upstairs.

And thus they sat now, till the fire burned out, and the keen, frosty air
penetrated the room, chilling them to the bone.

"Grieving will not bring him back, darling," murmured the broken man.
"Let us to bed. Perhaps, a little sleep will bring us comfort and
strength to face the morrow, and attend to our affairs as usual."

She arose wearily, and asked in quite a casual manner, as if trying to
avoid the matter of their sorrow:

"What did Barnby want?"

"Oh, he came with some crazy story about--some checks Dick cashed for
you, which your father repudiates. The old man must be going mad!"

"Checks?" she asked huskily, and her face was drawn with terror.

"Checks for quite large amounts," said the rector. "Two or five thousand
dollars, or something like that. The old man's memory must be failing
him. He's getting dangerous. I always thought his animosity against Dick
was more assumed than real, but to launch such a preposterous accusation
is beyond enduring."

"Does he accuse Dick?" she asked, in a strained voice; "Dick, who is
dead?"

"Yes, darling. But don't think of such nonsense. Barnby himself saw the
absurdity of discussing it. Dick has had no money except what you got for
him."

She made no reply, but with bowed head walked unsteadily out of the room.

CHAPTER XII

A DIFFICULT POSITION

There was no rest for John Swinton that night. After the first rush of
sorrow, he began to rebel against the injustice of his Master, who seemed
to heap trouble upon him with both hands, and reward his untiring efforts
in the cause of good by a crushing load of worry. His was a temperament
generally summed up by the world in the simple phrase, good-natured. He
was soft-hearted, and weaker of spirit than he knew. Those in trouble
always found in him a sympathetic listener; and the distress and poverty
among his people often pained him more acutely than it did the actual
sufferers born in, and inured to, hardship and privation.

His energy was tremendous where a noble end was to be achieved; but he
loved the good things of life, and hated its trivial worries, the keeping
of accounts, the payment of cash on the spot, and the attendance of
committee meetings, where men met together to talk of doing what he could
accomplish single-handed while they were deliberating. He was worldly
enough to know that a great deal could be done by money, and his hand was
always in his pocket to help those less fortunat