“cast thy bread upon the waters; thou shalt find it after many days.”

“why, willie, what is the matter?” inquired edward langley, entering his father’s office one evening after business hours, and finding its sole tenant, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, leaning both arms on one of the high desks, and hiding his face within them, whilst his slight figure shook with uncontrollable sobs. “and how came that drawer open?” he continued, more sternly, perceiving a bureau drawer half open, so as to display its glittering contents, which looked disturbed. “i hope you have not been doing anything wrong, willie.”

“oh, sir, indeed—indeed i have not! count the money, mr. edward; pray count it; see that it is all right, or i can never hold up my head again. the temptation was misery enough,” returned the boy, as well as his sobs would permit, and displaying such a countenance of suffering, as to enlist all edward’s sympathy at once.

“but, my good boy, what could have tempted you? you seem so to feel the enormity of the sin, that i cannot imagine what thought came into your head.”

“i only thought of my poor father, sir. oh, mr. edward, he is in prison, and my mother is too ill to work; and she and my poor little sisters are starving,” he replied, bursting again into tears. “i did not know what to do to help them; i give them all i earn, but that is so very little it only gives them a meal now and then; and then, when i saw that drawer accidently left open, and remembered twelve pounds, only twelve pounds, would get my father out of prison, and he could work for us again, the horrid thought came into my head to take them: they would never be missed out of so many; and i had them in my hand. but then i thought what could i tell them at home? it would break my poor mother’s heart to think her willie was dishonest; she could better bear hunger and grief than that, sir; and i knew i could not hide it from her; and so i dashed them back! they seemed to scorch me! oh, mr. edward, indeed, indeed i speak the truth!”

edward did believe him, and he told him so. there was little need to speak harshly; the boy’s own conscience had been his judge. to satisfy him, however, he counted the money, found it correct, and after talking to him a little while, kindly yet impressively, promised to do what he could for his father, and left him, indelibly impressing that evening upon willie’s mind, by never reverting to it again.

the tale, which his inquiries elicited, was a very common one. willie’s father had been an artificer in one of the manufacturing towns; but too eager for advancement, he imprudently threw up his situation and tried independent business. matters grew worse and worse; his family increased and his means diminished. hearing of an excellent opening at new york, for an artificer like himself, he worked day and night to obtain sufficient means to transport himself and family across the atlantic, and support them till a business could be established. his wife ably aided him, when unhappily he was tempted to embark all his little savings in one of the bubbles of the day, which he was confidently assured would be so successful as to permit his embarking for america at once, and so seize the opening offered. few speculators had, perhaps, a better excuse; but fortune did not favour him more than others; it failed, and he was ruined. three months afterwards he was thrown into prison for the only debt he had ever incurred, and though he had friends to persuade him to his ruin, he had none to liquidate his debt. his wife’s health, already overworked, sunk under privation and sorrow; and though she toiled even from her fevered pallet, her feeble earnings were not sufficient to give her children bread.

edward langley was a creature of impulse; but in him impulse was the offspring of high principle, and, therefore, though the following it often caused him unlooked-for annoyance, it never led him wrong; and willie’s tale called forth sympathies impossible to be withstood.

“edward,” said one of his numerous sisters one evening, about three weeks afterwards, as they were sitting at tea—a meal which, bringing them all together, was universally enjoyed, “what have you done with grandpapa’s birthday present? you were to do so many things with that money; and i have not heard you speak of it since my return.”

“because wonderful things have occurred since you left, fanny,” said another slily. “he is going to accompany mr. morison’s family to italy and paris; and bring us such splendid presents. his fair julia cannot go without him, and he has promised to join them.”

“wrong, miss ellen, i am not going,” was the reply, with rather more brusquerie than usual.

“why, have you quarrelled?”

“not exactly.”

“but she will be offended, ned; i am sure i should be.”

“no, you would not, annie, if you knew my reasons.”

“what are they, edward, dear? do tell me, i am so curious.”

“of course, or you would not be a woman!”

against this all his sisters expostulated at once; and even his mother expressed curiosity, adding, that he had talked of this continental trip so long, and with so much glee, it must be a disappointment to give it up.

“it is; but i do not regret it.”

“but you must have a reason.”

“the very best of all reasons; i cannot afford it.”

“come to me for the needful, edward,” said his father. “i cannot give you luxuries; but this is for your improvement.”

“thank you most heartily, my dear father, but i am, rather i was, richer than any of you know. i earned so much for my last engraving.”

“and you never told us,” said his mother and sisters, reproachfully.

“i did not, because it was already appropriated. i wanted exactly that sum to add to my grandfather’s gift; and that was what i worked so hard for.”

“to purchase some bridal gift,” said fanny, archly.

“no, fan, i never mean to purchase love.”

“but if the lady requires to be so conciliated?”

“then she is not worth having.”

“of course not,” rejoined annie. “but come, edward, you have never kept anything from us before. what is this mystery?”

“out with it,” laughingly pursued ellen. “julia morison will not thank you for preferring anything to accompanying her, i can tell you; so, as annie says, what is this mystery?”

“no mystery at all, girls. you will all be disappointed when i tell you; so you had better let it alone.”

but beset on all sides, even by his father and mother, edward told the simple truth, which our readers no doubt have already guessed. his money had been applied in releasing willie’s father from prison; restoring his mother to health, by giving her and her children nourishing food, securing a passage for them all to new york, and investing the trifling surplus for their use on their arrival. he told his tale hurriedly, as if he feared to be accused of folly, and his father did somewhat blame him. he was provoked that the little scheme of pleasure and improvement, which edward had anticipated so many weeks, should be frustrated; and annoyed that he should be disappointed, though the disappointment was perfectly voluntary. how could he tell that the man’s story was true? how was he sure the money would produce the good effect he hoped? he must say he thought it a pity, a very great pity; a visit to paris would be so improving; mr. morison’s family such a desirable connection—and other regrets, which, without being a very worldly parent, were not perhaps unnatural.

“my dear father,” was edward’s earnest and affectionate rejoinder, “do not be vexed for my sake. a visit to the continent would no doubt have been improving; but i will work doubly hard in dear old england, and that, though it may not be as much pleasure, will be just as serviceable. with regard to miss morison,” his cheek slightly flushed, “if her affections are only to be secured by being constantly at her side, and always playing the lover, there could be no happiness in a nearer connection for either. a separation for three or four months can surely have no effect on real regard, and i am quite willing to subject both myself and julia to the ordeal. as to not being sure of doing the good i hope—who can be? i do believe that poor fellow’s story, i confess, and strongly believe he will do well; but i do not mean to give the subject another thought, except to work the harder. the money is as much gone as freely given, and i expect as little reward as if i had thrown it on the waters—”

“where thou shall find it after many days,” continued his mother, so affectionately and approvingly, that edward threw his arm round her and kissed her tenderly. “you have done right, my dear boy; and if julia morison does not think so, she is not worthy of your love.”

how quick is woman’s, above all, a mother’s penetration. from the first allusion to miss morison in the preceding conversation, she knew that something had occurred between them to annoy, if it did not wound her son; and the moment she heard the story she guessed the actual fact. perhaps her penetration in this instance was aided by previous observation. she had never liked miss morison, desirable as from worldly motives the connection might be. edward, youth-like, had been captivated by her beauty and vivacity, and gratified by her very marked preference for himself. his complete unconsciousness that he really was the handsomest and most engaging young man of the town of l——, by depriving him of all conceit, increased miss julia’s fascination. mr. morison was member for the county, and had made himself universally popular; and certainly took marked notice of edward. the good people of l—— were too simple-minded to discover that their member’s attractions were merely graces of manner; and that he noticed edward only because he was perfectly secure that his daughter would never do such a foolish thing as to promise her hand to the son of a country attorney, however agreeable he might be.

edward’s wish to accompany them to the continent met with decided approval. mr. morison thought the young man would save him a great deal of trouble, as a kind of gentleman valet, without a salary; and miss julia was delighted at this unequivocal proof of his devotion, and at the amusement she promised herself in playing off her country beau on the continent, his simplicity being the shield to cover her man?uvres; besides, he would be such an excellent pis aller, that she need never be without a worshipper.

that such a person could appreciate edward’s real character, or enter into his motives for, and his disappointment in, not accompanying her, was impossible. for regret, even for anger, he had prepared himself, nay, might have been disappointed had she evinced no emotion; but for the cold sneer, first of doubt, then of unequivocal contempt, which was her sole rejoinder to his agitated confession, he was not prepared, and it chilled his very heart. still he tried to deceive himself, and believe that all she said of benevolence, disinterestedness, and a long et-cetera, was the sympathy he yearned for; but the tone and manner with which she informed her father in his presence of his change of purpose, and its praiseworthy cause, could not, even by a lover more infatuated than edward, have been misunderstood; his spirit rose, and with it his self-respect. he said very little, but that little convinced both julia and her father that he was not quite the simpleton which they had supposed him.

he left them, wounded to the core; to his warm, generous nature, worldliness was abhorrent even in a man, and in a woman it seemed to him something so unnatural, so revolting, that it dispersed at once the bright creation of his enthusiastic fancy, and displayed miss morison almost in her true character.

still, notwithstanding all this pain and disappointment, edward never once regretted the impulse he had followed; and when, about six or seven months afterwards, he received the most grateful letters from willie and his father, informing him that the opening offered, though attended with many difficulties, promised fair, he felt the sacrifice was more than recompensed, and from that hour never thought of it himself again. but his assertion, that he would work the harder to make up for those continental advantages which he had lost, was no idle boast; he did so well, that even his father forgot his vexation; and his industry united with great personal economy, enabled him to give his sisters richer and more useful presents than the bijouterie which he had laughingly promised to bring them from france.

the marriage of miss julia morison with some foreign count, before six months elapsed, had happily no effect on edward’s equanimity; it might, nay, it did cause a transient pang, but he recovered it much sooner than his father did the loss of so desirable a connection.

“never mind it, sir,” was edward’s laughing entreaty; “i would rather earn my own independence, and make a connection through my own exertions than by the richest marriage i could make.”

“that’s just like your mother, boy,” said his father, somewhat pettishly, “as if all depended on one’s self.”

“thank you for the likeness, father. when i can bring you a daughter to be to me what my mother is to you, i shall have formed a desirable connection, though my wife be not set in gold.”

and this even his father acknowledged, when, two years afterwards, edward married the daughter of their vicar, who proved in his own person that influence is not always inseparable from wealth, but may be found with worth as well. time rolled on; twenty, thirty years. in the multitude of great and trifling events, which make up the sum of human life, during those years edward langley had so entirely forgotten the generous deed of his early youth, that he would have found it difficult to recall even the name of willie’s parents. his perseverance and talent had been crowned with such success, that when only eight-and-twenty he was taken into partnership by one of the first engravers of the metropolis. for twenty more years the business so flourished as to make all the principals very wealthy men; and edward looked forward in two or three more years to resign in favour of his son and retire himself from active business. he had never been ambitious, and a series of domestic trials in the loss of six children out of nine, all of that most interesting age when childhood is giving place to youth, caused him to turn with clinging love to those who remained, longing more to enjoy an englishman’s home than to continue amassing wealth.

greatly against his wishes and advice, engagements and speculations had been entered into by the firm to an immense extent, more especially with establishments abroad. the dishonesty of distant agents, and the careless supineness, if not equal dishonour, of one of the principals at home, occasioned ruin to all, of course including langley, though he had been most unjustifiably kept in ignorance of the real extent of their speculating schemes. yet his high integrity enabled him to bear up against this sudden change of circumstances with more fortitude than any of his companions.

his wife’s little property had never been touched, and he was therefore enabled to retire to a very small cottage in cheshire, which soon displayed the refined taste and artistic skill of its gentle-minded inmates, to an extent that completely concealed their very humble means. not that they were ashamed of their poverty; but the same self-respect that prompted their horror of all pretension, and resolution to live strictly within their means, threw a comfort and refinement around and within their lowly home, which the wealthiest might have envied.

for himself, edward langley would have been as happy as in the height of his prosperity; but he could not help feeling a very pardonable pang at this sad change in the prospects of his children. his son, emulating his firmness, sought and obtained an excellent situation in a thriving engraving establishment in edinburgh, where his father’s name and character spoke for him more forcibly than the highest premium. it was on helen langley the blow had fallen heaviest; the only one of his daughters who had reached the age of nineteen (for fanny was still a child), frail, delicate in seeming as a beautiful flower. she had been nursed in luxury and affection, and guarded from even the approach of a storm; the deserved darling of all who knew her, rich and poor, her parents’ love for her amounted almost to idolatry. engaged to the son of one of her father’s partners, then studying as a physician, a bright and happy future shone before them, when the thunderbolt fell before either had seen a cloud. george ashley was summoned from paris just as his diploma was obtained, and he was weaving fairy dreams of a speedy union with his helen; recalled, not as he believed, still to study and gradually attain eminence, but to give up all ambitious dreams, and work as a general practitioner for actual subsistence. to marry before he had even the prospect of a connection and employment was absolute madness; to live any distance from helen he felt was quite as impossible; so he settled himself in the old town of chester, about three miles from her home, and for her sake exerted himself more than he had once believed was in his nature. at first, youth and excitement beheld only the brighter side; but after six months’ trial, so endless and little remunerating seemed his toil, that he sunk into the deepest despondency, which neither mr. and mrs. langley’s kind advice, nor helen’s sweet counsels could remove.

fearfully would mr. langley look on his darling, dreading that this constant pressure of anxiety and suspense would be as fatal to her as disease had been to her sisters; but though more serious than had been her disposition before, it was not the seriousness of gloom, but rather of a firm yet gentle spirit, forming internally some resolution which required thought and time for development. her smile was as joyous, her voice as gleeful, as in happier years; her pursuits continued with the same zeal, if not with deeper earnestness. to persuade her to annul her engagement never entered either parent’s mind, but the long vista of dreary years which they believed must intervene ere it could be fulfilled, was literally their only thought of anxious and unmitigated gloom.

“give me up, helen! i have no right to fetter your young life with an engagement which heaven only knows when we shall fulfil,” passionately exclaimed young ashley, about seven months after their misfortunes. “your sweet face, and sweeter temper, and lovely mind must win you a position in life far higher than i can ever offer. you were only seen at the ball the other night to be admired.”

“that unfortunate ball! i only went to gratify papa; and you are jealous, george, that your poor helen was admired.”

“no, helen, no! i gloried in it; for i knew you were mine, mine in heart, faith, all but name. but then i thought how selfish, how utterly selfish i was still to claim you; to behold you wearing out your young life in all the sickness of hope deferred; when, by resigning you, you might be rich, admired, followed, occupy the station you deserve, and—”

“be very happy, dearest george? this is a strange mood,” she said, half reproachfully, half playfully. “come, send it away, for it is not like you. i am very sorry i cannot oblige you; but as i consider myself as much yours as if the sacred words had actually been said, you may divorce me if you will, but i will never give you up.”

“helen, darling helen! forgive me,” he replied, his repentance as impetuous as all his other feelings. “oh! if you would but be mine at once, i am sure i should succeed; with such a comforter, such a cheerer, work would be welcome. i would never despond again, dearest; loving as we do, why should we not wed at once? we must then do well.”

“must do well because we love, george? yes, and so we shall, but not if we wed now. ah, now you look reproachfully again. dearest, you know i would not shrink from any hardship shared with you. i will work with you, work for you, if needed; but, young as we both are, is it not better to work apart a few years, that we may rest together? think what five years may do for both, it may be less; i put it only to the extent. you are succeeding, and will succeed still more, the more you are known; but had you a wife and an establishment to support now, even with my very hardest exertions, we could not keep free from debt; and love, potent as it is, could not then guard sorrow from our dwelling. when wedded, if unlooked-for misfortunes come, we will bear them, and comfort and strengthen each other; but would it be right, would it be wise to invite them by a too early marriage? my own dear george, let us work while we have youth and hope, and trust me we shall be very happy yet.”

it was scarcely possible to remain unconvinced by such fond reasoning; but still ashley referred with deep despondency to the long, long interval which must elapse ere that happiness could be obtained.

“not so long as you fancy, george. i never mean to be a rich man’s wife, though you invited me to be so just now. i do not even intend to wait for comforts, but only just for that competency which will prevent those evil spirits, care and irritation, from entering our home; and to forward this, listen to my plan, dearest george.” and with some little tremour, for she dreaded his disapproval, she told him that she had accepted an engagement as governess, in a family at manchester; a dr. murray, who was a widower, with four or five children: she had been mentioned by a mutual friend, and the doctor was so pleased with mrs. norton’s account, that he agreed even to give the high salary helen required, without seeing her. he had said that his mother, who lived with him, was too infirm to bear his children much with her, and he therefore wanted more from his governess than merely to teach; he was quite willing to pay for it, but a lady he must have.

“to bear with all his whims and fancies; to be tormented with spoiled children; put up with the old woman’s infirmities; be insulted by pampered servants. helen, you shall not go!” exclaimed george.

“now, george, don’t be foolish. i do not expect one of these evils; and if i meet with them i can bear them, with such a hope before me,” she continued, fondly looking in his face.

“but governesses are so insulted, so degraded.”

“not insulted, if they respect themselves; not degraded, if those they love do not think so. but perhaps, george, you are too proud to marry a governess.”

a passionate reproach was his reply.

“well then, love, listen to me a little longer. mamma still means to allow me enough for my quiet dress, so that i can put by every shilling that i earn; and only think what that may come to in a few years. then i have a reason for choosing manchester as a temporary home; you know i can draw, but do you not know that i can design—william took so much pleasure in teaching me—and, in a manufacturing town like manchester, i may not only be able to use this knowledge, but perhaps gradually get introductions which will allow my successful pursuit of the art even as—as your wife, dearest george; and then, what with our mutual economy and mutual savings beforehand, and mutual work afterwards—oh, our future will shine as bright as it did before this storm!”

“god for ever bless you, helen, my own darling! you are indeed my best hope, my best comforter already,” murmured george, half choked with strong emotion, which he tried to conceal by pressing her to his bosom, and kissing her cheek. “how can your parents part with you, and what will drive away my fits of gloom, when i cannot come to you for comfort?”

“hope!” was her instant reply, in a tone so glad, so thrilling, that it pervaded his whole being ever afterwards like a spell. “think, dearest george, of the hundreds who have to labour on, through lonely years, uncheered by either love or hope; who must work, wearily and unceasingly, only for means of existence. we have health and youth and love, and, above all, mutual faith to sustain us; and therefore we must be happy. you do not know how powerful is a woman’s will.”

“not more so than man’s,” replied ashley, more cheerfully than he had yet spoken. “helen, you have shamed me. i will become more worthy of such love.”

helen looked very much as if she thought that was impossible, but she did not say so.

it was no light task this gentle girl had undertaken. hopefully as she had spoken and felt, her resolution had neither been formed nor matured without suffering, nor had it been the least portion of the trial to win over her parents to her wishes; but the wisdom of her plan was so evident, that they conquered all selfish feeling for their child’s sake, and tried to be comforted by mrs. norton’s assurance, that in dr. murray’s family helen would be as comfortable as she could be away from home.

and so she was. in fact, so kindly was she welcomed and treated, that she could scarcely understand it. dr. murray was a man in reality under fifty, but looking much older, from a life of some hardship and much labour, the fruits of which he now enjoyed in the possession of a comfortable income. his manner, in general blunt and rough, always softened towards helen, whom he ever addressed with such respect, as well as kindness, that all george’s terror of her encountering insolence very speedily dispersed. mrs. murray had evidently not been born a lady, but her regard for helen was shown in such a multiplicity of little kindnesses, that no feeling could be excited towards her but gratitude and love. constantly as she was occupied with her pupils, helen’s careful economy of time yet enabled her actually to accomplish the purpose she had in her mind when she chose manchester for her residence. the idle, nay even the less energetic, would have declared it was impossible for any one person to do what she did; but not even the doctor or his mother knew how her moments of made leisure were employed.

so nearly three years glided by; helen’s health, instead of failing, as her friends had feared, actually improved; and george declared there must have been some spell in her words or her example, for his prospects were brightening every year. helen only smiled, and told him that the spell was simply in his own more hopeful exertions.

dr. murray’s house was the frequent resort not only of men of talent from the higher ranks, but frequently of clever manufacturers and artificers, in whose works the doctor and his mother were always particularly interested. it happened that helen was present one evening when one of these gentlemen was regretting his inability to procure an appropriate design for some window curtains, of a new material, which he had invented; being no artist himself, he could not perhaps define his wishes with sufficient technicality, but all which he had seen were either so small as to have no effect, or so large as to look coarse and common. before he departed the conversation changed, and dr. murray thought no more about it, until at a very early hour the next morning helen entered his study with a roll of paper, which she asked him to examine, and tell her if he thought it the kind of thing mr. grey required. his astonishment that she should remember any thing about it was only equalled by his admiration of her work. so great was his delight, that he declared he would convey it to mr. grey himself, and get her something handsome for it. he was not disappointed. mr. grey seized it with rapture, declared it was the very thing he meant; offered to pay any sum for it, and was struck dumb with astonishment, when told it was designed by the elegant young lady to whom he had been introduced the previous night, and whom he had scarcely deigned to notice, believing her the same as most young ladies—a very pretty but a very useless piece of goods. one of his young men, who had been eagerly examining it, said he was sure it was by the same hand as several other elegant designs which they had been in the habit of purchasing the last two years, but the name of whose inventor they had never been able to discover. he brought some, and compared them, and even the doctor’s unpractised eye could discern the same hand throughout. but how could miss langley have accomplished all this, and yet so done her duty to his children? it was incomprehensible; and the good doctor hurried home to have the mystery solved. helen speedily explained it, adding ingenuously, that she had worked in secret, only because she feared the doctor or his friends might think she must neglect her duty to her charge to pursue this employment; but since he had expressed such perfect satisfaction, she had resolved on taking the first opportunity to tell him all.

“but my good young lady, you must have some very strong incentive for all this exertion.” blushing deeply, helen acknowledged that she had. “is it a secret, my dear child?”

for a minute she hesitated, then frankly told her story. the doctor was so much affected by it as to surprise her, and expressed the most unfeigned regret that he had not known it before.

not a fortnight afterwards, mr. grey sought an interview with miss langley: he wished, he said, to monopolize her talents, and offered, in consequence, with sufficient liberality as to tempt her to adhere to his employment, instead of taking the chance of larger remuneration for occasional designs. it was for this helen had worked and prayed and hoped—this which she had looked to, to follow even as a wife, and in her husband’s house; and therefore we leave to our reader’s imagination the gratitude with which it was accepted, the joy with which she wrote to her parents, to george, to whom her woman’s heart so yearned in that moment of rejoicing, that for the first time since she had loved him she could scarcely write for tears. but the letters she received in reply sadly alloyed this dawning happiness. her sister fanny was dangerously ill; the same age, the same disease which had been so fatal to her family. all george’s skill, and it was great, had been ineffectual; nothing could save her, the distracted father wrote; she was doomed like all the rest. but to helen there was no such word as doom. she flew to the doctor, repeated to him as well as she could the symptoms, and the remedies applied, conjuring him to think of something which would alleviate, if it could not cure. what could she write?

“write, my dear child! that will be of little use; we will go together.” and though there were no railroads in that direction, man’s omnipotent will carried helen and the doctor to mr. langley’s cottage in so short a space, that it seemed to helen like the transfigurations of a dream.

for four days fearful were the alternations of hope and dread; the fifth, hope predominated, and by the end of the week, promptness and skill in the adoption of an entirely new mode of treatment were so successful, that dr. murray was blessed again and again by the enraptured parents as, under heaven, the preserver of their child. but, though all danger was over, the doctor did not offer to quit the cottage for another week, which time he spent mostly in his patient’s room, and in earnest conversation with young ashley. helen had intended to remain in his family till he could meet with some one to supply her place; but this he now declared should not be. she must be wanted at home, at least till she could finish her preparations for entering another; for, if he were george, he would not wait another month; she had had her own will too long already, and the future was bright enough now to permit him to have his. helen’s hand was clasped in her young sister’s as the good doctor spoke, but george’s arm was round her, and her reply seemed to satisfy all parties.

all mr. langley’s attempts to obtain a private interview with his guest were ineffectual until the day of his intended departure, when, with trembling hands and swimming eyes, he tried to press a pocket-book into the doctor’s hand. “it is inadequate, wholly inadequate,” he said, with emotion. “you have saved my child; so restored her, that she is better than she has been since her birth. you have given us your time, your skill, and you shrink even from my thanks. were i a rich man, i should feel as i do now, that a fortune could not repay you; but, as a poor man, do not insult me by refusing the fee i can bestow.”

“mr. langley,” was the reply, “i tell you truth, when i assure you that you owe me nothing. i am in your debt far more, far more than my professional skill ever could repay.”

“in my debt, doctor? ah, you mean my helen’s services; but those you have so liberally remunerated, and treated her with such kindness, that you have made me your debtor even there. no, no, i cannot allow helen, precious as she is, to come between me and justice.”

“i do not allude to miss langley, sir,” and the doctor spoke as if addressing a superior. “her inestimable services to me and mine, indeed nothing can repay; but it was not for her sake i came to you. the debt i allude to is of more than thirty years’ standing, and is due to you alone. on my first return to england, your position was higher, your fortune far superior to mine; and had i then sought you, it might still have been to receive benefits at your hand. in your noble endurance of misfortune, it would have been an insult to have discharged my debt, and therefore i waited and prayed for some opportunity not only to do justice, but to evince gratitude. if i have made your child happy, and shortened the term of her heroic exertions, you owe it to yourself. i could not take from you even the full amount of this visit, regarding it merely as professional, for i owe you in actual money more than that.” mr. langley looked and expressed bewilderment; the doctor’s manner was too earnest to permit a doubt; but he tried in vain to recall to what he could allude.

“have you so completely forgotten willie murray, mr. edward?” continued his companion, much agitated. “willie murray, the poor boy you not only saved from sin, but made so happy by your generous kindness to his family. mr. langley, i am that boy; my character, my success i owe to you. how can such a debt ever be repaid?”

mr. langley’s astonishment was so great, as literally to deprive him for the moment of words. he only remembered willie murray as a pale, thin, intellectual boy of fifteen. to recognise him in the tall, stout, somewhat aged-looking man before him, required more imagination than he chanced to possess; but to doubt the identity was impossible. he grasped his hand warmly, and insisted on his giving him that very hour the history of his life. our readers, however, must be contented with a very brief sketch of these details. suffice it, that neither willie nor his father rose to independence without constant toil and unwearying perseverance. profiting by the trials of earlier years, the elder murray laboured with an energy and skill which, until his timely release from prison, had appeared foreign to his character. many difficulties he had to encounter; but once the manufactory established, competence was secured; and as his labour rather increased than slackened, fortune followed. his son’s marked preference for the medical profession grieved him at first, but he lived long enough to see that he had chosen wisely, and at his death left all his children comfortably provided for, each possessing a share in the manufactory which his energy had established. willie had always yearned to return to england, and did so directly he became a widower, his mother gladly accompanying him. he had finished his medical education in france, had a large practice in america, and, from his general intelligence, proved skill, and wide-handed benevolence, very speedily became popular in england. but amid all the chances and changes of his busy life, neither the fearful temptation of his boyhood nor edward langley’s generous kindness had ever been forgotten.

joyous indeed, and full of hope, was helen langley’s bridal morn, though neither pomp nor fashion attended it, such as might have been the case some few years before. on retiring to change her dress, helen found a heavy packet, directed to mrs. george ashley, on her table. it was a purse, containing three hundred sovereigns, with the following brief lines:—

“this is your father’s gift, though it comes through me. i do but return a sum lent by him to me and mine, with the accumulated interest of three-and-thirty years. it is now added to the store earned by helen langley’s meritorious exertions.”

“william murray.”

“mother!” exclaimed mr. langley, after perusing this note, and turning to his now aged parent with some emotion, “do you remember your words, when i told you the money was as freely given, and i expected as little reward as if i had thrown it on the waters, ‘that i should find it after many days?’ you were right, i have found it indeed!”