herited me and left the whole of his fortune
to Loo. As far as dear Loo is concerned I am glad; for myself I am sad,
for it is awkward, to say the least of it, to have been brought up with
unlimited command of pocket-money, and expectations of considerable
wealth, and suddenly to find myself all but penniless, without a
profession and without expectations, at the age of twenty-two."

He paused and looked at his friend, who sat in mute amazement.

"Failing Loo," continued Fred calmly, "my father's fortune goes to some
distant relative."

"But why? wherefore?" exclaimed Barret.

"You shall hear," continued Auberly. "You are aware that ever since I
was able to burn the end of a stick and draw faces on the nursery-door,
I have had a wild, insatiable passion for drawing; and ever since the
memorable day on which I was whipped by my father, and kissed,
tearfully, by my beloved mother, for caricaturing our cook on the
dining-room window with a diamond-ring, I have had an earnest,
unextinguishable desire to become a--a painter, an artist, a dauber, a
dirtier of canvas. D'ye understand?"

"Perfectly," said Barret.

"Well, my father has long been resolved, it seems, to make me a man of
business, for which I have no turn whatever. You are aware that for
many years I have dutifully slaved and toiled at these heavy books in
our office--which have proved so heavy that they have nearly squeezed
the soul out of me--and instead of coming to like them better (as I was
led to believe I should), I have only come to hate them more. During
all this time, too, I have been studying painting late and early, and
although I have not gone through the regular academical course, I have
studied much in the best of all schools, that of Nature. I have urged
upon my father repeatedly and respectfully, that it is possible for me
to uphold the credit of the family as a painter; that, as the business
can be carried on by subordinates, there is no necessity for me to be at
the head of it; and that, as he has made an ample fortune already, the
half of which he had told me was to be mine, I would be quite satisfied
with my share, and did not want any more. But my father would never
listen to my arguments. The last time we got on the subject he called
me a mean-spirited fellow, and said he was sorry I had ever been born;
whereupon I expressed regret that he had not been blessed with a more
congenial and satisfactory son, and tried to point out th