sufficiency with which to begin the world. Paul when he had come of
age had found himself possessed of about L6,000. He was then at
Oxford, and was intended for the bar. An uncle of his, a younger
brother of his father, had married a Carbury, the younger sister of
two, though older than her brother Roger. This uncle many years since
had taken his wife out to California, and had there become an
American. He had a large tract of land, growing wool, and wheat, and
fruit; but whether he prospered or whether he did not, had not always
been plain to the Montagues and Carburys at home. The intercourse
between the two families had, in the quite early days of Paul
Montague's life, created an affection between him and Roger, who, as
will be understood by those who have carefully followed the above
family history, were not in any degree related to each other. Roger,
when quite a young man, had had the charge of the boy's education, and
had sent him to Oxford. But the Oxford scheme, to be followed by the
bar, and to end on some one of the many judicial benches of the
country, had not succeeded. Paul had got into a 'row' at Balliol, and
had been rusticated,--had then got into another row, and was sent down.
Indeed he had a talent for rows,--though, as Roger Carbury always
declared, there was nothing really wrong about any of them. Paul was
then twenty-one, and he took himself and his money out to California,
and joined his uncle. He had perhaps an idea,--based on very
insufficient grounds,--that rows are popular in California. At the end
of three years he found that he did not like farming life in
California,--and he found also that he did not like his uncle. So he
returned to England, but on returning was altogether unable to get his
L6,000 out of the Californian farm. Indeed he had been compelled to
come away without any of it, with funds insufficient even to take him
home, accepting with much dissatisfaction an assurance from his uncle
that an income amounting to ten per cent. upon his capital should be
remitted to him with the regularity of clockwork. The clock alluded to
must have been one of Sam Slick's. It had gone very badly. At the end
of the first quarter there came the proper remittance,--then half the
amount,--then there was a long interval without anything; then some
dropping payments now and again;--and then a twelvemonth without
anything. At the end of that twelvemonth he paid a second visit to
California, having borr