in that extended to the south coast, one hundred miles
away. The climate was supposed to be cool in summer and mild in winter.

The town proper nestled in the valley: to the west, the most beautiful
and sheltered part was the suburb of Irene: here were the homes of the
wealthy residents and prosperous tradespeople, and numerous
boarding-houses for the accommodation of well-to-do visitors. East,
the town extended up the slope to the top of the hill and down the
other side to the suburb of Windley, where the majority of the working
classes lived.

Years ago, when the facilities for foreign travel were fewer and more
costly, Mugsborough was a favourite resort of the upper classes, but of
late years most of these patriots have adopted the practice of going on
the Continent to spend the money they obtain from the working people of
England. However, Mugsborough still retained some semblance of
prosperity. Summer or winter the place was usually fairly full of what
were called good-class visitors, either holidaymakers or invalids. The
Grand Parade was generally crowded with well-dressed people and
carriages. The shops appeared to be well-patronized and at the time of
our story an air of prosperity pervaded the town. But this fair
outward appearance was deceitful. The town was really a vast whited
sepulchre; for notwithstanding the natural advantages of the place the
majority of the inhabitants existed in a state of perpetual poverty
which in many cases bordered on destitution. One of the reasons for
this was that a great part of the incomes of the tradespeople and
boarding-house-keepers and about a third of the wages of the working
classes were paid away as rent and rates.

For years the Corporation had been borrowing money for necessary public
works and improvements, and as the indebtedness of the town increased
the rates rose in proportion, because the only works and services
undertaken by the Council were such as did not yield revenue. Every
public service capable of returning direct profit was in the hands of
private companies, and the shares of the private companies were in the
hands of the members of the Corporation, and the members of the
Corporation were in the hands of the four most able and intellectual of
their number, Councillors Sweater, Rushton, Didlum and Grinder, each of
whom was a director of one or more of the numerous companies which
battened on the town.

The Tramway Company, the Water Works Com