. But, for what
+purpose had she been carried off; and who were the parties engaged in
+the act? These were questions of the deepest moment; yet difficult,
+if not impossible of solution--at least in the present. That Jasper's
+absence from the city was in some way connected with this business,
+Claire felt certain, the more he reflected thereon. But, that Fanny
+should be returned to him so speedily, if Jasper had been concerned
+in her temporary abduction, was something that he could not clearly
+understand. And it was a long time ere the mystery was entirely
+unravelled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+From that time Claire and his wife heard no more from Jasper, who
+regularly paid the sums quarterly demanded for Fanny's maintenance.
+This demand was not now made in person by Claire. He sent a written
+order, which the guardian never failed to honour on the first
+presentation.
+
+Mr. Melleville, according to promise, called upon the firm of Edgar
+& Co., in order to speak a good word for Edward; but learned, not a
+little to his surprise, that no vacancy was anticipated in the house.
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said he, "told one of my young men that a clerk had
+left, or was about leaving you."
+
+"It's a mistake," was the positive answer. "He may have meant some
+other firm."
+
+"All a wicked deception on the part of Jasper," said Melleville to
+himself, as he left the store. "A lie told with sinister purpose. How
+given over to all baseness is the man!"
+
+Claire was no little disappointed when this was told him; but his
+answer showed how he was gaining in just views of life; and how he
+could lean on right principles and find in them a firm support.
+
+"I would rather," said he, "be the deceived than the deceiver. The one
+most wronged in this is Leonard Jasper. Ah! is he not preparing for
+himself a sad future? As for me, I am more and more satisfied, every
+day, that all events, even to the most minute, are in the direction or
+permission of Providence; and that out of the very occurrences we deem
+afflictive and disastrous, will often arise our greatest good. For the
+moment I was disappointed; but now I feel that it is all right."
+
+No change of marked importance occurred in the family of Claire during
+the next two years, to the close of which period both he and his wife
+looked with increasing earnestness of mind. Fanny had grown rapidly
+during this time, and was now tall for her age--and still very
+beautiful. In character she was every thing the fondest parents could
+desire.
+
+At last came the child's twelfth birthday. Neither Clare nor his
+wife referred to the fact; though it was present to both their
+minds--present like an evil guest. Must they now give her up? Their
+hearts shrank and trembled at the bare idea. How plainly each read in
+the other's face the trouble which only the lips concealed!
+
+Never had Fanny looked so lovely in the eyes of Claire as she did on
+that morning, when she bounded to his side and claimed a parting kiss,
+ere he left for his daily round of business. Could he give her up? The
+thought choked in their utterance the words of love that were on his
+lips, and he turned from her and left the house.
+
+As Claire, on his way to Mr. Melleville's store, came into the more
+business portions of the city, his thoughts on the child who was
+soon to be resigned, according to the tenor of his contract with her
+guardian, he was suddenly startled by seeing Jasper a short distance
+ahead, approaching from the direction in which he was going.
+Happening, at the moment, to be near a cross street, he turned off
+suddenly, in obedience to an instinct rather than a purpose, and
+avoided a meeting by going out of his way.
+
+"How vain," he sighed to himself, as the throbbing of his heart grew
+less heavy and his thoughts ran clear. "I cannot so avoid this evil.
+It will most surely find me out. Dear, dear child! How shall we ever
+bear the parting!"
+
+All day long Claire was in momentary dread of a visit or a
+communication from Jasper. But none came. A like anxiety had been
+suffered by his wife, and it showed itself in the pallor of her
+cheeks, and the heavy, almost tearful, drooping of her eyelids.
+
+The next day and the next passed, and yet nothing was heard from the
+guardian. Now, the true guardians of the child began to breathe more
+freely. A week elapsed, and all remained as before. Another week was
+added; another and another. A month had gone by. And yet the days of
+a succeeding month came and went, the child still remaining in her old
+home.
+
+Up to this time but brief allusions had been made by either Claire
+or his wife to the subject first in their thoughts. They avoided it,
+because each felt that the other would confirm, rather than allay,
+fears already too well defined.
+
+"It is strange," said Claire, as he sat alone with his wife one
+evening, some three months subsequent to the twelfth birthday of
+Fanny, "that we have heard nothing yet from Mr. Jasper."
+
+Edith looked up quickly, and with a glance of inquiry, into his face;
+but made no answer.
+
+"I've turned it over in my mind a great deal," resumed Claire,
+thoughtfully; "but with little or no satisfactory result. Once I
+thought I would call on him"--
+
+"Oh, no, no! not for the world!" instantly exclaimed Edith.
+
+"I see, with you, dear, that such a step would be imprudent. And, yet,
+this suspense--how painful it is!"
+
+"Painful, it is true, Edward; yet, how in every way to be preferred to
+the certainty we so much dread."
+
+"O yes--yes. I agree with you there." Then, after a pause, he said,
+"It is now three months since the time expired for which we agreed to
+keep Fanny."
+
+"I know," was the sighing response.
+
+They both remained silent, each waiting for the other to speak. The
+same thought was in the mind of each. Excited by the close pressure of
+want upon their income, Edward was first to give it voice.
+
+"Mr. Jasper," said he, touching the subject at first remotely, "may
+have forgotten, in the pressure of business on his attention, the fact
+that Fanny is now twelve years old."
+
+"So I have thought," replied Edith.
+
+"If I send, as usual, for the sum heretofore regularly paid for her
+maintenance, it may bring this fact to his mind."
+
+"I have feared as much," was the low, half-tremulous response.
+
+"And yet, if I do not send, the very omission may excite a question,
+and produce the consequences we fear."
+
+"True, Edward. All that has passed through my mind over and over
+again."
+
+"What had we better do?"
+
+"Ah!" sighed Edith, "if we only knew that."
+
+"Shall I send the order, as usual?"
+
+Edith shook her head, saying--
+
+"I'm afraid."
+
+"And I hesitate with the same fear."
+
+"And yet, Edith," said Claire, who, as the provider for the family,
+pondered more anxiously the question of ways and means, "what are we
+to do? Our income, with Fanny's board added, is but just sufficient.
+Take away three hundred dollars a year, and where will we stand? The
+thought presses like a leaden weight on my feelings. Debt, or severe
+privation, is inevitable. If, with eight hundred dollars, we only
+come out even at the end of each year, what will be the result if our
+income is suddenly reduced to five hundred?"
+
+"Let us do what is right, Edward," said his wife, laying her hand upon
+his arm, and looking into his face in her earnest, peculiar way. Her
+voice, though it slightly trembled, had in it a tone of confidence,
+which, with the words she had spoken, gave to the wavering heart of
+Claire an instant feeling of strength.
+
+"But what is right, Edith?" he asked.
+
+"We know not now," was her reply, "but, if we earnestly desire to do
+right, true perceptions will be given."
+
+"A beautiful faith; but oh, how hard to realize!"
+
+"No, Edward, not so very hard. We have never found it so: have we?"
+
+Love and holy confidence were in her eyes.
+
+"We have had some dark seasons, Edith," said Claire sadly.
+
+"But, through darkest clouds has come the sunbeam. Our feet have
+not wandered for want of light. Look back for a moment. How dark
+all seemed when the question of leaving Jasper's service came up for
+decision. And yet how clear a light shone when the time for action
+came. Have you ever regretted what was then done, Edward?"
+
+"Not in a sane moment," replied the young man. "O no, no, Edith!"
+speaking more earnestly; "that, with one exception, was the most
+important act of my life."
+
+"With one exception?" Edith spoke in a tone of inquiry.
+
+"Yes." Claire's voice was very tender, and touched with a slight
+unsteadiness. "The _most_ important act of my life was"--
+
+He paused and gazed lovingly into the face of his wife. She, now
+comprehending him, laid, with a pure thrill of joy pervading her
+bosom, her cheek to his--and thus, for the space of nearly a minute,
+they sat motionless.
+
+"May God bless you, Edith!" said Claire at length, fervently, lifting
+his head as he spoke. "You are the good angel sent to go with me
+through life. Ah! but for you, how far from the true path might my
+feet have strayed! And now," he added, more calmly, "we will look at
+the present difficulty steadily, and seek to know the right."
+
+"The right way," said Edith, after she had to some extent repressed
+the glad pulses that leaped to her husband's loving words, "is not
+always the way in which we most desire to walk. Thorns, sometimes, are
+at its entrance. But it grows pleasanter afterward."
+
+"If we can find the right way, Edith, we will walk in it because it is
+the right way."
+
+"And we will surely find it if we seek in this spirit," returned the
+wife.
+
+"What, then, had we best do?" asked Claire, his thought turning
+earnestly to the subject under consideration.
+
+"What will be best for Fanny? That should be our first consideration,"
+said his wife. "Will it be best for her to remain with us, or to go
+into Mr. Jasper's family?"
+
+"That is certainly a grave question," returned Claire, seriously, "and
+must be viewed in many aspects. Mr. Jasper's place in the world is far
+different from mine. He is a wealthy merchant; I am a poor clerk. If
+she goes into his family, she will have advantages not to be found
+with us--advantages of education, society, and position in life. To
+keep her with us will debar her from all these. Taking this view
+of the case, Edith, I don't know that we have any right to keep her
+longer, particularly as Mr. Jasper has signified to us, distinctly,
+his wish, as her guardian, to take her into his own family, and
+superintend her education."
+
+Edith bent her head, thoughtfully, for some moments. She then said--
+
+"Do you believe that Mr. Jasper gave the true reason for wishing to
+have Fanny?"
+
+"That he might superintend her education?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No, Edith, I do not. I believe a selfish motive alone influenced
+him."
+
+"You have good reasons for so thinking?"
+
+"The best of reasons. I need not repeat them; they are as familiar to
+you as they are to me."
+
+"Do you believe that, under his superintendence, she will receive a
+better education than under ours?"
+
+"She will, undoubtedly, Edith, if remaining with us she fails to bring
+the means of education. We are poor, Edith, and the claims of our
+own children--bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh--must not be
+forgotten."
+
+A quick change passed over Edith. Her countenance became troubled. The
+difficulties in the way of retaining the child were suddenly magnified
+to her thoughts. Ah! how painfully did she feel that often the first
+steps in the way of duty are among thorns.
+
+"Can we be just to Fanny and just also to our own children?" asked
+Claire.
+
+"If we still received the old sum for her maintenance, we could. I
+would not ask its increase to the amount of a single dollar."
+
+"Nor I, Edith. Were we certain of having this continued, there would
+be no doubt."
+
+"There would be none in my mind. As for the higher position in society
+which she would attain, as an inmate of Mr. Jasper's family, that
+might not be to her the greatest good; but prove the most direful
+evil. She could not be guarded there, in her entrance into life, as we
+would guard her. The same love would not surround her as a protecting
+sphere. I tremble at the thought, Edward. How great would be her
+danger! Fourfold would be her temptation, and tenfold her exposure."
+
+"We will keep her," said Claire, firmly, as his wife ceased speaking.
+"She must not be so exposed. God has given her to us; she is our
+child, for we love her as tenderly as if she were of our own blood.
+When her mother was taken, God transferred the love she had borne her
+child into your bosom, and from that time you became her mother. No,
+Edith, we must not let her go forth, in her tender innocence. We love
+her as our own; let us share with her the best we have; let her become
+more really our own than she has yet been."
+
+"If," said Edith, after some moments, "we lose the regular income from
+Mr. Jasper, Fanny will be deprived of most important advantages. Just
+now we are about adding materially to the cost of her education."
+
+"I know," replied Edward. "But if the income is withheld?"
+
+"We have not yet applied for it."
+
+Claire looked, for some moments, steadily into his wife's face.
+
+"You think, then, that we should make the usual application?"
+
+"I have not said so, Edward. My mind is far from clear. Jasper may
+not, now, want the trouble of Fanny. He doubtless had some purpose to
+subserve when he demanded her; a purpose gained, probably, at the time
+of her mysterious removal from the city, which I have always believed
+was through his agency. If you were to send for the money, as usual,
+it is more than probable that he would pay it."
+
+"But, if he should refuse, and demand the child?"
+
+"If his purpose to do this remains, and he has forgotten Fanny's age,
+your omission to send for the money will be more likely to call his
+thought to the subject, than your regular demand for the price of her
+maintenance."
+
+"True."
+
+"And if he still means to have her, the execution of his purpose
+cannot in any event be long delayed."
+
+"No."
+
+"Can _we_ unaided give her the education she is entitled to receive?"
+
+Claire shook his head.
+
+"Then had we not better continue to apply for the sum necessary to
+her support and education. If Mr. Jasper is indifferent about her,
+the money will be paid as usual; if he means to take her into his own
+family, our failure to apply will defer but for a very short season
+the evil day."
+
+Edith's mind had become clear by this time. Her husband not making an
+immediate reply, she added--
+
+"This acting on mere policy, is never, I think, the wisest. Does it
+not clearly involve a distrust in Providence, and a weak reliance
+on mere human prudence? There is a provision for Fanny's support and
+education, and she is justly entitled to all those natural advantages
+which this provision was designed to give. Under Providence, Mr.
+Jasper has been chosen her guardian; and under Providence the personal
+care of the child has fallen to our lot. Thus far we have endeavoured
+to discharge our duty faithfully--thus far we have done as well by the
+child as if she had been our own. Now, if it is best for her to remain
+with us, the same Providence will so dispose of events as to provide
+for her remaining; but if it is best for her to go into the family of
+Mr. Jasper, she will go there. Let us not, therefore, in our practical
+distrust of Providence, seek to hide ourselves from the observation of
+a mere creature."
+
+"I see much in this," said Claire, as soon as his wife had ceased
+speaking. "Man proposes; God disposes. With Him are all our ways. Out
+of the evil designs and selfish purposes of men, He is ever bringing
+forth good."
+
+"Then let us not fear to trust him. As we have been doing, let us
+continue to do, confidently believing that He will overrule all for
+good. To our present sight, it seems, that, unless we receive, as
+heretofore, a sum of money for Fanny's support and education, we
+cannot do for her what is right. This, at least, is my view."
+
+"And it is mine," replied the husband.
+
+"Then let us act from the light we have. None can do better than
+this."
+
+And so it was determined to send an order to Jasper, as usual.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+On the next day, a fellow-clerk, who had always performed this
+little service for Claire, took the order to Jasper. With a nervous
+impatience that he found it impossible to repress, Claire awaited his
+return. On his appearance, he said, with ill-concealed anxiety--
+
+"Did he pay the order?"
+
+The young man shook his head.
+
+"What! Didn't pay it?" Though half-expecting such a result, he was
+none the more prepared for it, nor the less disturbed when it was
+known.
+
+"No; he said that the contract entered into with you for boarding the
+child was at an end three months ago."
+
+"What else did he say?"
+
+"Nothing else."
+
+"Did he send no message to me of any kind?"
+
+"None. When I handed him the order, he pushed it back, and used
+the words I have repeated. I waited a little while for some further
+remark, but he made none."
+
+"Did he seem angry?"
+
+"Not angry; but rather pleased, I should say. There was a heartless
+smile on his face, as if he enjoyed the act of refusal."
+
+Claire made no further remark. For a time he groped about, mentally,
+like one in darkness and lost. It appeared as if there was no escape;
+as if the evil which had long dogged his steps was upon him. But in a
+short time, a ray of light shone in here and there, paths that might
+be walked in safely were dimly perceived--escape seemed possible.
+Still, he was deeply depressed and sorely troubled.
+
+Edith received the intelligence in a calmer spirit than her husband
+had expected.
+
+"The way will be made plain before us," said she. "It is plainer now
+than it was last night--much plainer."
+
+"How can you say that, Edith?"
+
+"Mr. Jasper has refused to pay any thing more to us for Fanny's
+support."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But in the refusal said nothing about our giving her up to him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I gather from this, and the fact that he was aware of her being
+twelve years old, that he does not really want her now in his own
+family, but refuses to pay us for her board and education from a
+feeling of ill-will toward you. His manner to the young man who
+presented the order clearly indicates this."
+
+"You may be right there, Edith," said Claire, a further light breaking
+into his mind. "We have at least done our duty toward Fanny in making
+this demand on her guardian. And now, the question left for us to
+decide may be whether it will be just toward her, and also toward our
+own children, still to keep her in our own family, and let her share,
+with the others, the best that it is in our power to give."
+
+"And will it be hard to make that decision?" said Edith, a slight
+flush coming into her earnest face.
+
+"I think not," was the firm reply.
+
+"Have we loved her less than our own?" asked Edith.
+
+"I believe not."
+
+"Love seeks the highest good for its object."
+
+"Yes--yes."
+
+"Can a stranger love the child as we have loved her?"
+
+Claire shook his head.
+
+"Can a stranger, even with more of what the world gives, yet with less
+of a genuine affection, secure for her, as we may, what should justly
+be regarded as the highest good in life."
+
+"No stranger can ever be to her, Edith, what you have been, and will
+continue to be."
+
+"We must not thrust her out, Edward. We cannot thrust her out. While
+God permits her to remain, let us keep her, assured that He will send
+for her use all things needful."
+
+"Most cheerfully will I prolong my daily toil for her sake," replied
+Claire; "and cheerfully will I make sacrifice of personal comfort.
+Yes, let her remain where she is, so long as, in God's providence, she
+is permitted to remain. If Jasper continues to withhold the price of
+her maintenance, there will be the more left for her when she becomes
+of age; and then, if there are defects in her education, a few years
+of earnest application on her part, will remove them. Even now, we
+could compel him to pay for her a reasonable sum, but in securing
+this, we would assuredly lose the child, for this man's anger would
+burn hot against us."
+
+"I have thought of that," replied Edith. "No, our only plain course,
+for the present, is to look away from Jasper, and regard Fanny as one
+of our own children."
+
+To this conclusion the mind of Claire and his wife came firmly.
+Then the painful agitation they had for some time suffered gradually
+subsided, and they began earnestly to cast about for the ways and
+means whereby so large an extra draft as was likely to be made upon
+their slender income could be met.
+
+Two propositions were made by Edith: one was, that they should make a
+reduction in their expenses, by moving into a smaller house. They now
+paid two hundred dollars annually for rent; and she was sure that, for
+one hundred and fifty, they might suit themselves very well. The other
+proposition was, to give two or three hours every evening, after
+the children were in bed, to fine needle-work, in which she was well
+skilled.
+
+"I could easily earn two dollars a week, in this way," was her
+confident remark.
+
+Claire, who had other plans in his mind, did not speak very
+encouragingly of these propositions, though he avoided disapproval.
+Increased expense demanded an increase of income; and his thoughts
+were all now bent suggestively in that direction. As for Edith, her
+burdens were heavy enough; and her husband, though he did not check
+her generous enthusiasm, by no means acquiesced in the plan of evening
+toil for his wife out of the range of her many domestic duties.
+
+A few days went by, with no incident of importance. Claire, during the
+time, appeared, to his wife more thoughtful that usual. One evening he
+came home with a brighter countenance.
+
+"Good news, Edie," said he in a cheerful voice, as soon as the
+children's glad and noisy welcome of their father was over; and he
+drew his wife aside as he spoke.
+
+"Good news, dear," he repeated. "I was sure the way would open for us,
+and it has opened."
+
+"How, Edward?" asked Edith, with a quickly flushing face. "How has it
+opened?"
+
+"I've secured employment for my evenings, at six dollars a week. So
+all will go on with us the same as usual. The only drawback lies in
+the fact that you will have to remain at home alone. But, for the sake
+of the end, you will bear that cheerfully."
+
+The light which had come into Edith's countenance faded.
+
+"What kind of employment?" she inquired, with a slight huskiness of
+voice.
+
+"I've engaged to act as clerk in an auction store, where they have
+regular night-sales."
+
+Edith shook her head.
+
+"I thought you would be so delighted," said her husband, evidently
+much disappointed.
+
+"You often come home, now, overwearied with the day's labour," replied
+Edith.
+
+"An hour at tea-time will refresh me for the evening's work. Don't
+think of that a moment, Edith."
+
+"How can I help thinking of it? No, no, Edward, you must not do this.
+It will destroy your health. You are not very strong."
+
+"My health is perfectly good, Edith."
+
+But Edith shook her head--
+
+"Not so very good. You look paler, and are much thinner than you
+were a year ago. A little over-exertion throws your system off of its
+balance; and then you are sick."
+
+"I will be very careful of myself," replied Claire. "If, after a few
+weeks, the extra labour is found to be too severe, I can give up the
+place. Nothing like trying, you know, dear."
+
+Still, Edith was not satisfied. Very strongly she urged her husband
+not to increase his labour in the degree contemplated.
+
+"Let us try if we can reduce our expenses by a closer economy. It
+is better to deny ourselves things not necessary to health, than to
+injure health by extra labour."
+
+She urged this view, however, in vain. Claire could not, without at
+least a trial of his strength, decline the important offer which had
+been made to him. And so, after a consultation with Mr. Melleville, he
+entered upon his new employment, leaving his wife to spend the hours
+of his absence alone. Not idly were those hours spent. What she had
+at first proposed to do, she now began to execute. Without saying
+any thing to her husband, she had procured, from a friend who kept
+a fancy-store, and who took in from the ladies a great deal of work,
+some fine sewing; and with this she was busily occupied until his
+return, which did not take place on the first night until near eleven
+o'clock.
+
+There was a slight drawback in the pleasure both felt in meeting
+at this late hour--the drawback of weariness. Yet their hearts were
+tranquil and elevated in the consciousness that they were denying self
+for the good of another--and that one most tenderly beloved. Again the
+way had become plain before them; and if strength only were given to
+bear their increased burdens, they would move on with even lighter
+footsteps than before.
+
+And now, after having lingered thus long with the humble clerk, let
+us turn to the rich merchant; for Jasper has become a man of
+extensive possessions. Wealth flowed in upon him with extraordinary
+rapidity--not in the regular course of trade, overreaching and
+unscrupulous as he was in dealing, but through what are called
+fortunate speculations. How he made his first hundred thousand
+dollars--the basis of his present very large fortune--was not clearly
+understood, though sundry vague rumours on the subject were afloat,
+none of them, however, very near the truth, except in the admission
+that a fraud on somebody had been committed. But let us introduce Mr.
+Jasper.
+
+On the night that Claire entered upon his duties as clerk in the
+auction store, and about the same hour that his duties began, Mr.
+Jasper, who was walking restlessly the floor of his richly furnished
+parlours, his mind busy with some large money-making scheme, yet
+fretted by a recent disappointment, found himself suddenly in the
+presence of, to him, a well-known individual, whose ring at the door
+he had not observed.
+
+"Martin!" he exclaimed, in no affected surprise. "Is it possible?"
+
+"Ah, Jasper! How are you? Right glad to get sight of your face again!"
+said the other familiarly, as he grasped the merchant's passive hand,
+and squeezed it until the joints cracked.
+
+"When did you arrive in the city?" returned Jasper, as he reached his
+visitor a chair. He did not speak with much warmth; and yet there was
+an effort to be at ease and cordial.
+
+"Some two hours ago," said Martin, in whose face was already beginning
+to gather a few lines in token of the sober thoughts that lay beneath
+his assumed smiling exterior.
+
+"From which direction did you come?"
+
+"West. I'm from the Upper Mississippi."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"I went to Galena some five or six months ago; and have since been
+actively engaged in lead-mining. A great business that, Mr. Jasper."
+
+"Ah?" This "ah?" was particularly chilling.
+
+"There are more rapid fortunes made at the lead-mines in the
+neighbourhood of Galena, at present, than in any part of the United
+States," said Martin, approaching, by rapid advances, the subject
+nearest to his thoughts.
+
+"You think so?" returned Jasper, with cold incredulity.
+
+"I know so," was the positive response. "I could point you to a dozen
+men who have made their tens of thousands annually for the last five
+or ten years."
+
+"It is easy to talk about making tens of thousands, Martin; but the
+fact itself is a more difficult matter."
+
+"A fact is a fact, however, Mr. Jasper," said the other. "What is
+done, is done."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"It is a fact that money is made at the lead-mines, hand over fist,"
+continued Martin. "Of this I am prepared to give you the strongest
+kind of evidence."
+
+"Why should you be so anxious to convince me of this fact?" returned
+the merchant. "I have quite as many irons in the fire now as I can see
+to."
+
+"Ah! That may be," said Martin, forcing to his rather hard features a
+bland smile. "But these new irons I will keep from burning."
+
+"It's no use, Martin, to talk of lead-mines to me," said Jasper
+firmly. "I am spread out enough already. Contraction, not expansion,
+is my present motto. I've met with more than one heavy loss since I
+saw you."
+
+"Have you, indeed? I'm sorry for that. But a false card will turn up
+now and then, you know. The game in the long run is sure."
+
+"We're sure of nothing," replied Jasper, with considerable feeling.
+
+"I wouldn't like to say that. Of course, all plans will not succeed;
+for man's judgment is far from possessing the virtue of infallibility.
+But human reason would be a poor endowment, did it not lead us, in
+most cases, to right conclusions, if we are careful in our modes of
+using this high faculty."
+
+"The purpose of your visit to the East," said Jasper, who understood
+perfectly the man with whom he was dealing, and, therefore, determined
+to know at once the length and breadth of what he was expected to
+do, "is, I presume, to enlist some capitalists here in a lead-mining
+speculation?"
+
+"My ideas do not extend quite that far," was Martin's answer. "Too
+many cooks, you are aware, sometimes spoil the broth. To come to the
+point at once, let me explain the purpose of my present journey to the
+East."
+
+"Well; I am all attention."
+
+"My fur-trade business, as I wrote you a year ago, turned out
+disastrously."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"After that, I opened a small store in one of the frontier towns, and
+I did very well, all things considered. But the gain was too slow to
+suit my ideas of things; so, meeting with a fair chance, I sold out,
+and bought a lead-mine, which I have been working ever since to
+good profit. Recently, I struck upon one of the richest veins ever
+discovered. If properly worked, it will yield a rapid fortune. But I
+have not sufficient capital to avail myself of the advantages offered,
+and have come on here to lay the matter before you, and to offer you a
+share in the business."
+
+Jasper shook his head, saying--
+
+"I have more business on my hands now, Martin, than I can possibly
+attend to."
+
+"You don't know what you are declining, Mr. Jasper," urged Martin
+warmly. "You havn't yet looked at the statements which I am prepared
+to lay before you."
+
+"I do know one thing," was the feeling answer, "and that is, that I am
+declining trouble and cost. About that part of the business, there can
+be little question."
+
+"Then," said Martin, his manner changing, "I am to understand that you
+do not wish to join me in this matter?"
+
+"Yes. I would like you to understand that distinctly."
+
+"Very well. I am sorry you refuse so advantageous an investment of
+money; for right sure am I that no other investment you can make will
+turn out as this would have done. But, as you have declined, I will
+not offer a share in my good fortune to any one else; but prosecute
+the work to my own advantage."
+
+"I thought you hadn't the capital to do that," said Jasper, speaking
+with ill-repressed eagerness.
+
+"Nor have I," coolly answered Martin. "The proposition I was about to
+make was this--an advance of twenty thousand dollars capital on your
+part, to constitute you an equal partner in the mine. But this you
+decline."
+
+"Certainly! certainly! I would not have entertained it for a moment."
+
+"Exactly. So I have already inferred. I will, therefore, as just said,
+retain this advantage in my own hands. But, Mr. Jasper, I shall need
+some help."
+
+The visitor fixed his eyes keenly on the merchant as he said this.
+There was a momentary pause. Then he resumed.
+
+"I shall only want about ten thousand dollars, though; and this you
+must obtain for me."
+
+"Martin! Do you think I am made of money?" exclaimed Jasper, starting
+to his feet, and facing his companion, in the attitude and with the
+expression of a man who, finding himself in the presence of an enemy,
+assumes the defensive.
+
+"Oh no," was the quiet answer--"not _made_ of money. But, for a
+particular friend, you can no doubt, easily raise such a trifle as ten
+thousand dollars?"
+
+"Trifle! You mock me, sir!"
+
+"Don't get excited about this matter, Mr. Jasper," coolly returned
+Martin, whose name the reader has probably recognised as that of
+an agent employed by the merchant and Grind, the lawyer, some years
+before, in making investigations relative to the existence of coal on
+certain lands not far from Reading, Pennsylvania. "Don't get excited,"
+he repeated. "That will do no good. I have not come to rob you. I
+don't ask you to give me ten thousand dollars. All I want is a loan,
+for which I will pledge good security."
+
+"What kind of security?" asked Jasper quickly.
+
+"Security on my lead-mine."
+
+"Pooh! I wouldn't give the snap of a finger for such security!"
+
+Jasper, thrown off his guard, spoke more contemptuously than was
+prudent.
+
+An instant change was visible in Martin, who, rising, commenced
+buttoning up his coat. There was about him every mark of a man deeply
+offended.
+
+"Good evening, sir!" said he, with a low, formal bow, yet with his
+eyes fixed searchingly in those of the merchant.
+
+"Martin,"--Jasper did not smile, nor was there in his voice the
+slightest affectation of good feeling--yet his manner and tone were
+both decisive,--"Martin, sit down again. Talk in reason, and I will
+hear."
+
+The man resumed his seat, and, with his eyes still in those of Jasper,
+said--
+
+"I have talked in reason. You are worth, so report says, not less than
+three hundred thousand dollars. How the first hundred thousand came,
+is known, certainly, only to one man beside you and me. In procuring
+that large sum I was a very prominent agent."
+
+"You have already been paid for your services a dozen times over."
+
+"There may be a difference of opinion about this," replied the man
+boldly--"and there _is_ a difference of opinion."
+
+"I have already advanced you over five thousand dollars."
+
+"What of that! Five thousand to three hundred thousand that you have
+made by the operation."
+
+"You are in error, Martin," said Jasper, with a blended look
+of perplexity and distress. "I am not worth the sum you have
+mentioned--nothing like it. My losses during the past six months have
+been very heavy."
+
+"It is your interest to say this. I can credit as much of it as I
+please."
+
+"You are insulting! You presume on the power a knowledge of my affairs
+has given you. I will look for a more honourable agent the next time."
+
+"Honourable! Ha! ha!" The visitor laughed in a low, guttural voice.
+
+"Martin! I will not hear this from any living man."
+
+The face of Jasper was almost purple with suppressed anger.
+
+"Go!" he added. "Leave my house instantly. I defy you!"
+
+Scarcely had these words passed his lips, ere Martin glided from the
+drawing-room, and in a few moments the street-door shut with a heavy,
+reverberating jar.
+
+The merchant stood, like one bewildered, for a few moments, and then,
+as he sank into a chair, uttered a low groan. For a long time he
+remained as motionless as if sleeping.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+On leaving the house of Jasper, Martin--who, instead of having been in
+the city only a few hours, arrived two days previously--took his
+way to the office of Grind, the lawyer. He had seen this individual
+already several times, and now called on him again by appointment. The
+two men, on meeting, exchanged looks of intelligence.
+
+"Did you see him?" asked the lawyer, as Martin took a proffered chair.
+
+"I saw him," was replied.
+
+"Can you make any thing out of him?'
+
+"I think so. He fights a little hard; but the odds are against him."
+
+"How much did you ask him to loan you?"
+
+"Ten thousand?"
+
+"Martin! That's cutting a little too sharp."
+
+"Not a hit. He'll never miss such a trifle."
+
+"You can't bleed him that deep," said the lawyer.
+
+"Can't I? You'll see; I could get twenty thousand. But I'm disposed to
+be generous. Ten thousand I must and will have."
+
+And the man laughed in a low, self-satisfied, sinister chuckle.
+
+"He's able enough," remarked Grind.
+
+"So you have told me. And if he is able, he must pay. I helped him
+to a fortune, and it is but fair that he should help me a little, now
+that a fortune is in my grasp. I only want the money as a loan."
+
+"Wouldn't five thousand answer your purpose?" asked the lawyer. "That
+is a large sum. It is not a very easy matter for even a rich man, who
+is engaged heavily in business, to lay down ten thousand dollars at
+call."
+
+"Five thousand will not do, Mr. Grind."
+
+"Jasper has lost, to my certain knowledge, twenty thousand dollars in
+three months."
+
+"So much?"
+
+"At least that sum. Money came in so fast, that he grew a little wild
+in his speculations, and played his cards with the dashing boldness
+of a gambler while in a run of luck. I cautioned him, but to no good
+purpose. One of his latest movements had been to put fifty or sixty
+thousand dollars in a cotton factory?"
+
+"Poh! What folly."
+
+"A most egregious blunder. But he fancies himself an exceedingly
+shrewd man."
+
+"He has been remarkably fortunate in his operations."
+
+"So he has. But he is more indebted, I think, to good luck than to a
+sound judgment. He has gone up to dizzy height so rapidly, that his
+weak head is already beginning to swim."
+
+"What has become of that pretty little ward of his?" asked Martin,
+somewhat abruptly.
+
+"Why didn't you put that question to him?" replied Grind. "You would
+have been more likely to get a satisfactory answer."
+
+"I may do so after I have the ten thousand dollars in my pocket. That
+was rather a shameful business, though; wasn't it? I never had a very
+tender conscience, but I must own to having suffered a few twinges
+for my part in the transaction. He received over a hundred thousand
+dollars for the land?"
+
+"Yes; and that clear of some heavy fees that you and I claimed for
+services rendered."
+
+"Humph! I'm not quite paid yet. But, touching the child, Mr. Grind:
+don't you know any thing about her?"
+
+"Nothing, personally."
+
+"What was it Jasper paid for the tract of land?"
+
+"One thousand dollars."
+
+"Paid it into his own hands as the child's guardian."
+
+"Yes; that was the simple transaction."
+
+"Has the public never made a guess at the real truth of this matter?"
+
+"Never, so far as my knowledge goes. There have been some vague
+whisperings--but no one has seemed to comprehend the matter."
+
+"The purchase was made in your name, was it not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That is, you bought from Jasper as the child's guardian; and
+afterward sold it back to him."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why didn't you hold on to it when it was fairly in your hands? I only
+wish I had been in your place?"
+
+The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, but did not commit himself by
+acknowledging that he had, more than once, regretted his omission
+to claim the property while legally in his hands, and defy Jasper to
+wrest it from him.
+
+Leaving these two men, whose relation to Jasper is sufficiently
+apparent to the reader's mind, we will return to the merchant, whom we
+left half-stupefied at the bold demand of an associate in wrong-doing.
+A long time passed ere his activity of mind returned. While he sat,
+brooding--dreamily--over what had just passed, a little daughter came
+into the parlour, and seeing him, came prattling merrily to his
+side. But in attempting to clamber upon his knee, she was pushed away
+rudely, and with angry words. For a few moments she stood looking at
+him, her little breast rising and falling rapidly; then she turned
+off, and went slowly, and with a grieving heart, from the room.
+
+Jasper sighed heavily as the child passed out of sight; and rising up,
+began moving about with a slow pace, his eyes cast upon the floor.
+The more he dwelt upon the visit of Martin--whom, in his heart, he had
+wished dead--the more uneasy he felt, and the more he regretted having
+let him depart in anger. He would give twice ten thousand dollars
+rather than meet the exposure which this man could make.
+
+Riches was the god of Leonard Jasper. Alas! how little power was there
+in riches to make his heart happy. Wealth beyond what he had hoped to
+obtain in a whole lifetime of devotion to mammon, had flowed in upon
+him in two or three short years. But, was he a happier man? Did he
+enjoy life with a keener zest? Was his sleep sweeter? Ah, no! In all
+that went to make up the true pleasure of life, the humble clerk,
+driven to prolonged hours of labour, beyond what his strength could
+well bear, through his ill-nature and injustice, was far the richer
+man. And his wealth consisted not alone in the possession of a clear
+conscience and a sustaining trust in Providence. There was the love of
+many hearts to bless him. In real household treasures few were as rich
+as he.
+
+But, in home treasures, how poor was Leonard Jasper! Poor to the
+extreme of indigence! The love of his children, reaching toward him
+spontaneously its tendrils, he rejected in the selfish devotion of
+every thought and feeling to business as a means of acquiring wealth.
+And as to the true riches, which many around him were laying up where
+no moth could corrupt nor thieves break through and steal, he rejected
+them as of no account.
+
+With such a man as Leonard Jasper, holding the position of head of a
+family, how little of the true home spirit, so full of tenderness and
+mutual love, is to be expected! Had Mrs. Jasper been less a woman of
+the world; had she been capable of loving any thing out of herself,
+and, therefore, of loving her husband and children, with that true
+love which seeks their higher good, a different state of things would
+have existed in this family, spite of Jasper's unfeeling sordidness.
+But, as it was, no fire of love melted the natural perverseness
+inherited by the children, and they grew up, cherishing mutual
+antagonism, and gradually coming to regard their parents only as
+persons with power to thwart their inclinations, or as possessing the
+means of gratifying their desires.
+
+With all his wealth, how few were the real sources of happiness
+possessed by Jasper! Pressed down with anxiety about the future,
+and forced to toil beyond his strength, how many of life's truest
+blessings were poured into the lap of Edward Claire!
+
+The sleep of the poor clerk, that night, was sound and refreshing. The
+merchant tossed to and fro on his pillow until long after the midnight
+watches advanced upon the morning; and then, when wearied nature
+claimed her due, he slept only for brief periods, continually startled
+by frightful dreams.
+
+At an early hour next day, he called upon Grind, who was still his
+legal adviser.
+
+"Have you seen Martin?" he asked the moment he entered the office.
+
+"Martin! Surely he is not in the city!" returned Grind evasively.
+
+"He surely is," said Jasper, fretfully.
+
+"Martin. Where in the world did he come from? I thought him somewhere
+in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains. What does he want?
+
+"No good, of course."
+
+"That may be said safely. Have you seen him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"When? This morning?"
+
+"No; he called at my house last night."
+
+"Called last night! What did he want?"
+
+"Ten thousand dollars," replied Jasper.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!!" The lawyer's well-feigned surprise completed
+the deception practised upon Jasper. He did not, for an instant,
+suspect collusion between him and Martin.
+
+"Yes; he very coolly proposed that I should lend him that sum, enable
+him to carry on some lead-mining operations in the west."
+
+"Preposterous!"
+
+"So I told him."
+
+"Well, what did he say?"
+
+"Oh, he blustered, and made covert threats of exposure, of course."
+
+"The scoundrel!" said Grind, fiercely.
+
+"He's a villain double-dyed. I have never ceased to regret that we
+brought him into this business. We should have had a man of better
+spirit--of a nicer sense of honour."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Jasper, that is true enough," replied Grind; "but the
+mischief is, your men of nicer honour are too squeamish for the kind
+of work in which we employed him. This is the defect in all such
+operations. Men cannot be thoroughly trusted."
+
+The merchant sighed. He felt too deeply the force of Grind's remark.
+
+"You know," said he, "this Martin better than I do. What is his
+character? Is he a mere blusterer, whose bark is worse than his bite;
+or is he vindictive and unscrupulous?"
+
+"Both vindictive and unscrupulous. I must warn you not to provoke his
+ill-will. He would take delight in exposing all he knows about this
+business, if he is once fairly turned against you. A fast friend--he
+is a bitter enemy."
+
+"But see what a price he demands for his friendship! I have already
+given him some five thousand dollars for his services, and now he
+demands ten more. In a year he will be back, and coolly seek to levy a
+contribution of twenty thousand dollars."
+
+"I understood you to say that he only asked for a loan," remarks the
+lawyer.
+
+"A loan! That's mere mockery. If you placed ten thousand dollars in
+his hands, would you ever expect to see the first copper of it again?"
+
+Grind shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Of course you would not. It's a levy, not a loan--and so he, in his
+heart, regards it."
+
+"He's a dangerous man," said the lawyer, "and it's to be regretted
+that you ever had any thing to do with him. But, now that your hand is
+in the lion's mouth, the wisest thing is to get it out with as little
+detriment as possible."
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!" ejaculated the merchant. "Why, it's downright
+robbery! He might just as well stop me on the highway."
+
+"It's a hard case, I must own, Mr. Jasper. You might resist him, and,
+at least not let him obtain what he demands without a struggle; but
+the question is, may you not receive a mortal wound in the contest."
+
+"Ah! that is the rub, Grind. Rather than meet the exposure he could
+make, I would give twenty thousand dollars; yea, half, if not all I am
+worth."
+
+Can wealth, held on such a tenure, and in such a state of mind, be
+called riches? Ah, no. How the possession is changed from a blessing
+into a curse!
+
+"Then, Mr. Jasper," replied the lawyer, "there is but one course plain
+before you. If you make this man your enemy, he will surely pursue you
+to the death. There is no pity in him."
+
+Jasper groaned aloud. Ere he could reply, the door of the office
+opened, and the individual about whom they were conversing entered.
+With the skill of practised actors, each instantly assumed a part, and
+hid, under a false exterior, their true states of mind. With something
+of cordiality each greeted the other: while side-glances, unobserved
+by Jasper, passed rapidly between Martin and the lawyer. A few
+commonplace inquiries and remarks followed, when Jasper made a
+movement to go, saying, as he did so--
+
+"Mr. Martin, I will be pleased to see you some time to-day."
+
+"Thank you; I will do myself the pleasure to call," was coolly
+answered. "At what time will you be most at leisure?"
+
+"During the afternoon. Say at four or five o'clock."
+
+"I will be there at four," returned Martin, in a bland voice, and with
+a courteous inclination of the head.
+
+"Very well--you will find me in."
+
+The merchant bowed to the accomplices--they were nothing better--and
+retired.
+
+"Humph! I didn't expect to find him here quite so early," said Martin,
+with a sinister smile. "I rather guess I frightened him last night."
+
+"I rather guess you did," returned the lawyer, his countenance
+reflecting the light that played on the other's face.
+
+"Will the money come?" asked Martin.
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"That's good. Ten thousand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What did he say? He came to consult you, of course?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what did he say?"
+
+"More than I need take time to repeat. He is thoroughly frightened.
+That is enough for you to know."
+
+"Ten thousand," said Martin musingly, and speaking to himself. "Ten
+thousand! That will do pretty well. But, if he will bleed for fifteen
+thousand, why may I not set the spring of my lancet a little deeper. I
+can make good use of my money."
+
+"No--no," returned the lawyer quickly. "Ten thousand is enough. Don't
+play the dog and the shadow. This is over-greediness."
+
+"Well--well. Just as you say. I can make him another friendly call in
+a year or so from this time."
+
+The lawyer smiled in a way peculiar to himself, and then said--
+
+"Hadn't you better be content with five thousand now. This goose will,
+no doubt, lay golden eggs for some years to come."
+
+"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," was the quick answer.
+"I have gone in now for the ten thousand; and ten thousand I must
+have. I may be content with a smaller sum at my next appearance."
+
+"You are to see him at four o'clock?" said Grind.
+
+"Yes; that was the hour I named. So you must get all the necessary
+papers ready for me in time. I don't want to let him get the hitch
+on me of seeking to extort money. I only ask a loan, and will give
+bona-fide security on my lead-mine." Then, with one of his low
+chuckles, he added--"If he can get ten thousand dollars out of it, he
+will do more than any one else can. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+"The evidence of property, which you have," said Grind, "is all as it
+shows on the face?"
+
+"It is, upon honour."
+
+"Very well. Then I will draw the necessary papers, so that as little
+delay as possible need occur in the transference of security for the
+loan."
+
+What further passed between the parties is of no consequence to the
+reader.
+
+At four o'clock, precisely, Martin was at the store of Jasper.
+
+"I hope to find you a little more reasonable today," said the
+merchant, with a forced smile, as the two men, after retiring to a
+remote part of the store, sat down and faced each other.
+
+"I should be sorry to do any thing out of reason," returned Martin.
+His manner was more serious than Jasper's.
+
+"I think your present demand out of reason," was answered.
+
+"No good can possibly come, Mr. Jasper," said Martin, with a slight
+air of impatience, "out of an argument between you and I, on this
+subject. The sum I named to you last night I must have. Nothing less
+will meet my present want. But, understand me distinctly, I only ask
+it as a loan, and come prepared to give you the fullest security."
+
+As Mr. Martin said this, he drew a package of papers from his pocket.
+"Here are the necessary documents," he added.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars! Why, my dear sir, a sum like this is not to be
+picked up in the streets."
+
+"I am very well aware of that," was the cool answer. "Had such been
+the case, I never would have troubled you with procuring the sum; nor
+would I have gone to the expense and fatigue of a long journey."
+
+"You certainly ought to know enough of business, Martin, to be aware
+that ten thousand dollars is not always to be commanded, even by the
+wealthiest, at a moment's notice."
+
+"I do not ask the whole sum in cash," replied Martin. "Three or four
+thousand in ready money will do. Your notes at four and six months
+will answer very well for the balance."
+
+But we will not record further what passed between these two men. It
+was all in vain that Jasper strove to escape; his adversary was too
+powerful. Ere they separated, Martin had in his possession, in cash
+and promissory notes, the sum of ten thousand dollars!
+
+Already were the ill-gotten riches of Leonard Jasper taking to
+themselves wings. Unhappy man! How wretched was he during that
+and many succeeding days! Rolling, so to speak, in wealth, he yet
+possessed not life's highest blessing, a truly contented mind, flowing
+from conscious rectitude and an abiding trust in Providence. Without
+these, how poor is even he who counts his millions! With them, how
+rich is the humble toiler, who, receiving day by day his daily bread,
+looks up and is thankful!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+A few weeks subsequent to the occurrences mentioned in the last
+chapter, Leonard Jasper received a call from Mr. Melleville, in
+whose service Claire still remained. The greeting of the two men was
+distant, yet courteous. A few words on current topics passed between
+them, after which Mr. Melleville said--
+
+"I have called to ask you a question or two in regard to a child of
+the late Mr. Elder, to whom you are guardian."
+
+The blood came instantly to the face of Jasper, who was not prepared
+for this; and in spite of his struggle to seem self-possessed, his
+eyes sank under those of his visitor. In a few moments, he recovered
+himself, and replied--
+
+"The child, you mean, who is boarding with Edward Claire?"
+
+"The same." The eyes of Melleville were fixed on those of Jasper so
+steadily, that the latter wavered, and, finally, again dropped to the
+floor.
+
+"Well, I am ready to hear any thing that you have to say." Jasper had
+thrown off, once more, the vague sense of coming evil that made him
+cower under the steady gaze of Melleville.
+
+"I learn," said the latter, "from Mr. Claire, that you refuse to pay
+any further sums for her maintenance. Is the property left by her
+father, to which common report has affixed considerable value,
+exhausted, or"--
+
+"I have refused to pay _him_ any further sums," said Jasper, in a
+quick, excited voice, interrupting Mr. Melleville. "Our contract,
+regularly entered into, has expired by limitation. He was to have the
+care of her only until she reached her twelfth year. Of this fact he
+is clearly advised, and I wonder at his pertinacity in endeavouring to
+retain the child, when he knows that I, her guardian, wish to have her
+in my own possession."
+
+"He has had her ever since she was a little child; and both he and his
+wife are now strongly attached to her. In fact, she regards them as
+her parents; and their affection for her is not exceeded by
+their affection for their own children. To separate them would be
+exceedingly painful to all parties. As for the child, it would make
+her very unhappy."
+
+"I can't help that, Mr. Melleville." Jasper spoke coldly.
+
+"Under all the circumstances," said Mr. Melleville, after a pause,
+speaking slowly, and with considerable emphasis in his words, "it is
+my opinion that you had better let the child remain where she is."
+
+"Why do you say so?" Jasper spoke with ill-concealed surprise; and the
+uneasy, suspicious manner, at first exhibited, returned.
+
+"Claire regards the child as his own; and must so continue to regard
+her, even though taken out of his hands."
+
+"Well, what of that?"
+
+"It is for you, Mr. Jasper," was returned, "to determine for yourself,
+whether the surveillance of a man like Claire, who cannot now cease to
+feel a parent's interest in your ward, will be altogether agreeable."
+
+"Surveillance! What do you mean? I don't understand this language. It
+looks like an effort to force me into measures. Pray, what have I to
+fear from Edward Claire?"
+
+"Sometimes," replied Melleville, with a slow, meaning enunciation,
+"those we regard as most insignificant are the very ones we should
+most fear."
+
+"Fear! Fear, Mr. Melleville! You make use of strange language."
+
+"Perhaps I do," was answered. "And, as it seems unpleasant to you, I
+will say no more. I did not mean, when I called, to speak just as I
+have done. But, as the words have been uttered, I beg you to weigh
+them well, and to believe that they have a meaning. Good morning."
+
+Jasper suppressed the utterance of the word "stay," which arose to his
+lips, and returned the bow of Mr. Melleville, who left without further
+remark.
+
+"What can this mean?" Thus mused Leonard Jasper, when alone. "Can this
+scoundrel, Martin, have dropped a hint of the truth?" A slight shiver
+went through his nerves. "Something is wrong. There is suspicion in
+the thought of Melleville. I didn't look for trouble in this quarter."
+
+To his own unpleasant reflections we will leave the merchant, and
+return to Edward Claire and his true-minded, loving-hearted wife.
+
+For a week or two after the former entered upon his new duties
+as assistant clerk in a night-auction, he experienced no serious
+inconvenience from his more prolonged labours, although it did not
+escape the watchful eyes of his wife that his complexion was losing
+its freshness, and that his appetite was far from being so good as
+before. After this, he began to suffer oppressive weariness, that
+made the evening's toil a daily increasing burden. Then succeeded a
+feverish state, accompanied by pains in the head, back, and through
+the breast. Edith remonstrated, even with tears; but still Claire went
+nightly to his task, though each successive evening found him with
+less and less ability for its performance.
+
+At last, he came home from the store of Mr. Melleville, at the usual
+tea-time, feeling so unwell that he was forced to lie down. He had no
+appetite for supper, and merely sipped part of a cup of tea brought to
+him by his wife as he still reclined upon the bed.
+
+"Don't get up," said Edith, seeing her husband, after he had lain for
+some time, about to rise.
+
+"I can't lie here any longer; it's nearly seven o'clock now."
+
+"You're not going out to-night!"
+
+"O yes; I must be at the store. There is no one to take my place, and
+the sales will begin by the time I can get there."
+
+"But you are too sick to go out, Edward."
+
+"I feel much better than I did, Edith. This little rest has refreshed
+me a great deal."
+
+"No--no, Edward! You must not go away," said his wife in a distressed
+voice. "You are sick now, and the extra exertion of an evening may
+throw you into a serious illness."
+
+"I feel a great deal better, dear," urged Claire. "But, sick or well,
+I must be there to-night, for the sale cannot go on without me. If I
+do not feel better to-morrow, I will ask Mr. F---- to get some one,
+temporarily, in my place."
+
+Still Edith opposed, but in vain.
+
+By the time Claire arrived at the auction store, his head was
+throbbing with a pain so intense that he could scarcely see. Still, he
+resolutely persevered in his determination to go through, if possible,
+with the duties of the evening; and so, taking his place at his desk,
+as the auctioneer went upon the stand to cry the goods which had
+been advertised for sale, he prepared to keep the usual record of
+purchasers and prices. This he was able to do for half an hour, when
+overtaxed and exhausted nature could bear up no longer.
+
+"Mr. Claire," said the auctioneer, as he took in hand a new article,
+"did you make that last entry?--Mr. Jackson, ten cents a yard."
+
+Claire's head had fallen over on the book in which he had been
+writing, and the auctioneer, supposing him only yielding to a
+momentary feeling of fatigue, or indolence, thus called his attention
+to his duties.
+
+But Claire made no answer.
+
+"Say! young man! Are you asleep!" The auctioneer spoke now with some
+sharpness of tone; but, as before, his words were not heeded.
+
+"What's the matter, Mr. Claire? Are you sick?"
+
+Still no response or movement.
+
+"Mr. Claire! Bless me!" The auctioneer was now by his side, with his
+hand on him. "Bring some water, quick! He's fainted--or is dead! Here!
+some one help me to lay him down."
+
+Two or three men came quickly behind the auctioneer's stand and
+assisted to lift the insensible man from the high stool on which he
+was seated, and place his body in a reclining position. Then water
+was dashed into his face, and various other means of restoration used.
+Full ten minutes passed before signs of returning life were exhibited.
+His recovery was very slow, and it was nearly an hour before he was
+well enough to be removed to his dwelling.
+
+The shock of his appearance, supported from the carriage in which he
+had been conveyed home, by two men, was terrible to his wife, whose
+anxiety and fear had wrought her feelings already up to a high pitch
+of excitement.
+
+"Oh! what is the matter? What has happened?" she cried, wringing her
+hands, while her face blanched to a deathly paleness.
+
+"Don't be frightened," returned Claire, smiling feebly. "It was only a
+slight fainting fit. I'm over it now."
+
+"That's all, madam," said the men who had brought him home. "He merely
+fainted. Don't be alarmed. It's all over."
+
+After receiving the thanks of Claire and his assurances that he needed
+nothing further from their kindness, the men retired, and Edward then
+made every effort in his power to calm down the feelings of his wife,
+who continued weeping. This was no easy task, particularly as he was
+unable long to hide the many evidences of serious illness from which
+he was suffering. Against his remonstrance, so soon as she saw how
+it was with him, Mrs. Claire sent off the domestic for their family
+physician; who on learning the causes which led to the condition in
+which he found his patient, hesitated not to say that he must, as he
+valued his life, give up the night tasks he had imposed upon himself.
+
+"Other men," said Claire, in answer to this, "devote quite as many
+hours to business."
+
+"All men are not alike in constitution," returned the physician. "And
+even the strongest do not make overdrafts upon the system, without
+finding, sooner or later, a deficit in their health-account. As
+for you, nature has not given you the physical ability for great
+endurance. You cannot overtask yourself without a derangement of
+machinery."
+
+How reluctantly, and with what a feeling of weakness, Claire
+acquiesced in this decision, the reader may imagine.
+
+The morning found him something better, but not well enough to sit up.
+Mrs. Claire had, by this time, recovered in a measure her calmness and
+confidence. She had thought much, during the sleepless hours of the
+preceding night, and though the future was far from opening clearly
+to her straining vision, her mind rested in a well-assured confidence
+that all things would work together for their good. She knew in whom
+she trusted. On the Rock of Ages she had built the habitation where
+dwelt her higher hopes; and the storms of this world had no power to
+prevail against it.
+
+How little dreamed gentle Fanny Elder--or Fanny Claire, as she
+was called--when she laid her cheek lovingly to that of her sick
+"father"--she knew him by no other name--and drew her arms around his
+neck, that he was suffering alone on her account. In her unselfish
+love, Claire felt a sweet compensation--while all he endured on her
+account had the effect to draw her, as it were, into his very heart.
+
+As quickly as it could be done, Mrs. Claire got through with the most
+pressing of her morning duties, and then, the older children away to
+school, she came and sat down by her husband's bedside, and took his
+hand in hers. As he looked into her face, pale from sleeplessness and
+anxiety, tears filled his eyes.
+
+"O, Edie!" said he, his voice tremulous with feeling, "isn't this
+disheartening? What _are_ we to do?"
+
+"_He_ careth for us," was the low, calmly spoken reply; and, as Edith
+lifted a finger upward, a ray of heavenly confidence beamed in her
+countenance.
+
+"I know, Edie; I know, but"--
+
+The sick man left his sentence unfinished. A heavy sigh marking his
+state of doubt and darkness.
+
+"We must feel as well as know, Edward," said his wife. "God is good.
+In looking back through all our past life, does not the retrospection
+lead to this undoubting conclusion? I am sure you will say yes. Has
+he not, in every case, proved better to us than all our fears?--Why,
+then, should we distrust him now? In the beautiful language of Cowper,
+let us say in these dark seasons--
+
+  'Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
+    But trust Him for His grace;
+  Behind a frowning providence
+    He hides a smiling face.
+  His purposes will ripen fast,
+    Unfolding every hour;
+  The bud may have a bitter taste,
+    But sweet will be the flower.'
+
+"Shall we doubt the sun's existence, because the night has fallen? No,
+dear husband, no! There are bright stars smiling above us in token of
+his unerring return. We know that the morning cometh after a season of
+darkness; and so, after our spirits have lingered awhile in the realm
+of shadows, the light will break in from above. Has it not always been
+so, Edward?"
+
+"He has led us by a way which we knew not."
+
+The sick man's eyes were closed as he murmured these words; and his
+voice was slightly tremulous, yet expressive of a returning state of
+confidence.
+
+"Yet, how safely," replied Edith. "When our feet were in slippery
+places, and we leaned on Him, did he not support us firmly? and when
+the mire and clay were deep in our path, did He not keep us from
+sinking therein?"
+
+"He is goodness itself," said Claire, a calmer expression coming into
+his face. "It is wrong so to let doubt, distrust, and fear creep in
+and get possession of the heart; but, we are human--weakness and error
+are born with us. When the way in which we are walking is suddenly
+closed up before us, and we see the opening to no other way, how can
+we keep the faint heart from sinking?"
+
+"Only as Peter was saved from sinking. If we look to God, He will lift
+our hearts above the yielding billows. If we stand still, hopefully
+and trustingly, the high mountain before us will become as a plain, so
+that we can walk on in a smooth way, joyful and rejoicing."
+
+"And so this high mountain, which has risen up so suddenly, will
+soon be cleft for us or levelled to a plain, if we wait patiently and
+confidingly for its removal?"
+
+"Oh! I am sure of it, Edward," replied Mrs. Claire, with a beautiful
+enthusiasm. "We are His creatures, and He loves us with an infinite
+love. When his children are disposed to trust too much to the arm of
+flesh, He sometimes shows them their weakness in order that they may
+feel His strength. Faithfully and unselfishly, my husband, have you
+tried to meet the suddenly increased demand upon us: and this out of
+love for one of God's children. In the trial, weakness has prevailed
+over strength. Suddenly your hands have fallen to your side powerless.
+God saw it all; and permitted it all; and, in His own good time, will
+supply, from other sources, all that is really needed. We have the
+promise--our bread shall be given, and our water sure--not only
+the natural food that sustains outward life, but the true bread of
+heavenly affections, and the waters of pure truth, which nourish and
+sustain the spirit."
+
+Edith ceased speaking. Her husband did not make an immediate reply;
+but lay pondering her words, and letting his thoughts expand their
+wings in the purer atmosphere into which she had lifted him.
+
+After that they conversed together hopefully of the future; not that
+they saw the way more clearly before them, but heavenly confidence had
+taken the place of human distrust.
+
+It was, perhaps, eleven o'clock in the day--the doctor had been there,
+and pronounced the condition of his patient favourable, but enjoined
+quiet and prolonged rest from either bodily or mental exertion--and
+the mind of Claire was beginning to run again in a slightly troubled
+channel.
+
+"Here is a letter for you," said his wife, coming into the room, after
+a brief absence. "A young man just left it at the door."
+
+Claire took the letter, wondering as he did so who it could be from.
+On breaking the seal, and unfolding it, he was greatly surprised to
+find within a check to his order for one hundred and fifty dollars,
+signed Leonard Jasper; and still more surprised to read the
+accompanying note, which was in these words:
+
+"Enclosed you will find one hundred and fifty dollars, the sum due
+you for Fanny Elder's maintenance during the past and current quarter.
+When convenient, I should be glad to see you. Seeing that the child
+has remained with you so long, I don't know that it will be advisable
+to make a change now, although I had other views in regard to her.
+However, when you call, we can settle matters in regard to her
+definitively."
+
+"Better to us than all our fears," murmured Claire, as he handed the
+letter to his wife, who read it with a truly thankful heart.
+
+"Our way is smooth once more," she said, smiling through outpressing
+tears--"the mountain has become a level plain. All the dark clouds
+have been swept from our sky, and the sun is shining even more
+brightly than of old."
+
+It was more than a week before Claire was sufficiently recovered to
+go out and attend to business as usual. At the first opportunity,
+he called upon Mr. Jasper, who received him with marked kindness of
+manner.
+
+"I do not, now," said the merchant, "entertain the same views in
+regard to my ward that I did some time ago. Your opposition to
+my wishes then, fretted me a good deal; and I made up my mind,
+decisively, that so soon as she was twelve years of age, you must give
+her up. It was from this feeling that I acted when I refused to pay
+your last order. Since then, I have reflected a good deal on the
+subject; and reflection has modified, considerably, my feelings. I
+can understand how strong must be the attachment of both yourself and
+wife, and how painful the thought of separation from a long-cherished
+object of affection."
+
+"The dread of separation, Mr. Jasper," replied Claire, "has haunted us
+during the last two years like an evil spirit."
+
+"It need haunt you no more, Edward," was the kindly spoken reply. "If
+you still wish to retain the care of this child, you are free to do
+so."
+
+"You have taken a mountain from my heart, Mr. Jasper," was the young
+man's feeling response.
+
+"It is settled, then, Edward, that she remains with you. And now I
+must say a word about her education. I wish that to be thorough.
+She must have good advantages; better than the sum now paid for her
+maintenance will procure."
+
+Claire made no reply, and Jasper continued--
+
+"I have this to propose. The bulk of property left by her father is
+contained in two moderate-sized houses, one of which is at this time
+without a tenant. It is a very comfortable house for a small family.
+Just the thing, I should say, for you. If you will move into this
+house, you shall have it rent free, as a set-off to the increased
+charge Fanny will be to you in future. The three hundred per annum
+will be paid as usual. How will that do?"
+
+"The compensation, I think, will be greater than the service," replied
+Claire.
+
+"Not at all. During the next five or six years, or until she gains
+her majority, you will find the cost of clothing and education a
+constantly increasing sum. I know more about these things than you
+do. And I am very sure, since I understand your relation to her, that
+twice this expenditure, could not gain for her what she will have
+while in your care. As her guardian, I feel it my duty to provide
+liberally for her comfort and education, and to this you, of course,
+can have nothing to object."
+
+And Claire did not object. In a few weeks from that time he removed
+into one of the houses mentioned by Jasper--a larger and far more
+comfortable one than that in which he had lived for several years.
+Here, with a thankful heart, he gathered his wife and children
+around him. How happy they all were! Not selfishly happy--if such
+contradictory terms may be used--but happy in the warmth of mutual
+love. A heaven on earth was this little household. Shall we contrast
+it with that of Leonard Jasper? No!--the opposite picture would leave
+upon the reader's mind too sad an impression; and we will not burden
+this chapter with another shadow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+During the five or six following years, a number of events occurred
+bearing more or less seriously upon some of the actors in our story.
+With Edward Claire and his family, life had flowed on in an even
+current; and, but for the fact that his health never fairly recovered
+from the shock it received in consequence of his having taxed his
+physical system beyond its capability of endurance, the sunshine would
+never have been a moment from his threshold.
+
+The important addition made to his income through the new arrangement
+volunteered by Fanny's guardian, gave to his external condition a more
+favourable aspect. He was no longer troubled about the ways and means
+of providing for his needful expenses. A much better situation, so far
+as a higher salary was concerned, had, during this time offered; but,
+as it required an amount of confinement and labour which he could not
+give, without endangering his health, he wisely declined the offer.
+
+Far less smoothly had the current of Leonard Jasper's life flowed
+on. Twice during this period had he received visits from his old
+acquaintance, Martin, and each time he was made poorer by five
+thousand dollars. It was all in vain that he struggled and resisted.
+The man had no compassion in him. He cared not who suffered loss, so
+he was the gainer.
+
+There were other miners at work sapping the foundations of Jasper's
+fortune, besides this less concealed operator. Parker, the young man
+who succeeded to the place of Claire, and who was afterward raised to
+the condition of partner, with a limited interest, was far from
+being satisfied with his dividend in the business. The great bulk of
+Jasper's means were used in outside speculations; and as the result of
+these became successively known to Parker, his thoughts began to run
+in a new channel. "If I only had money to go into this," and, "If I
+only had money to go into that," were words frequently on his tongue.
+He regarded himself as exceedingly shrewd; and confidently believed
+that, if he had capital to work with, he could soon amass an
+independent fortune.
+
+"Money makes money," was his favourite motto.
+
+Unscrupulous as his partner, it is not surprising that Parker, ere
+long, felt himself perfectly authorized to use the credit of the house
+in private schemes of profit. To do this safely, it was necessary to
+have a friend outside of the firm. Such a friend he did not find it
+very hard to obtain; and as nearly the whole burden of the business
+fell upon his shoulders, it was not at all difficult to hide every
+thing from Jasper.
+
+Confident as Parker was in his great shrewdness, his speculations
+outside of the business did not turn out very favourably. His first
+essay was in the purchase of stocks, on which he lost, in a week, two
+thousand dollars.
+
+Like the gamester who loses, he only played deeper, in the hope of
+recovering his losses; and as it often happens with the gamester, in
+similar circumstances, the deeper he played, the more he lost.
+
+And so it went on. Sometimes the young man had a turn of good fortune,
+and sometimes all the chances went against him. But he was too far
+committed to recede without a discovery. There was no standing still;
+and so newer and bolder operations were tried, involving larger and
+larger sums of money, until the responsibilities of the firm, added
+to the large cash drafts made without the cognizance of Jasper, were
+enormous.
+
+To all such mad schemes the end must come; and the end came in this
+instance. Failing to procure, by outside operations, sufficient money
+to meet several large notes, he was forced to divulge a part of his
+iniquity to Jasper, in order to save the credit of the firm. Suspicion
+of a deeper fraud being thereby aroused in the mind of his partner,
+time, and a sifting investigation of the affairs of the house,
+revealed the astounding fact that Parker had abstracted in money, and
+given the notes of the firm for his own use, to the enormous amount of
+fifty thousand dollars.
+
+A dissolution of co-partnership took place in consequence. Parker,
+blasted in reputation, was dragged before a court of justice, in order
+to make him disgorge property alleged to be in his possession. But
+nothing could be found; and he was finally discharged from custody.
+The whole loss fell upon Jasper. He had nursed a serpent in his bosom,
+warming it with the warmth of his own life; and the serpent had stung
+him. Is it any wonder?
+
+This circumstance, the discovery of Parker's fraudulent doings, took
+place about two years prior to the time when Fanny Elder attained her
+legal age.
+
+The first thought of Jasper, after his separation from Parker, which
+took place immediately on discovering that he had used the credit of
+the firm improperly, was to send for Claire, and offer him a salary
+of a thousand dollars a year, to come in and fill the responsible
+position as clerk, from which Parker had just been ejected as partner.
+
+"I can trust him fully," said Jasper to himself; "and I don't know
+anybody else that I can trust. He is honest; I will give him credit
+for that; too honest, it may be, for his own good. But, I don't know.
+Who would not rather be in his shoes than in Parker's?"
+
+For some time Jasper's mind was favourable to making Claire the offer
+proposed, and he was about writing him a note, when a new view of the
+case struck him, dependent on the young man's relation to his ward,
+Fanny Elder.
+
+"Oh no, no, no!" said he emphatically, speaking to himself--"that,
+I fear me, will not do. It would give him too open an access to
+my books, papers, and private accounts, in which are entries and
+memoranda that it might be dangerous for him to see."
+
+Jasper sighed deeply as he finished this sentence, and then fell into
+a musing state. His thoughts, while this lasted, were not of the most
+self-satisfying character. Some serious doubts as to his having, in
+the main, pursued the wisest course in life, were injected into his
+mind; and, remarkable as it may seem for one so absorbed in the love
+of gain, there were moments when he almost envied the poor, but honest
+clerk, who had an approving conscience, and feared no man's scrutiny.
+
+It was with no slight reluctance that he finally came to the
+conclusion that it would be altogether unsafe to take Claire into his
+employment. And so he cast about for some one to supply the place
+left vacant by Parker's withdrawal from the business. In his final
+selection he was not over-fortunate, as the result proved. The new
+clerk was shrewd, and capable enough, and apparently as much devoted
+to his employer's interests as Jasper could wish. Had not his own
+interests been regarded as paramount to those of the merchant, Jasper
+would have possessed in him a valuable assistant. But the clerk
+did not rise superior to temptations which came in his way.
+Jasper continued to trade on the close-cutting, overreaching, and
+unscrupulous system; and under such a teacher his clerk proved an apt
+learner.
+
+"He cuts right and left," said he to himself, "and why may not I cut
+left and right when a good opportunity offers?"
+
+Soon he began to "cut left and right," as he termed it, and it was not
+remarkable that, in his cutting operations, his employer occasionally
+suffered. The upshot was, after holding his situation a year, that
+several false entries, in his hand-writing, were discovered in the
+books of Mr. Jasper. To what extent he robbed his employer, the latter
+never accurately knew; but he was worse off by at least three or four
+thousand dollars through his peculations.
+
+Again the question of taking Claire once more into his employment came
+up in the mind of Jasper. After viewing it on every side, the decision
+was adverse. He felt that too great a risk was involved. And so he
+employed one in whom he could confide with less certainty.
+
+Several years had now passed since the merchant began to feel the
+shock of adverse winds. All before was a summer sea, and the ship of
+his fortune had bent her sails alone to favouring breezes. But this
+was to be no longer. His ship had suffered not only by stress of
+weather, but also by the sacrifice of a portion of cargo to save what
+remained. And, at last, she was driving on toward the breakers, and
+her safety from destruction only hoped for through the activity,
+skill, and tireless vigilance of her helmsman.
+
+A few years before, Mr. Jasper considered himself worth between two
+and three hundred thousand dollars; now, he passed sleepless nights in
+fear of impending ruin. He had trusted in riches; he had called them,
+in his heart, the greatest good. At his word they had poured in upon
+him from all sides, until he was half bewildered at sight of the
+glittering treasures; but, just as he began to feel secure in his
+possessions, they began to take themselves wings and fly away.
+
+And, alas for him! he had laid up no other treasures. None in heaven;
+none in the hearts of his wife and children; none in his own mind. The
+staff upon which he had leaned was now a splintering reed, wounding as
+it bent under him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+There was one point of time to which Leonard Jasper looked with no
+little anxiety, and that was to the period of Fanny Elder's majority,
+when it was his purpose to relinquish his guardianship, and wash his
+hands, if it were possible to do so, entirely clean of her. Until the
+estate left by her father was settled up, the property in her hands
+and receipts in his, there was danger ahead. And, as the time drew
+nearer and nearer, he felt increasing uneasiness.
+
+On the very day that Fanny reached her eighteenth year, Jasper sent a
+note to Claire, asking an interview.
+
+"I wish," said he, when the latter came, "to have some conference with
+you about Miss Elder. She has now, you are no doubt aware, attained
+the legal age. Such being the case, I wish, as early as it can be
+done, to settle up the estate of her father, and pay over to her, or
+to any person she may select as her agent, the property in my hands.
+It has increased some in value. Will you consult her on the subject?"
+
+Claire promised to do so; and, at the same time, asked as to the
+amount of Fanny's property.
+
+"The total value will not fall much short of eight thousand dollars,"
+replied Jasper. "There are two houses and lots that would sell at any
+time for six thousand dollars. You live in one of these houses, and
+the other is rented for two hundred and fifty dollars. Then there are
+nearly two thousand dollars in six per cent. stocks. When her father
+died, his estate consisted of these two houses, and a piece of poor
+land which he had taken as satisfaction for a debt. At the first
+opportunity, I sold the land and invested the money. This sum, with
+accumulations of interest, and rents received for several years,
+beyond what was required for Fanny's maintenance, has now increased
+to within a fraction of two thousand dollars, and is, as just said,
+invested in stocks. I think," added Jasper, "that you had better
+assume the management of this property yourself. Get from Miss Elder a
+power of attorney authorizing you to settle the estate, and the whole
+business can be completed in a very short time. I will make you out an
+accurate statement of every thing, so that you will be at no loss to
+comprehend the accounts."
+
+To this there could, of course, be no objection on the part of Claire.
+He promised to confer with Fanny, and let Jasper know, in a day or
+two, the result.
+
+Now came a new trial for Claire and his wife. They had taken Fanny,
+when only four years of age, and taken her so entirely into their home
+and affections, that she had almost from the first seemed to them as
+one of their own children. In a brief time the earlier memories of the
+child faded. The past was absorbed in the present; and she loved
+as parents none other than those she called by the tender names of
+"father" and "mother." The children with whom she grew up she
+knew only as her brothers and sisters. This thorough adoption and
+incorporation of the child into their family was not, in any sense,
+the work of design on the part of Claire and his wife. But they saw,
+in the beginning, no reason to check the natural tendency thereto.
+When little Fanny, of her own accord, addressed them, soon after her
+virtual adoption, as "father" and "mother," they accepted the child's
+own interpretation of their relative positions, and took her from that
+moment more entirely into their hearts.
+
+And so Fanny Elder grew up to womanhood, in the full belief that she
+was the child of Mr. and Mrs. Claire. The new trial through which this
+excellent couple were now to pass, the reader can easily imagine.
+The time had come when Fanny must know the real truth in regard to
+herself--must be told that she had no natural claim upon the love of
+those whose love she prized above all things.
+
+It seemed cruel to take away the conscious right to love and be loved,
+which had so long blessed her. And yet the truth must now be made
+known, and Mrs. Claire took upon herself the task of breaking it as
+gently as possible.
+
+A woman in age and stature, yet with all the gentle deference of
+a daughter, Fanny moved by the side of Mrs. Claire with a loving
+thoughtfulness, daily sharing her household duties. Some months before
+she had left school, but was still taking lessons in music and French,
+and devoting a portion of time to practice in drawing, for which she
+had a decided taste.
+
+On the day after Mr. Claire's interview with Jasper, Mrs. Claire said
+to Fanny, with a seriousness of tone and manner that brought a look of
+surprise to her face--
+
+"Come to my room with me, dear. I have something to say to you."
+
+Fanny moved along by her side, wondering to herself what could be in
+her mother's mind. On entering the chamber, Mrs. Claire shut the door,
+and then, as she sat down, with an arm around the young girl's waist,
+she said, in a thoughtful, earnest voice--
+
+"Fanny, I want you to tell me the first thing you recollect in life."
+
+"The first thing, mother?" She smiled at a request so unexpected, and
+Mrs. Claire smiled in return, though from a different cause.
+
+"Yes, dear. I have a reason for asking this. Now, let your thoughts
+run back--far back, and recall for me the very first thing you can
+recollect."
+
+The countenance of Fanny grew thoughtful, then serious, and then a
+half-frightened look flashed over it.
+
+"Why, mother," said she, "what can you mean? What do you want to
+know?"
+
+"Your first recollection, dear?" returned Mrs. Claire, with an
+assuring smile, although her heart was full, and it required the most
+active self-control to prevent her feelings from becoming manifest in
+her voice.
+
+"Well, let me see! The first? The first? I was playing on the floor
+with a dear little baby? It was our Edie, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes--so far your memory is correct. I remember the time to which you
+refer as perfectly as if but a week had passed. Now, dear, try if you
+can recall any thing beyond that."
+
+"Beyond that, mother? Oh, why do you ask? You make me feel so
+strangely. Can it be that some things I have thought to be only the
+memory of dreams, are indeed realities?"
+
+"What are those things, my child?"
+
+"I have a dim remembrance of a pale, but beautiful woman who often
+kissed and caressed me--of being in a sick-room--of a strange
+confusion in the house--of riding in a carriage with father to a
+funeral. Mother! is there any thing in this; if so, what does it
+mean?"
+
+"That woman, Fanny," said Mrs. Claire, speaking with forced composure,
+"was your mother."
+
+The face of the young girl grew instantly pale; her lips parted;
+and she gasped for breath. Then falling forward on the bosom of Mrs.
+Claire, she sobbed--
+
+"Oh, mother! mother! How can you say this? It cannot, it cannot be.
+You are my own, my only mother."
+
+"You did not receive your life through me, Fanny," replied Mrs.
+Claire, so soon as she could command her voice, for she too was
+overcome by feeling--"but in all else I am your mother; and I love you
+equally with my other children. If there has ever been a difference,
+it has all been in your favour."
+
+"Why, why did you destroy the illusion under which I have so long
+rested?" said Fanny, when both were more composed. "Why tell me
+a truth from which no good can flow? Why break in upon my happy
+ignorance with such a chilling revelation? Oh, mother, mother! Forgive
+me, if I say you have been cruel."
+
+"Not so, my child. Believe me, that nothing but duty would have ever
+driven me to this avowal. You are now at woman's legal age. You have
+a guardian, in whose hands your father, at his death, left, for your
+benefit, some property; and this person now desires to settle the
+estate, and transfer to you what remains."
+
+Bewildered, like one awakening from a dream, Fanny listened to
+this strange announcement. And it was some time before she really
+comprehended her true position.
+
+"Not your child--a guardian--property!--What does it all mean? Am I
+really awake, mother?"
+
+"Yes, dear, you are awake. It is no dream, believe me," was the tender
+reply of Mrs. Claire. "But, remember, that all this does not
+diminish our love for you--does not remove you in the least from
+our affections. You are still our child, bound to us by a thousand
+intertwining chords."
+
+But little more passed between them at this interview. Fanny asked
+for no more particulars, and Mrs. Claire did not think it necessary to
+give any further information. Fanny soon retired to her own chamber,
+there to commune with her thoughts, and to seek, in tears, relief to
+her oppressed feelings.
+
+The meeting of Claire with Fanny, on his return home, was affecting.
+She met him with a quivering lip and moistened eyes, and, as she
+laid her cheek against his breast, murmured in a sad, yet deeply
+affectionate voice--
+
+"My father!"
+
+"My own dear child!" quickly replied Claire, with emotion.
+
+And then both stood for some time silent. Leading her to a seat,
+Claire said tenderly--
+
+"I have always loved you truly, and now you are dearer to me than
+ever."
+
+"My more than father," was her simple response.
+
+"My own dear child!" said Mr. Claire, kissing her fondly. "We have
+ever blessed the day on which you came to us from God."
+
+Words would only have mocked their feelings, and so but few words
+passed between them, yet how full of thoughts crowding upon thoughts
+were their minds--how over-excited their hearts with new emotions of
+love.
+
+After the younger members of the family had retired on that evening,
+Mr. and Mrs. Claire and Fanny were alone together. All three were in
+a calmer state of mind. Fanny listened with deep attention, her hand
+shading her countenance so as to conceal its varying expression, to
+a brief history of her parentage. Of things subsequent to the time of
+her entrance into her present home, but little was said. There was
+an instinctive delicacy on the part of Claire and his wife, now that
+Fanny was about coming into the possession of property, which kept
+back all allusion to the sacrifices they had made, and the pain they
+had suffered on her account, in their contentions with her guardian.
+In fact, this matter of property produced with them a feeling of
+embarrassment. They had no mercenary thoughts in regard to it--had
+no wish to profit by their intimate and peculiar relation. And yet,
+restricted in their own income, and with a family growing daily more
+expensive, they understood but too well the embarrassment which
+would follow, if any very important change were made in their present
+external relations. To explain every thing to Fanny, would, they knew,
+lead to an instant tender of all she possessed. But this they
+could not do; nor had they a single selfish desire in regard to her
+property. If things could remain as they were, without injustice to
+Fanny, they would be contented; but they were not altogether satisfied
+as to the amount they were receiving for her maintenance. It struck
+them as being too much; and they had more than once conferred together
+in regard to its reduction.
+
+The first thing to be done was to make Fanny comprehend her relation
+to Mr. Jasper, her guardian, and his wish to settle up the estate of
+her father, and transfer to her, or her representative, the property
+that remained in his hands.
+
+"I will leave all with you, father," was the very natural response
+made to this. "All I have is yours. Do just as you think best."
+
+On the next day a power of attorney in the name of Edward Claire was
+executed; and, as Jasper was anxious to get the business settled,
+every facility thereto was offered. Claire examined the will of Mr.
+Elder, in which certain property was mentioned, and saw that it agreed
+with the guardian's statement. All the accounts were scrutinized; and
+all the vouchers for expenditure compared with the various entries.
+Every thing appeared correct, and Claire expressed himself entirely
+satisfied. All legal forms were then complied with; and, in due time,
+the necessary documents were prepared ready for the signature of
+Claire, by which Jasper would be freed from the nervous anxiety he had
+for years felt whenever his thoughts went forward to this particular
+point of time.
+
+On the evening preceding the day when a consummation so long and
+earnestly looked for was to take place, Jasper, with his mind too much
+absorbed in business troubles to mingle with his family, sat alone in
+his library, deeply absorbed in plans and calculations. His confidence
+in fortune and his own prudence had been growing weaker, daily; and
+now it seemed to him as if a great darkness were gathering all around.
+He had fully trusted in himself; alas! how weak now seemed to him
+his human arm; how dim the vision with which he would penetrate the
+future. He was mocked of his own overweening and proud confidence.
+
+This was his state of mind when a servant came to the library-door,
+and announced a gentleman who wished to see him.
+
+"What is his name?" asked Jasper.
+
+"He said it was no difference. He was a friend."
+
+"It might make a great difference," Jasper muttered in an undertone.
+"Show him up," he said aloud.
+
+The servant retired, and Jasper waited for his visitor to appear. He
+was not long in suspense. The door soon reopened, and a man, poorly
+clad, and with a face bearing strong marks of intemperance and evil
+passions, came in.
+
+"You do not know me," said he, observing that the merchant, who had
+risen to his feet, did not recognise him.
+
+Jasper shook his head.
+
+"Look closer." There was an air of familiarity and rude insolence
+about the man.
+
+"Martin!" exclaimed Jasper, stepping back a few paces. "Is it
+possible!"
+
+"Quite possible, friend Jasper," returned the man, helping himself to
+a chair, and sinking into it with the air of one who felt himself at
+home.
+
+Surprise and perplexity kept the merchant dumb for some moments. He
+would quite as lief have been confronted with a robber, pistol in
+hand.
+
+"I do not wish to see you, Martin," said he, at length, speaking in a
+severe tone of voice. "Why have you intruded on me again? Are you not
+satisfied? Have you no mercy?"
+
+"None, Leonard Jasper, none," replied the man scowling. "I never knew
+the meaning of the word--no more than yourself."
+
+"You are nothing better than a robber," said the merchant, bitterly.
+
+"I only share with bolder robbers their richer plunder," retorted the
+man.
+
+"I will not bear this, Martin. Leave my presence."
+
+"I will relieve you certainly," said the visitor, rising, "when you
+have done for me what I wish. I arrived here, to-day, penniless; and
+have called for a trifling loan to help me on my way North."
+
+"Loan! what mockery! I will yield no further to your outrageous
+demands. I was a fool ever to have feared the little power you
+possess. Go, sir! I do not fear you."
+
+"I want your check for two hundred dollars--no more," said Martin, in
+a modified tone--"I will not be hard on you. Necessity drives me to
+this resort; but I hope never to trouble you again."
+
+"Not a dollar," replied Jasper, firmly. "And now, my friend, seek
+some other mode of sustaining yourself in vice and idleness. You have
+received from me your last contribution. In settling the estate
+of Reuben Elder to the entire satisfaction of all parties, I have
+disarmed you. You have no further power to hurt."
+
+"You may find yourself mistaken in regard to my power," replied
+Martin as he made a movement toward the door, and threw back upon the
+merchant a side-glance of the keenest malignity. "Many a foot has been
+stung by the reptile it spurned."
+
+The word "stay" came not to Jasper's lips. He was fully in earnest.
+Martin paused, with his hand on the door, and said--
+
+"One hundred dollars will do."
+
+"Not a copper, if it were to save you from the nether regions!"
+cried Jasper, his anger and indignation o'erleaping the boundaries of
+self-control.
+
+He was alone in the next moment. As his excitement cooled down, he
+felt by no means indifferent to the consequences which might follow
+this rupture with Martin. More than one thought presented itself,
+which, if it could have been weighed calmly a few minutes before,
+would have caused a slightly modified treatment of his unwelcome
+visitor.
+
+But having taken his position, Jasper determined to adhere to it, and
+brave all consequences.
+
+While Claire was yet seated at the breakfast-table on the next
+morning, word was brought that a gentleman was in the parlour and
+wished to see him.
+
+On entering the parlour, he found there a man of exceedingly ill
+appearance, both as to countenance and apparel.
+
+"My name is Martin," said this person--"though you do not, I presume,
+know me."
+
+Claire answered that he was to him an entire stranger.
+
+"I have," said the man, speaking in a low, confidential tone of voice,
+"became cognisant of certain facts, which it much concerns you, or at
+least your adopted daughter, Fanny Elder, to know."
+
+For a few moments, Claire was overcome with surprise.
+
+"Concerns Fanny Elder to know! What do you mean, sir?"
+
+"Precisely what I say. There has been a great fraud committed; and I
+know all the ins and the outs of it!"
+
+"By whom?" asked Claire.
+
+"Ah!" replied the visitor, "that we will come to after a while."
+
+"Upon whom, then?"
+
+"Upon the estate of Ruben Elder, the father of your adopted daughter."
+
+Not liking either the man's appearance or manner, Claire said, after a
+moment's reflection--
+
+"Why have you called to see me?"
+
+"To give the information I have indicated--provided, of course, that
+you desire to have it."
+
+"On what terms do you propose to act in this matter? Let us understand
+each other in the beginning."
+
+"I can put you in the way of recovering for Miss Elder from twenty to
+a hundred thousand dollars, out of which she has been cheated. But,
+before I give you any information on the subject, I shall require an
+honourable pledge on your part, as well as written agreement, to pay
+me twenty per cent. of the whole amount recovered. Will you give it?"
+
+Claire bent his head in thought for some moments. When he looked up he
+said--
+
+"No, sir. I can make no compact with you of this kind."
+
+"Very well, sir. That closes the matter," replied Martin, rising. "If
+you will not buy a fortune at so small a cost, you deserve to be poor.
+How far your conscience is clear in respect to Miss Elder, is another
+matter. But, perhaps you don't credit what I say. Let me give you a
+single hint. Fanny Elder was missing once for three days. I had a hand
+in that affair. Do you think she was carried off, and taken to another
+city for nothing? If so, you are wonderfully mistaken. But good
+morning, sir. If you should, on reflection, change your mind, you can
+hear of me by calling at the office of Grind, the lawyer."
+
+"Good morning," returned Claire, showing not the least disposition to
+retain the man, toward whom he experienced a strong feeling of dislike
+and sense of repulsion.
+
+Martin lingered a few moments, and then went out, leaving Claire
+bewildered by a rush of new thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+The meeting of Claire and Jasper, for the final settlement of Mr.
+Elder's estate, was to take place at the office of Grind, at ten
+o'clock. Before keeping his appointment, the former turned over in
+his mind, with careful deliberation, the circumstances which had just
+occurred; and the more he thought of it, the better satisfied was he
+that a fraud had been committed. The author of that fraud could be no
+one else but the guardian of Fanny; of whose honesty Claire had, with
+good reason, no very high opinion. His conclusion was, not to accept,
+at present, a settlement of the estate.
+
+With an uneasy foreboding of evil--he was, in fact, rarely now without
+that feeling--Leonard Jasper took his way to the office of Grind.
+Notwithstanding he had defied Martin, he yet feared him. But he was so
+near to the point of comparative safety, that he hoped soon to be past
+all real danger from this quarter. Too little time had elapsed, since
+he parted with him, for Martin to see Claire, even if a thought
+of assailing him in that quarter had crossed his mind. So Jasper
+believed. How sadly taken by surprise was he, therefore, when, on
+meeting Claire, the latter said--
+
+"Since I saw you yesterday, a matter has come to my knowledge which
+I feel bound to investigate, before proceeding any farther in this
+business."
+
+As if struck by a heavy blow, Jasper moved a pace or two backward,
+while an instant pallor overspread his face. Quickly recovering
+himself, he said--
+
+"Explain yourself, Edward. What matter has come to your knowledge?"
+
+"On that subject I would prefer speaking with you alone," replied
+Claire.
+
+"This room is at your service," said Grind, rising and retiring toward
+his front office. "You will be altogether free from intrusion." And he
+passed out, closing the door behind him.
+
+"Edward," said Jasper, in as firm a voice as he could assume, "What is
+the meaning of this? You look at me with an expression of countenance,
+and have spoken in a tone that implies a belief on your part that I
+have not acted fairly in the matter of this guardianship."
+
+"Such, at least, is my impression," replied Claire, firmly.
+
+"Have you come here to insult me, sir?" Jasper drew himself up with an
+offended manner.
+
+"No, Mr. Jasper. I have no such intention. All I purpose is, to
+ascertain how far certain information received by me this morning is
+correct."
+
+"What information?"
+
+The merchant became a good deal agitated.
+
+"A man named Martin called on me"--
+
+"Martin! oh, the wretch! My curses rest on him, for a base betrayer!"
+
+Claire was startled at the effect produced by his mention of the name
+of Martin. Jasper, on hearing this name, believed that every thing had
+been divulged, and, in the bitterness and despair of this conviction,
+threw off all concealment. His countenance, which had partly gained
+its usual colour, became pallid again, while large beads of sweat
+oozed from the relaxed pores and stood upon his forehead. Moving
+back a step or two, he sank into a chair, and averting his face, sat
+struggling with himself to regain the mastery over his feelings.
+
+How changed, in a few brief years, had become the relation of these
+two men. The poor, humble, despised, but honest clerk, now stood
+erect, while the merchant cowered before him in humiliation and fear.
+
+"Edward," said Jasper, as soon as he had sufficient composure of mind
+to think somewhat clearly and speak calmly, "What do you purpose doing
+in this matter?"
+
+"What is right, Mr. Jasper," answered Claire, firmly. "That is my
+duty."
+
+"Ruin! ruin! ruin!" exclaimed Jasper, in a low voice, again losing
+command of himself, and wringing his hands hopelessly. "Oh! that it
+should have come to this!"
+
+Astonished as Claire was by what he now heard and saw, he felt the
+necessity of preserving the most entire self-possession. When Jasper
+again put the question--
+
+"What do you purpose doing, Edward?" he replied.
+
+"I shall be better able to answer that question when I have all the
+particulars upon which to make up a decision. At present, I only know
+that a large amount of property has been withheld from Miss Elder; and
+that I have only to bring this man Martin into a court of justice to
+have every thing made clear."
+
+"And this you purpose doing?"
+
+"I shall do so, undoubtedly; unless the object to be gained by such a
+course is secured in another way."
+
+"Quite as much, believe me, Edward, can be gained through private
+arrangement as by legal investigation," returned Jasper, his manner
+greatly subdued. "You and I can settle every thing, I am sure, between
+ourselves; and, as far as my ability will carry me, it shall be to
+your entire satisfaction. I have greatly mistaken your character, or
+you will take no pleasure in destroying me."
+
+"Pleasure in destroying you?" Claire was still further affected with
+surprise. "In no man's destruction could I take pleasure."
+
+"I believe you Edward. And now let me give you a history of this
+matter from the beginning. You will know better what course to pursue
+when you comprehend it fully."
+
+And then, to the astonished ears of Claire, Jasper related how,
+through the man Martin, he became possessed of the fact that the
+supposed almost valueless piece of land in Pennsylvania which Mr.
+Elder had taken to secure a debt of five hundred dollars, contained
+a rich coal deposite--and how, as executor to his estate, and the
+guardian of his child, he had by presenting the child in person before
+commissioners appointed by the court, obtained an order for the sale
+of the land, with the declared purpose of investing the proceeds in
+some productive property. It was for this that he had been so anxious
+to get Fanny, and for this that he carried her off forcibly, although
+his agency in the matter did not appear. He then related how, in the
+sale, he became the real purchaser; and how, afterward, the tract,
+as coal land, was sold to a company for nearly a hundred thousand
+dollars.
+
+"But Edward," said Jasper, as he concluded his humiliating narrative,
+"I am worse off to-day than if I had never made this transaction. It
+gave me a large amount of capital for trade and speculation, but
+it also involved me in connections, and led me into schemes for
+money-making, that have wellnigh proved my ruin. In all truth, I am
+not, this day, worth one-half of what I received for that property."
+
+Jasper ceased speaking; but astonishment kept Claire silent.
+
+"And now, Edward," resumed the former, "I am ready to make restitution
+as far as in my power lies. You can drag me into court, and thus blast
+my reputation; or, you can obtain for Miss Elder as much, or even
+more, than you would probably get by law--for, if driven into the
+courts, I will contend to the last moment--through an amicable
+arrangement. Which course are you disposed to take?"
+
+"I have no desire to harm you, Mr. Jasper--none in the world. If the
+terms of settlement which you may offer are such as, under all the
+circumstances, I feel justified in accepting, I will meet your wishes.
+But you must bear in mind that, in this matter, I am not acting for
+myself."
+
+"I know--but your judgment of the case must determine."
+
+"True--and in that judgment I will endeavour to hold an equal
+balance."
+
+The two men now retired from the lawyer's office; and, ere parting,
+arranged a meeting for that evening at the store of Jasper, where they
+could be entirely alone. For two or three successive evenings these
+conferences were continued, until Claire was entirely satisfied that
+the merchant's final offer to transfer to the possession of Fanny
+Elder four houses, valued at five thousand dollars each, in full
+settlement of her father's estate, was the very best he could do; and
+far more than he would probably obtain if an appeal were made to the
+law.
+
+As quickly as this transfer could be made, it was done. Not until the
+long-desired documents, vouching for the equitable settlement of the
+estate, were in Jasper's hands, did he breathe freely. Oh! through
+what an ordeal he had passed. How his own pride, self-consequence, and
+self-sufficiency had been crushed out of him! And not only in spirit
+was he humbled and broken. In his anxiety to settle up the estate of
+Mr. Elder, and thus get the sword that seemed suspended over his head
+by a single hair, removed, he had overstepped his ability. The houses
+referred to were burdened with a mortgage of nearly ten thousand
+dollars; this had, of course, to be released; and, in procuring the
+money therefor, he strained to the utmost his credit, thus cutting
+off important facilities needed in his large, and now seriously
+embarrassed business.
+
+It is the last pound that breaks the camel's back. This abstraction of
+money and property took away from Jasper just what he needed to carry
+him safely through a period of heavy payments, at a time when there
+was some derangement in financial circles. In less than a month
+from the time he settled the estate of Reuben Elder, the news of his
+failure startled the business community. He went down with a heavy
+plunge, and never again rose to the surface. His ruin was complete. He
+had trusted in riches. Gold was his god; and the idol had mocked him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+Beyond what has already been written, there is not much, in the
+histories of those whom we have introduced, to be told, except
+briefly, worthy the reader's interested attention.
+
+Martin, the old accomplice of Jasper, finding his power over that
+individual gone, and failing in the card he played against Claire's
+nice sense of honour and integrity of purpose, now turned, like an
+ill-natured, hungry cur, and showed his teeth to the man through whose
+advice he had so long been able to extort money from Jasper. He felt
+the less compunction in so doing, from the fact that Grind, angry with
+him for having been the agent of Jasper's final destruction, which
+involved him in a severe loss, had expressed himself in no measured
+terms--had, in fact, lashed him with most bitter and opprobrious
+words.
+
+Several times, during the progress of events briefly stated in the
+concluding portions of the last chapter, Martin had, in his frequent
+visits to the lawyer, hinted, more or less remotely, at his great need
+of money. But to these intimations, Grind never gave the slightest
+response. At last the man said boldly--
+
+"Mr. Grind, you must help me to a little money." This was directly
+after the failure of Jasper.
+
+"I cannot do it," was the unequivocal reply. "You have, by your
+miserable vindictiveness, ruined Jasper, after having subsisted on
+him for years--base return for all you owe him--and, in doing so, half
+destroyed me. You have killed the goose that laid the golden egg, and
+there is no one but yourself to thank for this folly."
+
+"You must help me, Mr. Grind," said Martin, his brows knitting,
+and the muscles of his lips growing rigid. "You had a hand in that
+business as well as Jasper; you took a big slice, if he did keep
+the major part of the loaf; and so I have a right to ask some slight
+return for important service rendered."
+
+"What! This to me!" exclaimed Grind, roused to instant excitement.
+
+"This to you," was the cool, deliberate answer.
+
+"You have mistaken your man," returned the lawyer, now beginning to
+comprehend Martin more thoroughly. "I understand my whole relation to
+this affair too well to be moved by any attempt at extortion which
+you can make. But I can tell you a little secret, which it may be
+interesting for you to know."
+
+"What is it?" growled the man.
+
+"Why, that I hold the power to give you a term in the State's prison,
+whenever I may happen to feel inclined that way."
+
+"Indeed!" Martin spoke with a cold, defiant sneer.
+
+"I am uttering no vague threat. From the beginning, I have kept this
+trap over you, ready to spring, if need be, at a moment's warning."
+
+"I suppose you thought me a poor fool, did you not?" said Martin as
+coldly and contemptuously as before. "But you were mistaken. I have
+not been altogether willing to trust myself in your hands, without
+good advice from a limb of the law quite as shrewd as yourself."
+
+"What do you mean?" exclaimed Grind, somewhat startled by so
+unexpected a declaration.
+
+"Plainly," was answered, "while I took your advice as to the surest
+way to act upon Jasper, I consulted another as to the means of
+protecting myself from you, if matters ever came to a pinch."
+
+"Oh! Preposterous!" Grind forced a laugh. "That's only an
+afterthought."
+
+"Is it. Hark!" Martin bent close to his ear, and uttered a few words
+in an undertone. Grind started as if stung by a serpent.
+
+"Wretch!"
+
+"It is useless to call ill names, my friend. I have you in my power;
+and I mean to keep you there. But I shall not be very hard on you. So,
+don't look so awfully cut down."
+
+For once the scheming, unscrupulous lawyer found himself outwitted.
+His tool had proved too sharp for him. Without a doubt he was in his
+power to an extent by no means agreeable to contemplate. Grind now saw
+that conciliation was far better than antagonism.
+
+When Martin retired from the lawyer's office, he had in his pocket a
+check for two hundred dollars, while behind him was left his solemn
+pledge to leave the city for New Orleans the next day. The pledge,
+when given, he did not intend to keep; and it was not kept, as Grind
+soon afterward learned, to his sorrow. A drunkard and a gambler, it
+did not take Martin long to see once more the bottom of his purse. Not
+until this occurred did he trouble the lawyer again. Then he startled
+him with a second visit, and, after a few sharp words, came off with
+another check, though for a less amount.
+
+And for years, leech-like, Martin, sinking lower and lower all the
+time, continued his adhesion to the lawyer, abstracting continually,
+but in gradually diminishing sums, the money needed for natural life
+and sensual indulgence, until often his demands went not above a
+dollar. Grind, reluctantly as he yielded to these demands, believed it
+wiser to pay them than to meet the exposure Martin had it in his
+power to make. And so it went on, until, one day, to his inexpressible
+relief, Grind read in the morning papers an account of the sudden and
+violent death of his enemy. His sleep was sounder on the night that
+followed than it had been for a long, long time.
+
+Of Edward Claire, and his happy family--not happy merely from an
+improved external condition, for the foundation of their happiness was
+laid in a deeper ground--we have not much to relate.
+
+When Claire brought to Fanny the title-deeds of the property which he
+had recovered from Jasper, she pushed them back upon him, saying, as
+she did so--
+
+"Keep them, father--keep them. All is yours."
+
+"No, my dear child," replied Claire, seriously, yet with tenderness
+and emotion, "all is not mine. All is yours. This property, through
+a wise Providence, has come into your possession. I have no right to
+it."
+
+"If it is mine, father," said Fanny, "have I not a right to do with it
+what I please?"
+
+"In a certain sense you have."
+
+"Then I give it all to you--you, my more than father!"
+
+"For such a noble tender, my dear child, I thank you in the very
+inmost of my heart. But I cannot accept of it, Fanny."
+
+"Why not, father? Why not? You have bestowed on me more than wealth
+could buy! I know something of what you have borne and suffered for
+me. Your health, now impaired, was broken for me. Oh, my father! can
+I ever forget that? Can I ever repay you all I owe? Were the world's
+wealth mine, it should be yours."
+
+Overcome by her feelings, Fanny wept for some time on the breast of
+him she knew only as her father; and there the interview closed for
+the time.
+
+Soon after it was renewed; and the occasion of this was an
+advantageous business offer made to Claire by Mr. Melleville, if he
+could bring in a capital of twelve thousand dollars. Two of the houses
+received from Jasper, with some stocks, were sold to furnish this
+capital, and Claire, after his long struggle, found himself in a
+safe and moderately profitable business; and, what was more, with a
+contented and thankful spirit. Of what treasures was he possessed?
+Treasures of affection, such as no money could buy; and, above all,
+the wealth of an approving conscience.
+
+Mrs. Claire--happy wife and mother!--how large too was her wealth.
+From the beginning she had possessed the riches which have no
+wings--spiritual riches, that depend on no worldly changes; laid up in
+the heaven of her pure mind, where moth could not corrupt, nor thieves
+break through and steal. The better worldly fortune that now came
+added to her happiness, because it afforded the means of giving to
+their children higher advantages, and procured for them many blessings
+and comforts to which they were hitherto strangers.
+
+Five years, passed under an almost cloudless sky, succeeded, and
+then the sweet home circle was broken by the withdrawal of one whose
+presence made perpetual sunshine. One so good, so lovely, so fitted
+in every way to form the centre of another home circle as Fanny Elder,
+could hardly remain unwooed or unwon. Happily, in leaving the paternal
+haven, her life-boat was launched on no uncertain sea. The character
+of her husband was based on those sound, religious principles, which
+regard justice to man as the expression of love to God.
+
+A few weeks after the husband of Fanny had taken his lovely young wife
+to his own home, Claire waited upon him for the purpose of making a
+formal transfer of his wife's property.
+
+"There are four houses," said Claire, in describing the property;
+"besides twelve thousand dollars which I have in my business. A
+portion of this latter I will pay over; on the balance, while it
+remains"--
+
+"Mr. Claire," returned the young man, interrupting him, "the house you
+now live in, Fanny says, is your property--also the capital in your
+business."
+
+"No--no--no. This is not so. I do not want, and I will not keep a
+dollar of her patrimony."
+
+"You are entitled to every thing, in good right," said the young man,
+smiling. "But we will consent to take one-half as a good start in
+life."
+
+"But, my dear sir"--
+
+We will not, however, record the arguments, affirmations,
+protestations, etc., made by each party in this contention, but drop
+the curtain, and leave the reader to infer the sequel. He cannot go
+very far wide of the truth.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+  STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
+  PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+48 NORTH FOURTH ST., PHILADELPHIA; AND
+
+L.P. CROWN & CO.,
+
+61 CORNHILL, BOSTON,
+
+PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING
+
+WORKS BY JOHN FROST, LL.D.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THRILLING ADVENTURES AMONG THE INDIANS.
+
+Comprising the most remarkable Personal Narratives of events in
+the early INDIAN WARS, as well as of Incidents in the recent Indian
+Hostilities in Mexico and Texas. Illustrated with over 300 Engravings,
+from designs by W. CROOME, and other distinguished artists.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    "The matter contained in this handsome volume, is as well
+    calculated to give a correct idea of the character of the
+    Indians, and their modes of life, as that of any book ever
+    published. All that gives a charm to romance may be found in
+    the narrative contained in this work, but all of them possess
+    the never-failing attractions of truth. The sufferings of
+    numerous captives are also detailed, together with their
+    contrivances of escape from their savage captors. The
+    illustrations, by the well-known W. Croome, are excellent in
+    design and execution, and the printing and binding of the work
+    are fine specimens of each art."
+
+
+
+
+GREAT EVENTS IN MODERN HISTORY:
+
+
+Comprising the MOST REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES, CONQUESTS, REVOLUTIONS,
+GREAT BATTLES, and other Thrilling Incidents, chiefly in Europe and
+America, from the commencement of the Sixteenth Century to the present
+time. Embellished with over 600 Engravings, by W. CROOME, and other
+eminent artists. The following are extracts from notices of the press
+received by the Publisher.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    "We have here, within the compass of eight hundred pages, the
+    history of those events of modern history, which have been
+    'big with mighty consequences,' and with which, therefore, all
+    men should become acquainted. Beginning with the discovery
+    of America, by Columbus--that new starting-point of
+    civilization--the work proceeds through the history of the
+    various European nations, culling those great periods when,
+    either by wars or revolutions, each nation began to occupy
+    a conspicuous place in the general estimation of men, and to
+    make its influence felt by those without its limits. The
+    late revolutions in Europe, the Mexican war, and the gold
+    discoveries in California, are rapidly and vividly sketched.
+    The illustrations, principally from designs by Croome, are
+    numerous, well executed, serving to impress the striking
+    scenes and characters of history upon the tablet of memory.
+    The whole work, in design and execution, reflects great credit
+    upon all concerned in its production."
+
+
+
+
+J.W. BRADLEY,
+
+No. 48 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA;
+
+AND L.P. CROWN & CO.,
+
+61 CORNHILL, BOSTON,
+
+PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING WORKS BY T.S. ARTHUR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF REAL LIFE, with an autobiography and portrait of
+the author, over 600 pages octavo, with fine tinted engravings.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    In this volume may be found a "moral suasion," which cannot
+    but effect for good all who read. The mechanical execution of
+    the work is very beautiful throughout.--_New Haven Palladium_.
+
+    It is by far the most valuable book ever published of his
+    works, inasmuch as it is enriched with a very interesting,
+    though brief autobiography.--_American Courier_.
+
+    No family library is complete without a copy of this
+    book--_Scott's Weekly Paper_.
+
+    No better or worthier present could be made to the young,
+    no offering more pure, charitable, and practicable, could be
+    tendered to those who are interested in the truly benevolent
+    reforms of the day.--_Godey's Lady's Book_.
+
+    The paper, the engravings, the binding, and the literary
+    contents, are all calculated to make it a favourite.--_Penn.
+    Inquirer_.
+
+    This volume cannot be too highly recommended.--_N.Y. Tribune_.
+
+    More good has been effected, than by any other single medium
+    that we know of.--_N.Y. Sun_.
+
+    The work should be upon the centre-table of every parent in
+    the land.--_National Temperance Magazine_.
+
+    A single story is worth the price charged for the
+    book.--_Union, Newburyport, Mass_.
+
+
+ARTHUR'S SKETCHES OF LIFE AND CHARACTER, an octavo volume of over 400
+pages, beautifully illustrated, and bound in the best English muslin,
+gilt.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    The present volume, containing more than four hundred
+    finely-printed octavo pages, is illustrated by spirited
+    engravings, and made particularly valuable to those who
+    like to "see the face of him they talk withal," by a correct
+    likeness of the author, finely engraved on steel.--_Neal's
+    Gazette_.
+
+    In the princely mansions of the Atlantic merchants, and in
+    the rude log cabins of the backwoodsman, the name of Arthur
+    is equally known and cherished as the friend of
+    virtue.--_Graham's Magazine_.
+
+    We would not exchange our copy of these sketches, with
+    its story of "The Methodist Preacher," for any one of
+    the gilt-edged and embossed annuals which we have yet
+    seen.--_Lady's National Magazine_.
+
+    The first story in the volume, entitled, "The Methodist
+    Preacher, or Lights and Shadows in the Life of an Itinerant,"
+    is alone worth the price of the work.--_Evening Bulletin_.
+
+    It is emphatically a splendid work.--_Middletown Whig_.
+
+    Its worth and cheapness should place it in every person's
+    hands who desire to read an interesting book.--_Odd Fellow,
+    Boonsboro_.
+
+    "The Methodist Preacher," "Seed Time and Harvest," "Dyed in
+    the Wool," are full of truth, as well as instruction, and any
+    one of them is worth the whole price of the volume.--_Lowell
+    Daystar, Rev. D.C. Eddy, Editor_.
+
+    There is a fascination about these sketches which so
+    powerfully interests the reader, that few who commence one
+    of them will part with it till it is concluded; and they will
+    bear reading repeatedly.--_Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald_.
+
+    Those who have not perused these model stories have a
+    rich feast in waiting, and we shall be happy if we can
+    be instrumental in pointing them to it.--_Family Visitor,
+    Madison, Geo_.
+
+    No library for family reading should be considered complete
+    without this volume, which is as lively and entertaining in
+    its character, as it is salutary in its influence.--_N.Y.
+    Tribune_.
+
+    The work is beautifully illustrated. Those who are at all
+    acquainted with Arthur's writings need hardly be told that the
+    present work is a prize to whoever possess it.--_N.Y. Sun_.
+
+    We know no better book for the table of any family, whether
+    regarded for its neat exterior or valuable contents.--_Vox
+    Populi, Low_.
+
+    The name of the author is in itself a sufficient
+    recommendation of the work.--_Lawrence Sentinel_.
+
+    T.S. Arthur is one of the best literary writers of the
+    age.--_Watchman, Circleville, Ohio_.
+
+    The name alone of the author is a sufficient guaranty to the
+    reading public of its surpassing merit.--_The Argus, Gallatin,
+    Miss_.
+
+    Probably he has not written a line which, dying, he could wish
+    to erase.--_Parkersburg (Va.) Gazette_.
+
+
+THE WAY TO PROSPER, AND OTHER TALES,
+
+12mo, over 200 pages, with six illustrations.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    This is one of Mr. Arthur's best books. His object, and he
+    always has in view a noble one, is to recommend family union,
+    a firm adherence to the law which requires us to respect the
+    holy tie of family union, which requires brother to assist
+    brother, and sister, sister. By means of a lively and pleasing
+    narrative, he shows that this principle is not only right, but
+    politic, and that the law of family unions is really the true
+    way to prosper. We commend the volume to our readers as one
+    of the best and most profitable of the many useful works which
+    have been produced by the same accomplished writer.--_Godey's
+    Lady's Book_.
+
+    This is the title of a small volume published by Mr. J.W.
+    Bradley, of this city. It is from the pen of Mr. T.S.
+    Arthur--the story of two families, one of which prospers by
+    the union of good-will which prevails among the brothers,
+    and leads them always to aid each other in their worldly
+    undertakings; while the other goes to rack and ruin, because
+    the brothers always act upon the maxim, "Every one for
+    himself." The moral is excellent, and cannot be too earnestly
+    and widely inculcated.
+
+    Mr. Bradley has produced this little work in very handsome
+    style, with original embellishments from the fertile pencil of
+    Mr. Croome.--_Scotts Weekly_.
+
+
+GOLDEN GRAINS FROM LIFE'S HARVEST FIELD,
+
+bound in full gilt, with a beautiful mezzotint engraving, 12mo, 240
+pages.
+
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    It is not too much to say, that the Golden Grains here
+    presented to the reader, are such as will be productive of a
+    far greater amount of human happiness than those, in search of
+    which, so many are willing to risk domestic peace, health, and
+    even life itself, in a distant and inhospitable region.
+
+    These narratives, like all of those which proceed from the
+    same able pen, are remarkable not only for their entertaining
+    and lively pictures of actual life, but for their admirable
+    moral tendency.
+
+    It is printed in excellent style, and embellished with a
+    mezzotint engraving. We cordially recommend it to the favour
+    of our readers.--_Godey's Lady's Magazine_.
+
+
+TRUE RICHES; or, WEALTH WITHOUT WINGS,
+
+12mo, 210 pages, with a fine mezzotint Frontispiece.
+
+NOTICES OF THE PRESS.
+
+    This volume is written by T.S. Arthur, the most popular of all
+    our American writers on domestic subjects. His intention is to
+    direct the reader to the real riches of life, the wealth which
+    cannot be taken away by the adverse events of fortune. The
+    true wisdom of life, he shows us, is to place our fortune
+    in ourselves, to make our own minds rich in intellectual
+    treasures, and our hearts true to the legitimate purposes and
+    ends of life. When the doctrine of this little volume becomes
+    universally prevalent, a new era of happiness will dawn upon
+    mankind.--_Godey's Lady's Book_.
+
+    Mr. Arthur, in this volume, impresses upon his readers the
+    importance of laying up treasures in the really profitable
+    way--moral and intellectual treasures, which, in all the
+    storms of ill-fortune, never leave their possessor without
+    ample resources. The world acknowledges the truth of his
+    moral, but often forgets to reduce it to practice. It
+    therefore, becomes the duty of the world's moral teachers, of
+    which Mr. Arthur is one of the most successful, to impress the
+    truth by a well-written narrative.--_Scott's Weekly_.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A Home Scene]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of True Riches, by T.S. Arthur
+
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