loyment. You speak several
languages, and write a good hand. You will, I doubt not, soon be ranked
among his principal clerks, if you have a good knowledge of accounts."

"If he will try me, I will do my best," answered Wenlock.

The next day he was installed as a clerk in the office of Peter Van Erk,
one of the principal merchants in the city. Wenlock had an aptitude for
business of which he had not been aware. He took a positive pleasure in
his work, and soon attracted the observation of his quick-sighted
employer.

The kind surgeon was highly pleased. "You do credit to my
recommendation, Christison," he observed; "you will soon win the
confidence of my brother, and will then be on the fair way to making
your fortune."

Time passed by. Wenlock made himself so useful that in a short time his
employer agreed to pay him a handsome salary. When peace was declared,
therefore, he felt that it would be folly to return to England, where he
had no home and no one from whom he had a right to demand assistance.
He had forfeited William Mead's regard by acting contrary to his advice,
while from Lord Ossory he might possibly fail to receive further
patronage. He had heard enough of the fickleness of those in authority,
and he did not expect to be better treated than others. He therefore
continued to work away steadily as a merchant's clerk in the house of
Van Erk and Company, of Rotterdam.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"Come with my mother and me to a meeting to which we are going this
evening!" said Gretchen, when Wenlock returned home at a somewhat
earlier hour than usual, for he still lived at the house of the kind
surgeon. "Some Englishmen arrived yesterday in Rotterdam, and they are
about to address the public on some important religious matters. They
are said to be very earnest and devoted people, and one of them speaks
Dutch perfectly. Their names I cannot remember. Those short, curious,
English names quickly escape my memory."

Wenlock at once agreed to Gretchen's request; indeed he had no longer
the heart to refuse her anything she asked. It might have been just
possible that, had he learned that the fair Mary had forgotten him and
accepted another suitor, he would have had no great difficulty in
consoling himself. Yet it was not so at present. He always treated
Gretchen with kindness and respect, but was fully convinced in his own
mind that he never allowed a warmer feeling to enter his bosom. The
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