ish of sleeplessness brought him into the habit of taking. Suicide
it might have been, yet that was scarcely probable; he was too anxious
on his daughter's account to abandon her in this way, for certainly his
death could be nothing to her profit. Julian was then already eighteen,
and quickly succeeded in getting a situation. Harriet Smales left
London, and went to live with her sole relative, except Julian, an aunt
who kept a stationer's shop in Colchester. She was taught the business,
and assisted her aunt for more than two years, when, growing tired of
the life of a country town, she returned to London, and succeeded in
getting a place at a stationer's in Gray's Inn Road. This was six
months ago. Having thus established herself, she wrote to Julian, and
told him where she was.

Julian never forgot the promise he had made to his uncle that Christmas
night, eight years ago, when he was a lad of thirteen. Harriet he had
always regarded as his sister, and never yet had he failed in brotherly
duty to her. When the girl left Colchester, she was on rather bad terms
with her aunt, and the latter wrote to Julian, saying that she knew
nothing of Harriet's object in going to London, but that it was
certainly advisable that some friend should be at hand, if possible, to
give her advice; though advice (she went on to say) was seldom
acceptable to Harriet. This letter alarmed Julian, as it was the first
he had heard of his cousin's new step; the letter from herself at the
end of a week's time greatly relieved him, and he went off as soon as
possible to see her. He found her living in the house where she was
engaged, apparently with decent people, and moderately contented; more
than this could never be said of the girl. Since then, he had seen her
at least once every week. Sometimes he visited her at the shop; when
the weather was fine, they spent the Sunday afternoon in walking
together. Harriet's health seemed to have improved since her return to
town. Previously, as in her childhood, she had always been more or less
ailing. From both father and mother she had inherited an unhealthy
body; there was a scrofulous tendency in her constitution, and the
slightest casual ill-health, a cold or any trifling accident, always
threatened her with serious results. She was of mind corresponding to
her body; restless, self-willed, discontented, sour-tempered,
querulous. She certainly used no special pains to hide these faults
from Julian, perh