of his prospects. But I would expect no less from Mrs. Herkimer's son. Ah, sir! She's Noo Hampshire, 'tis true, and I don't hold with Noo Hampshire and its notions; but, sir, she is a high-souled, clear-seeing, honourable and accomplished--lady." Strange--is it not?--how every female American resents being called a woman! and no male American dare apply that most simple and dignified title to the sex. Let us hope that eventually the coloured lady who condescends to do the washing for white women--she calls them so--will succeed in disgusting them with the frippery pretentiousness of the title she usurps, and educate them into adopting the gracious style of their illustrious mother Eve.

"Oh, yes," answered Jordan, "Mrs. Ralph is an excellent person. My wife thinks all the world of her, and I like her too; though, perhaps, as you say, there is a little more New Hampshire than there need have been. Yes! no doubt, young Gerald is most happy in having such a mother. And then his father! Think of him! An extremely good fellow is Ralph Herkimer. So wealthy! Such talent! Must have it, you know--though that kind of cleverness does not show much in society--to make such a fortune. The practical talent which amasses a fortune never does shine in society, though we are ready enough to give it every credit whenever it gives us the chance, which it never does but when it invites us to dinner, and that, somehow, is not often. However, Ralph is indisputably smart, as well as rich, and of course high principled. How could he have made such a fortune otherwise? Our young friend Gerald is most fortunate in his parents as well as in the old uncle."

"Ah! Gerald. Yes. I am with you there. A high-toned, whole-souled gentleman. I knew him well. Had much to do in assisting him to manage his affairs after he came to Canady. Very handsome affairs they were. And I feel proud at having arranged all to his satisfaction, and realized the whole before our unfort'nate unpleasantness, and the depreciation of values in the South."

"Yes, that was most fortunate. The old gentleman had time to make his Canadian investments before his demise, and so saved you and me, friend Considine"--this was an unwonted familiarity in Jordan's reserved manner of speech, betraying a desire to grow intimate, which implied something in his mind requiring a confidential mood for its reception. "Saved you and me from a power of responsibility."

Considine puffed his cigar in silence. If this rapprochement was meant to lead up to something behind, let it do so, he would give it no assistance. He knew of nothing connected with the Herkimer estate requiring confidential talk just then, and his thoughts were disposed to linger on other themes. The soothing air and the fragrance of his weed brought pleasanter fancies to his mind than could spring from the contemplation of a dead man's money. He had spent a pleasant afternoon, in what, to an old bachelor of his retiring habits, was a scene of unwonted gaiety. The low soft hum of women's voices, the rustle of their silks, the garden scents, and a vague impression of gentle sweetness and pretty behaviour, so different from the tone at his hotel and the club smoking-room, where so many of his evenings were spent, hung like a rosy mist over his memory; and he would fain have let it hang, so unaccustomed was it, and so pleasant. There was something, too, like the wave of falling tresses before his eyes, and a sound of pleasant laughter, not loud or much prolonged, as he recalled his talk with Mrs. Ralph, and another talk which followed, in which Miss Matilda was a third at first, and by-and-by sole auditor and interlocutor, which had lasted long and been extremely pleasant.

"Bless my soul!" said this sober elder to himself. "How deuced agreeable I must have been! She really liked it--I could see that--looked interested, no end, when I was explaining to her. And she understood it all at once! Intelligent, very--cultured, too, and well read--one knew that by the neat remark she made about Seringapatam. And a fine woman. What hair! Well-rounded bust, too, and what dainty slippers. Neat ankle--that time it showed when she kicked the puppy from under the tea-table. She looked as if she saw that I admired it when she was drawing it back. She coloured, I think. But not a bit offended--they never are, to see that a fellow appreciates their 'points.' How archly she smiled, too, at my little sally! What was it again? But I made several, now I think of it, and she smiled at them all--not sure, but she laughed. Yes, she did laugh once--laughed right out. I believe she appreciates me! A woman of discernment. Not one to be taken in by a sleek young puppy, fitted out by his tailor and his barber, and nothing inside but his dinner. No, she appreciates a man who knows something of life! Yes, I do believe she really did appreciate me;" and he stroked his chin complacently, blowing his smoke in a long thin tail of satisfaction into the night, and feeling that the world with its cakes and ale was not all over for him yet, as he pushed out his chest and stepped springily forward.

Jordan had received no answer to his last observation. He had more to say, but was waiting for a lead, such as his last remark should have called forth, but no lead came. He gnawed the end of his cigar impatiently; the thread of his discourse was being cut. Worse, it was being allowed to trail idly on the mind and be forgot; like a purposeless gossamer, which no one troubles to catch hold on, and which, though its length has been nicely calculated for the gulf it was meant to span, will never be caught on the further shore, and the ingenious spider who spun it must wait bridgeless and in vain, or else he must begin his labour over again, and try anew. Inwardly fuming, pishing and pshawing under his breath, and gnawing his cigar, the smoke grew turbulent and lost its way among the passages and recesses of his system. It got in his eyes, first, and made them smart, it got into his nostrils and made him snort; finally it made a solid charge backwards for his throat, like a trapped animal struggling to escape. Then at last he threw the vexatious thing away, and stood in the middle of the highway, coughing, gasping and holding his sides, while his eyes ran water, and his companion wondered if anything ought to be done. Considine's day-dream after dark was dissipated utterly, and by the time the other had composed himself he was ready enough to attend to whatever his companion might choose to say.

"Horrid cigar, that," Jordan was at last able to utter, as they resumed their walk. "They will always slip a few bad ones into each box, however good. I wish the confounded tobacconist had had the smoking of that one himself, and coughed his head off, it would have served him right. But let me see--what was it we were talking about? Hm--ha. Ah, yes! Old Herkimer's investments. Most judicious they were. Oh, yes, very much so. Could not have done better--at the time, that is. But times change. Circumstances have altered since '59. This is '73, and no one can see fourteen years ahead."

"The stocks all stand higher to-day than they did then," observed Considine. "Let me see"--and he began to count off on his finger tips--"Banque d'Orval, that's one. A very large block of stock we hold there. That has gone up mightily since the surrender. How it stood in '59 I can't say."

"Oh, yes. It is higher than in '59, of course."

"The Proletarian Loan and Mortgage Co. Don't know a better mark on the share list at present than that. Pike and Steel Money Co.--good--Bank of Progress--would be glad to hold some of its stock myself--Tuscarora Roads--Consolidated Drainage. And--and three or four more which I do not recall at present. As for the Provincial Debentures, and Railroad and Municipal Bonds, we went over them together last time we cut the