said, rising lazily and facing
him--as tall as he, and wonderfully graceful. She put her hand upon his
shoulder.

"Yes, John, I'll go to father once more. It's really shameful! He
absolutely promised you a thousand dollars for that Mission Hall, and
then afterward refused to pay it."

"Yes, of course, he did. That was why I became responsible. But you know
what his promises are."

"His promises should be kept like those of other men. It is wicked to
give money with one hand, and then take it away with the other. He
allowed you to compromise yourself in the expectation of this unusual
lavishness on his part; and now he repudiates the whole thing, like the
miser that he is."

"Hush, darling! He is a very old man."

"Oh, yes, it's all very well for you to find excuses for him. You would
find excuses for Satan himself, John. You are far too lenient. Just think
what father would say, if you were to be made bankrupt. Can't you hear
his delighted, malevolent chuckles? Oh, it is too terrible, too
outrageous! You know what everyone would say--that you had been
speculating, or gambling, just because you dabbled a little in mines a
few years ago."

"A thousand dollars would only delay the crash. We owe at least ten times
as much as that," groaned the unhappy man, sinking into the chair his
wife had just vacated. He rested his elbows on his knees, and his
throbbing head in his hands. "They'll have to find another rector for St.
Botolph's. I've tried hard to satisfy everybody. I've begged and worked.
We've had bazaars, concerts, collections, everything. But people give
less and less, and they want more and more. The poor cry louder and
louder."

"John, you are too generous. It's monstrous that father should cling to
his money as he does. He has nobody to leave it to but us--in fact, it is
as much ours as his. Yet, he cripples us at every turn. I have almost to
go down on my knees for my own allowance--"

"And, when you get it, dearest, I have to borrow half. I'm a wretched
muddler. I used to think great things of myself once, but now--well,
they'd better make me bankrupt, and have done with it. At least, I shall
have the satisfaction of knowing that, if I have robbed the rich man and
the trader, it has been to relieve the poor. Why, my own clothes are so
shabby that I am ashamed to face the sunlight."

It did not for one moment occur to his generous nature to glance at the
costly garments of his beautiful wife, who wante