ed
pencil had been used. It was a record of everything that had happened
to him in the short period of two years; all these things, which he had
made up his mind to forget, were noted down. It was a slice of a human
life on half a sheet of foolscap.

He detached the paper; it was a piece of scribbling paper, yellow and
shining like the sun. He put it on the mantelpiece in the drawing-room
and glanced at it. Heading the list was a woman's name: "Alice," the
most beautiful name in the world, as it had seemed to him then, for it
was the name of his fiancee. Next to the name was a number, "15,11."
It looked like the number of a hymn, on the hymn-board. Underneath was
written "Bank." That was where his work lay, his sacred work to which he
owed bread, home, and wife--the foundations of life. But a pen had been
drawn through the word, for the Bank had failed, and although he had
eventually found another berth, it was not until after a short period of
anxiety and uneasiness.

The next entries were: "Flower-shop and livery-stable." They related to
his betrothal, when he had plenty of money in his pockets.

Then came "furniture dealer and paper-hanger "--they were furnishing
their house. "Forwarding agents"--they were moving into it. The
"Box-office of the Opera-house, No. 50,50"--they were newly married, and
went to the opera on Sunday evenings; the most enjoyable hours of their
lives were spent there, for they had to sit quite still, while their
souls met in the beauty and harmony of the fairyland on the other side
of the curtain.

Then followed the name of a man, crossed out. He had been a friend of
his youth, a man who had risen high in the social scale, but who fell,
spoilt by success, fell irremediably, and had to leave the country.

So unstable was fortune!

Now, something new entered the lives of husband and wife. The next entry
was in a lady's hand: "Nurse." What nurse? Well, of course, the kindly
woman with the big cloak and the sympathetic face, who walked with a
soft footfall, and never went into the drawing-room, but walked straight
down the passage to the bedroom.

Underneath her name was written "Dr. L."

And now, for the first time, a relative appeared on the list: "Mama."
That was his mother-in-law, who had kept away discreetly, so as not to
disturb their newly found happiness, but was glad to come now, when she
was needed.

A great number of entries in red and blue pencil followed: "Servants'
Regist