before we sit down,
tell me, -- you haven't any other place to stay?"

"I have not, Mr. Inchbald, indeed."

"Then come up and see what we have to give you, before we
strike a bargain. Doll -- won't you give us a cup of tea by the
time we come down? Mr. Landholm will be the better of the
refreshment. You have had a tiresome journey this weather, Mr.
Landholm?"

As they mounted the stairs he listened to Winthrop's account
of his illness, and looked at him when they got to the top,
with a grave face of concern it was pleasant to meet. They had
come up to the very top; the house was a small and
insignificant wooden one, of two stories.

"This is your room," said Mr. Inchbald, opening the door of
the front attic, -- "this is the room your brother had; it's
not much, and there's not much in it; but now my dear friend,
_till_ you find something better, will you keep possession of
it? and give us the pleasure of having you? -- and one thing
more, will you speak of pay when you are perfectly at leisure
to think of it, and not before, or never, just as it happens;
-- will you?"

"I'll take you at your word, sir; and you shall take me at
mine, when the time comes."

"_That_ I'll do," said Mr. Inchbald. "And now it's a bargain.
Shake hands, -- and come let's go down and have some tea. --
Doll, I hope your tea is good to-night, for Mr. Landholm is
far from well. Sit down -- I wish your brother had the other
place."

That tea was a refreshment. It was served in the little back
room of the first floor, which had very much the seeming of
being Mrs. Nettley's cooking room too. The appointments were
on no higher scale of pretension than Mrs. Forriner's, yet
they gave a far higher impression of the people that used
them; why, belongs to the private mystery of cups and saucers
and chairs, which have an odd obstinate way of their own of
telling the truth. "Doll" was the very contrast to the lady of
the other tea-table. A little woman, rather fleshy, in a close
cap and neat spare gown, with a face which seemed a compound
of benevolent good-will, and anxious care lest everybody
should not get the full benefit of it. It had known care of
another kind too. If her brother had, his jovial, healthy,
hearty face gave no sign.

After tea Winthrop went back to Diamond St.

"We didn't wait for you," said Mr. Forriner as he came in, --
"for we thought you didn't intend probably to be back to tea."

"What success have you had?" inquir