pt before Amelius had secured for himself the support of the master
of the house? In his present condition of nervous irritability, he was
ready to believe in any coincidence of the disastrous sort. The wealthy
rival was a man of business, a near city neighbour of Mr. Farnaby. They
might be together at that moment; and Regina's fidelity to her lover
might be put to a harder test than she was prepared to endure. Amelius
remembered the gentle conciliatory smile (too gentle by half) with which
his placid mistress had received his first kisses--and, without stopping
to weigh conclusions, snatched up his hat. "Wait here for me, Rufus,
like a good fellow. I'm off to the stationer's shop." With those parting
words, he hurried out of the room.

Left by himself, Rufus began to rummage the pockets of his frockcoat--a
long, loose, and dingy garment which had become friendly and comfortable
to him by dint of ancient use. Producing a handful of correspondence,
he selected the largest envelope of all; shook out on the table several
smaller letters enclosed; picked one out of the number; and read the
concluding paragraph only, with the closest attention.

"I enclose letters of introduction to the secretaries of literary
institutions in London, and in some of the principal cities of England.
If you feel disposed to lecture yourself, or if you can persuade friends
and citizens known to you to do so, I believe it may be in your power to
advance in this way the interests of our Bureau. Please take notice
that the more advanced institutions, which are ready to countenance and
welcome free thought in religion, politics, and morals, are marked on
the envelopes with a cross in red ink. The envelopes without a mark are
addressed to platforms on which the customary British prejudices remain
rampant, and in which the charge for places reaches a higher figure than
can be as yet obtained in the sanctuaries of free thought."

Rufus laid down the letter, and, choosing one among the envelopes marked
in red ink, looked at the introduction enclosed. "If the right sort of
invitation reached Amelius from this institution," he thought, "the
boy would lecture on Christian Socialism with all his heart and soul. I
wonder what the brown miss and her uncle would say to that?"

He smiled to himself, and put the letter back in the envelope, and
considered the subject for a while. Below the odd rough surface, he
was a man in ten thousand; no more single-hearted