I^oh) Ci}ty Cotirtctl. 119 



companion, who was, of course, a confederate, must, 

 during that Httle walk, have gained some shght 

 insight into the mysteries of love-making, even if, 

 as I much doubt, she had been previously totally 

 untutored in, and ignorant of the art. To be brief, 

 it was simply the old, old story over again of loving 

 vows exchanged ; and when the Church door was 

 reached, and the last parting words had been spoken, 

 each felt as supremely miserable as was natural under 

 the circumstances, for in a very few weeks they knew 

 that they were destined to be separated by as many 

 thousand miles. Charley had not, however, been 

 more than six months abroad ere he was summoned 

 to return forthwith, on account of his father's severe 

 and sudden illness ; and on his arrival, after a rough 

 and tedious voyage, at Devonport, he found a telegram 

 awaiting him, acquainting him with the worst, which, 

 in his case, commercially speaking, made him the 

 possessor of a rent roll of some -^2,000 per annum, 

 instead of, as hitherto, the needy controller of an 

 allowance of as many hundreds. Letters of sym- 

 pathy, of course, poured in to his mother and himself; 

 and, as a matter of fact, in the sincere sorrow he felt 

 for the loss of an affectionate and beloved father, 

 the matters I have referred to above scarcely entered 

 his thoughts. 



Having, therefore, conscientiously transacted all 



