he end. Arthur. My good friend, Lord H., who is a
Cistercian like ourselves, and has just been appointed a governor, gave
me his first nomination. Don't be agitated, Arthur my boy, I am very
happy. I have good quarters, good food, good light and fire, and good
friends; blessed be God! my dear kind young friend--my boy's friend; you
have always been so, sir; and I take it uncommonly kind of you, and I
thank God for you, sir. Why, sir, I am as happy as the day is long."
He uttered words to this effect as he walked through the courts of the
building towards his room, which in truth I found neat and comfortable,
with a brisk fire crackling on the hearth; a little tea-table laid out,
a Bible and spectacles by the side of it, and over the mantelpiece a
drawing of his grandson by Clive.

"You may come and see me here, sir, whenever you like, and so may your
dear wife and little ones, tell Laura, with my love;--but you must not
stay now. You must go back to your dinner." In vain I pleaded that I had
no stomach for it. He gave me a look, which seemed to say he desired to
be alone, and I had to respect that order and leave him.

Of course I came to him on the very next day; though not with my wife
and children, who were in truth absent in the country at Rosebury, where
they were to pass the Christmas holidays; and where, this school-dinner
over, I was to join them. On my second visit to Grey Friars my good
friend entered more at length into the reasons why he had assumed the
Poor Brother's gown; and I cannot say but that I acquiesced in his
reasons, and admired that noble humility and contentedness of which he
gave me an example.

"That which had caused him most grief and pain," he said, "in the issue
of that unfortunate bank, was the thought that poor friends of his had
been induced by his representations to invest their little capital in
that speculation. Good Miss Honeyman, for instance, meaning no harm,
and in all respects a most honest and kindly-disposed old lady, had
nevertheless alluded more than once to the fact that her money had been
thrown away; and these allusions, sir, made her hospitality somewhat
hard to bear," said the Colonel. "At home--at poor Clivey's, I mean--it
was even worse," he continued; "Mrs. Mackenzie for months past, by
her complaints, and--and her conduct, has made my son and me so
miserable--that flight before her, and into any refuge, was the best
course. She too does not mean ill, Pen. Do not wa