ertain terms. You know as well as I do, that I could
put you to no end of expense. I don't wish to do it; but I don't prefer
to be out of pocket by the matter. I must have ten pounds for the
accommodation."

"Ten!" exclaimed poor Lord Downy.

"Yes, only ten; and I'll give you twenty if you'll pay me at once;"
added Mr Ireton--knowing very well that his victim could as easily have
paid off the national debt.

Lord Downy sighed.

"There's a slip of paper before you. Give me your I O U for the trifle,
and pay principal and interest to-morrow."

His lordship turned obediently to the table, wrote in silence the
acknowledgment required, and with a hand that trembled from vexation and
anxiety, presented the document to his tormentor. The latter vanished.
He had scarcely departed before Lord Downy rang his bell with violence,
and a servant entered.

"Are there any letters for me, Mason?" inquired his lordship eagerly.

"None, my lord," answered Mason with some condescension, and a great
deal of sternness.

Lord Downy bit his lip, and paced the room uneasily.

"My lord," said Mason, "I beg your"----

"Nothing more, nothing more;" replied the master, interrupting him.
"Should any letters arrive, let them be brought to me immediately."

"Beg your pardon, my lord," said Mason, taking no notice of the order,
"the place doesn't suit me."

"How?"

"Nothing to complain of, my lord--only wish to get into a good family."

"Sirrah!"

"It isn't the kind of thing, my lord," continued Mason, growing bolder,
"that I have been used to. I brought a character with me, and I want to
take it away again. I'm talked about already."

"What does the fellow mean?"

"I don't wish to hurt your lordship's feelings, and I'd rather not be
more particular. If it gets blown in the higher circles that I have been
here, my character, my lord, is smashed."

"You may go, sir, when your month has expired."

"I'd rather go at once, my lord, if it's all the same to you. As for the
salary, my lord, it's quite at your service--quite. I never was a
grasping man; and in your lordship's unfortunate situation,"----Lord
Downy walked to the window, flung it open, and commenced whistling a
tune----"I should know better than to take advantage," proceeded Mr
Mason. "There is a young man, my lord, a friend of mine, just entering
life, without any character at all, who would be happy, I have no doubt,
to undertake"----

Lord Downy banged the window, an