gany pulpit, and prayed silently, and arranged his papers
in the leaves of the hymn-book, and glanced about to see who was there
and who was presumably still in bed, and coughed; and then Miss Annie
Emery sailed in with that air of false calm which is worn by the
experienced traveller who catches a train by the fifth of a second. The
service commenced.

John looked.

She was wearing white roses. There could be no mistake as to that.
There were about a hundred and fifty-five white roses in the garden of
her hat.

What a thrill ran through John's heart! He had won Annie, and he had
won the fortune. Yes, he would give Robert the odd five thousand
pounds. His state of mind might even lead him to make it guineas. He
heard not a word of the sermon, and throughout the service he rose up
and sat down several instants after the rest of the congregation,
because he was so absent-minded.

After service he waited for everybody else to leave, in order not to
break his promise to the divine Annie. So did Robert. This ill-timed
rudeness on Robert's part somewhat retarded the growth of a young
desire in John's heart to make friends with poor Bob. Then he got up
and left, and Robert followed.

They dined in silence, John deciding that he would begin his overtures
of friendship after he had seen Annie, and could tell Robert that he
was formally engaged. The brothers ate little. They both improved their
minds during their repast--John with the Christian Commonwealth, and
Robert with the Saturday cricket edition of the Signal (I regret it).

Then, after pipes, they both went out for a walk, naturally not in the
same direction. The magnificence of the weather filled them both with
the joy of life. As for John, he went out for a walk simply because he
could not contain himself within the house. He could not wait immovable
till four-thirty, the hour at which he meant to call on Annie for tea
and the betrothal kiss. Therefore he ascended to Hillport and wandered
as far as Oldcastle, all in a silk hat and a frock-coat.

It was precisely half-past four as he turned, unassumingly, from Brick
Street into Brick Passage, and so approached the side door of Annie
Emery's. And his astonishment and anger were immense when he saw
Robert, likewise in silk hat and frock-coat, penetrating into Brick
Passage from the other end.

They met, and their inflamed spirits collided.

'What's the meaning of this?' John demanded, furious; and,
simultaneous