er you, by way of advice or otherwise, a pleasure."
And Mr Richmond bowed himself out of the room with a smile.

It was a relief to be left alone, and Mrs Cruden, despite her weakness
and misery, struggled hard for the sake of her boys to put a brave face
on their trouble.

"Reg, dear," said she to her eldest son, who had fairly broken down, and
with his head on his hand was giving vent to his misery, "try to bear
it. After all, we are left to one another, and--"

The poor mother could not finish her sentence, but bent down and kissed
the wet cheek of the boy.

"Of course it means," said Horace, after a pause, "we shall have to give
up Garden Vale, and leave Wilderham too. And Reg was sure of a
scholarship next term. I say, mother, what _are_ we to do?"

"We are all strong enough to do something, dear boy," said Mrs Cruden.

"I'll take care _you_ don't have to do anything, mother," said Reginald,
looking up. "I'll work my fingers to the bones before you have to come
down to that." He spoke with clenched teeth, half savagely.

"Even if we can sell all the furniture," continued Horace, taking a
practical view of the situation, "it wouldn't give us much to live on."

"Shut up, Horace!" said Reginald. "What's the use of making the worst
of everything? Hasn't mother had quite enough to bear already?"

Horace subsided, and the three sat there in silence until the daylight
faded and the footman brought in the lights and announced that coffee
was ready in the drawing-room.

There was something like a shock about this interruption. What had they
to do with men-servants and coffee in the drawing-room, they who an hour
or two ago had supposed themselves wealthy, but now knew that they were
little better than beggars?

"We shall not want coffee," said Mrs Cruden, answering for all three.
Then when the footman had withdrawn, she said,--

"Boys, I must go to bed. God bless you, and give us all brave hearts,
for we shall need them!"

The funeral took place next day. Happily it was of a simple character,
and only a few friends were invited, so that it was not thought
necessary to alter the arrangements in consequence of Mr Richmond's
announcement of the evening before. But even the slight expense
involved in this melancholy ceremony grated painfully on the minds of
the boys, who forgot even their dead father in the sense that they were
riding in carriages for which they could not pay, and offering their
guests