nce to the finding him, Robin,"
returned Lionel Verner.

"I dun know that, sir. When a charge of wilful murder's out in a place,
again' some one of the folks in it, the rest be all on the edge to find
him; but 'Found drownded' is another thing. Have you any suspicion
again' anybody, sir?"

He put the question sharply and abruptly, and Lionel Verner looked full
in his face as he answered, "No, Robin."

"Well, good-afternoon, sir."

He turned away without another word. Lionel gazed after him with true
sympathy. "He will never recover this blow," was Lionel Verner's mental
comment.

But for this unfortunate occurrence, John Massingbird would have already
departed from Verner's Pride. The great bane of the two Massingbirds
was, that they had been brought up to be idle men. A sum of money had
become theirs when Frederick came of age--which sum you will call large
or small, as it may please you. It would be as a drop of water to the
millionaire; it would be as a countless fortune to one in the depths of
poverty: we estimate things by comparison. The sum was five thousand
pounds each--Mrs. Massingbird, by her second marriage with Mr. Verner,
having forfeited all right in it. With this sum the young Massingbirds
appeared to think that they could live as gentlemen, and need not seek
to add to it.

Thrown into the luxurious home of Verner's Pride--again we must speak by
comparison: Verner's Pride was luxurious compared to the moderate home
they had been reared in--John and Frederick Massingbird suffered that
worst complaint of all complaints, indolence, to overtake them and
become their master. John, careless, free, unsteady in many ways, set on
to spend his portion as fast as he could; Frederick, more cold, more
cautious, did not squander as his brother did, but he had managed to get
rid of a considerable amount of his own share in unfortunate
speculations. While losses do not affect our personal convenience they
are scarcely felt. And so it was with the Massingbirds. Mr. Verner was
an easy man in regard to money matters; he was also a man who was
particularly sensitive to the feelings of other people, and he had never
breathed a word to his wife about the inexpediency of her keeping her
sons at home in idleness. He feared his motives might be
misconstrued--that it might be thought he grudged the expense. He had
spoken once or twice of the desirability of his step-sons pursuing some
calling in life, and intimated that he