of
people who seem to be continually looking upwards, their mind so
much occupied in contemplating the upper regions that they
continually stumble against the blocks which lie in life's path. He
lived, partly on his income, partly on the commission which he
secured as agent to a firm of agricultural implement manufacturers,
and partly on the money which he made by selling his property bit by
bit. He had also advertised himself as auctioneer, house and estate
agent, etcetera, but no one seemed to require his services in this
line. Averse to manual labour, he could not properly cultivate such
a small farm without submitting himself to this "slavish work," as
he called it. Accordingly, he was, if slowly, surely drifting
towards bankruptcy. He saw this, so did his wife, but neither seemed
to care much; they were buoyed up by a false hope, always waiting
for something unexpected to turn up, which would rescue them from
this abyss.

Mrs. Soher was Mr. Rougeant's sister.

They were the only children of the late Charles Rougeant, of "Les
Marches."

She was short of stature, rather stout, her round little face
always assuming a certain air of dignity, her light blue eyes
wearing a fixed gaze and her tongue always ready to slander. She
pretended to be religious, because her husband was so; had he been
otherwise, she would certainly have been otherwise too.

Then came her twenty-four year old daughter Amelia, the only member
of the family with which the reader is not acquainted; and Tom,
grown into a lazy, bad-tempered and slouching young man. Old Mrs.
Soher was dead.

The home at the "Prenoms" was not a bright one. Mr. Soher did not
believe in education. He and his wife were often absent from home in
the evening. They went to some meeting, and their two children were
left alone. When the parents were gone, Tom left the house, leaving
his sister alone and returning about half an hour before his parents
came in. His sister said she would tell her father, but, upon Tom
threatening her, she kept silent, for she feared her brother who was
of a very violent temper.

One day, Tom came in later than usual. When he entered the house, he
was astonished to see his father sitting near the fire.

"Well," said Mr. Soher, "what does this mean?"

"I've just been out a little," said Tom.

"I hope you will not repeat this, my son," said the father. Then he
showed him how wicked it was to associate with bad companions, the
probable r