luence, my pelf,
And most of all who needs _my_ strength
To save him from _myself_.

For all I have of power
Beyond what he can wield,
Is not a weapon of offence
But a protecting shield,
Which _I_ must hold before him
To save him from his foe,
E'en though _I_ be the enemy
That longs to strike the blow.

I am my brother's keeper,
And must be to the end--
A neighbour to the neighbourless,
And to the friendless, friend;
His weakness lays it on me,
My strength involves it too,
And common love for common life
Will bear the burden through.

THE STRAIGHT RIDER.

_(FROM "BLACK AND WHITE?" BY PERMISSION.)_

"My _dear_ Mabel, how pale you look! It is this hot room. I am sure
Lord Saint Sinnes will not mind taking you for a little turn in the
garden--between the dances."

My Lord Saint Sinnes--or Billy Sinnes as he is usually called by his
friends--shuffled in his high collar. It is a remarkable collar,
nearly related to a cuff, and it keeps Lord Saint Innes in
remembrance of his chin. If it were not that this plain young
nobleman were essentially a gentleman, one might easily mistake him
for a groom. Moreover, like other persons of equine tastes, he has
the pleasant fancy of affecting a tight and horsey "cut" in clothes
never intended for the saddle.

The girl, addressed by her somewhat overpowering mother as Mabel,
takes the proffered arm with a murmured acquiescence and a quivering
lip. She is paler than before.

Over his stiff collar Lord Saint Sinnes looks down at her--with
something of the deep intuition which makes him the finest
steeplechaser in England. Perhaps he notes the quiver of the lip, the
sinews drawn tense about her throat. Such silent signals of distress
are his business. Certainly he notes the little shiver of abject fear
which passes through the girl's slight form as they pass out of the
room together. Their departure is noted by several persons--mostly
_chaperons_.

"He must do it to-night," murmurs the girl's mother with a complacent
smile on her worldly, cruel face, "and then Mabel will soon see
that--the other--was all a mistake."

Some mothers believe such worn-out theories