stled among his papers, and spoke down a tube.

"Ahem!" he began. "Your brother-in-law, madam, is a man of peculiar
character, but by no means without discrimination. Thank you"--to a
clerk who brought in a long folded paper and laid it beside him,
disappearing quickly. "By no means without discrimination," repeated Mr.
Newton. "Unfortunately the love of money grows on a childless man, and
his terms for the loan you require may not meet your approbation."

"Pray what are they?" asked Mrs. Liddell.

"My client will accept a bill of sale on your furniture as security, but
he will give you a period of eighteen months to repay him, and he will
charge ten per cent.; but if you agree to another condition, which I
will explain, he will be content with five per cent."

"This must be a severe condition," said Mrs. Liddell, with a slight
smile.

"No; it may prove a fortunate condition," said the lawyer, with some
hesitation. "In short, I have persuaded Mr. Liddell to allow me to
choose him a respectable servant at fair wages. The state into which he
has fallen is deplorable. I felt it my duty to remonstrate with him, and
he is not averse to my influence. I therefore pressed upon him the
necessity of having a better class of housekeeper, a person who could
read to him and write for him, and would be above drink and pilfering."

"What did he say to that?" asked Katherine, with a bright, amused look.

"He said, very decidedly: 'I will have that girl you say is my niece to
be my housekeeper and reader. She gave me the best and cheapest dinner I
ever ate; her letter to my stock-broker brought me luck; and I will pay
ready money for everything, so she shall not be able to leave books
unpaid. If she comes I will be content with five per cent, on the loan,
which must do instead of salary; and if she refuses, why, so do I.' An
ungracious speech, Mrs. Liddell, but there is the condition."

"Do you mean my brother-in-law will refuse to help me if my daughter
does not go to manage his house?"

"So he says."

"But did you not say at first that he would take ten per cent, without
this sacrifice?"

"_He_ said so at first; then this plan seemed to strike him, and he was
very firm about it."

"It is an awful place to go to." The words burst from Katherine's lips
before she could stop herself.

"I can hardly agree to such a condition as this," cried Mrs. Liddell.

"And I must urge you not to reject it," said Mr. Newton, impressivel