My Lord The King;

tells me there are no other ladies except herself . " " 1 trust we shall have a good passageit ' s only thirty-six or forty hours at the outside—for Miss ; I mean your daughter's sake , " Harry added ,

rememborin < r he was not yet acquainted with his companion ' s name . "My name is Mauleverer , " said his companion , smilingly , noticing his remark . " And mine is Mennell , " Harry answers as frankly ; " so I suppose we may consider

ourselves introduced to each other . " There was so much that was frank , manly , open , and genuine about the younger man—so much that was genial and sympathetic about the elder , that they speedily became great friends ; and there

they sat chatting for a hour or more , as if they were really old chums , quite forgetting that before that evening they had probably never heard of each other ' s existence . Mr . Mauleverer was one of

those ( there arc not many of them ) who at sixty are as young in mind , as chivalrous , as open-hearted , as gentlemanly , and a great deal less selfish than a hundred young men of twenty . At that ago , we are all supposed to be full of noble instincts —worn away , alas ! but too often after

rough contact with the world ; but generosity and nobleness are not always allied with youth . With such a man , Harry was at home in live minutes ; and . ere they parted that night , they had learnt much of each other ' s jirevious history , and

much , also , of their present jdans and future jwospects . " You see , Mr . Mennell , " the old man observed , " I don't complain ; but it does not pay very well in our branch of the service , at least in these days , to serve my

Lord the King , as I did when I first entered , forty years ago . " "Our Lady the Queen now , sir , it would ° e , " Harry replied , smilingly . "All , to be sine , it is our Lady now ; but when I . first entered , a mere lad , it was when

George the Third was King . " It may as well here be remarked that Mr . Mauleverer had been known as one of 'he best and most satirical political writers ° f his clay . He was jhaced in a Government office when to be in one meant good pay and httle to do ; a very different thing to what

it is now-a-days , and ho employed his leisure hours in writing for the press . So long as ho wrote on art , the drama , travel , and so forth—and he could write well on these—no one interfered with him ; but as soon as he took to politics , he was

perpetually getting reminders from head quarters that it must not be continued . However , matters went on in this way for years . For a long time Mr . Mauleverer would write under an anonymous signatureand then he was comparatively

, secure ; but at last , some article , particularly caustic and severe against the Radicals , would come out , and being traced home to Mr . Mauleverer , he got into trouble .

At length the Liberal party having succeeded in getting into office , and it being distinctly shown that Mr . Mauleverer , of thu Military Store Department , had Avritten certain articles in " Whitcwood ' s Mao ; azine , " and other organs of the Tory party , advantage was taken of an attack of illness ,

which had kept him confined to his bed for some weeks , and he was suddenly superannuated , and placed on something like half-pay . With an income , of £ 300 instead of £ 700

per annum , and rather expensive , or , perhaps , I should say luxurious habits , it is not to be wondered at that Mr . Mauleverer felt the change considerably , and the more so on account of the recent death of his wife and oldest daughter , the only near relatives he had in the worldexcejit

, Marian . Like too many others of his class—clergymen , half-pay officers , Government officials—he had been dazzled by the large profits advertised by certain great companies ( limited ) , and thinking the security goodhad invested his daughter ' s

, little fortune ( in his own name , Marian not being of age ) , together with all he possessed , in one of the most famous of these .

The prospectus showed clearly that of the £ 50 shares , no more than £ 20 would be called uji , and £ 15 of that was already paid . The company had commenced half-yearly dividends of ten per cent ., and the reports of the directors were always of the most flattering and rose-coloured character . Mr . Mauleverer thought he could not do better than invest in Goverend , Urney and Co . ( Limited ) , hi