ve brought your little business to a
satisfactory conclusion."

_At this point, contrary to all the canons of his art, our Arabian
Author breaks off the_ STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN IN HOLY ORDERS. _I regret
and condemn such practices; but I must follow my original, and refer the
reader for the conclusion of Mr. Rolles' adventures to the next number
of the cycle._

THE STORY OF THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN BLINDS

Francis Scrymgeour, a clerk in the Bank of Scotland at Edinburgh, had
attained the age of twenty-five in a sphere of quiet, creditable, and
domestic life. His mother died while he was young; but his father, a man
of sense and probity, had given him an excellent education at school,
and brought him up at home to orderly and frugal habits. Francis, who
was of a docile and affectionate disposition, profited by these
advantages with zeal, and devoted himself heart and soul to his
employment. A walk upon Saturday afternoon, an occasional dinner with
members of his family, and a yearly tour of a fortnight in the Highlands
or even on the continent of Europe were his principal distractions, and
he grew rapidly in favour with his superiors, and enjoyed already a
salary of nearly two hundred pounds a year, with the prospect of an
ultimate advance to almost double that amount. Few young men were more
contented, few more willing and laborious, than Francis Scrymgeour.
Sometimes at night, when he had read the daily paper, he would play upon
the flute to amuse his father, for whose qualities he entertained a
great respect.

One day he received a note from a well-known firm of Writers to the
Signet, requesting the favour of an immediate interview with him. The
letter was marked "Private and Confidential," and had been addressed to
him at the bank, instead of at home--two unusual circumstances which
made him obey the summons with the more alacrity. The senior member of
the firm, a man of much austerity of manner, made him gravely welcome,
requested him to take a seat, and proceeded to explain the matter in
hand in the picked expressions of a veteran man of business. A person,
who must remain nameless, but of whom the lawyer had every reason to
think well--a man, in short, of some station in the country,--desired to
make Francis an annual allowance of five hundred pounds. The capital was
to be placed under the control of the lawyer's firm and two trustees who
must also remain anonymous. There were conditions annexed to this
li