success with the
serial story "The Woman in White," which was read with the
keenest interest by tens of thousands. In it Collins showed
himself to be a great master of construction. The plot was
so intricate as to hold the reader in suspense until the
end; while the mystery and horror of certain parts of it
were masterly in their execution. Collins, in fact, ranks in
English with Gaboriau in French for the ingenuity with which
he elaborates a plot; and this special gift is seen also in
"Armadale," "The Moonstone," and "No Name."

For a long while his stories were almost as widely read as
those of Dickens himself; and in 1873, like Dickens, he
visited the United States, where he gave readings of his own
short stories. The narrative printed here is an excellent
example of the skill with which Collins piques and sustains
one's interest even within the space of a few short pages.

I served my time--never mind in whose office--and I started in business
for myself in one of our English country towns, I decline stating which. I
hadn't a farthing of capital, and my friends in the neighborhood were poor
and useless enough, with one exception. That exception was Mr. Frank
Gatliffe, son of Mr. Gatliffe, member for the county, the richest man and
the proudest for many a mile round about our parts.

Stop a bit, Mr. Artist, you needn't perk up and look knowing. You won't
trace any particulars by the name of Gatliffe. I am not bound to commit
myself or anybody else by mentioning names. I have given you the first
that came into my head.

Well, Mr. Frank was a stanch friend of mine, and ready to recommend me
whenever he got the chance. I had contrived to get him a little timely
help--for a consideration, of course--in borrowing money at a fair rate of
interest; in fact, I had saved him from the Jews.

The money was borrowed while Mr. Frank was at college. He came back from
college, and stopped at home a little while, and then there got spread
about all our neighborhood a report that he had fallen in love, as the
saying is, with his young sister's governess, and that his mind was made
up to marry her.

What! you're at it again, Mr. Artist! You want to know her name, don't
you? What do you think of Smith?

Speaking as a lawyer, I consider report, in a general way, to be a fool
and a liar. But in this case report turned out to be something very
different. Mr. Frank told m