A stjpeeintendent of the olden bays, 
lie was lying insensible at the roadside, for he had 
procured the watch from the watchmaker, but he had 
not got it now, and knew nothing at all abont it. 
It must ha^e been stolen from him somehow, and bj 
somebody ; this was all he knew, and all the conclu- 
sion he could xome to. The neighbour was excessively 
annoyed, but what could be done ? He sent in a de- 
scription of the watch and its number to the Police 
Office, Kandy, caused enquiries to be made at all the 
jewellers’ shops, every likely place, but to this day— - 
and that is nearly thirty years agu ” — 'nothing has ever 
been heard of the watch. It was probably taken 
out of Mr. Kenneth’s pocket by some passer-by, and 
melted down in a crucible. Kenneth even refused to pay 
for the watch, but indeed no money payment could 
have replaced it ; it was the neighbour’s first watch ; a 
present from a near and dear relation. There is no- 
thing so bad however but what might have been worse, 
and when he felt bitterly about the loss of the watch, 
he congratulated himself on the £200. The neighbour 
now considered Mr Kenneth to be quite incorrigible; 
gave up saying anything to him at all, and plainly 
told hiiii he did not desire his company. Mr Kenneth 
as usual laughed, and one day came over with a 
bottle of brandy in his pocket, to use his own ex^- 
pression, to drink and be friends”; but the neigh- 
bour would neither drink nor be friends, so JMr Kenneth 
considered it his duty to drink it off as fast as pos- 
sible himself. A short time after he had done so, 
the neighbour called to the bungalow four coolies, 
and ordered them to take Mr Kenneth away to his own 
bungalow, which they did. Now this last exploit had 
made some talk about Kandy, and the whole story, with 
probably some exaggerations, reached the ear of Kenneth’s 
employer, who resided about sixteen miles from Kandy. 
He had begun to foe suspicious for some time, and at last 
his eyes were opened. He makes a rapid Journey to 
the estate, arrives unexpectedly, and finds Mr Kenneth 
tipsy, for he had now lapsed into that state, or stage, that 
he never was sober. His employer waenot too severe upon 
him ; he probably considered that he himself was 
somewhat to blame in having so wilfully shut his 
ears to all the statements that had for so long been 
reported to him. Ho gave Mr Kenneth a “month’s 
notice,” and hoped he would have all his accounts 
in order, and in order that he might not go wrong 
during this period some one else was put in su- 
pervision, and to keep watch. No need for this, how- 
<ever. Kenneth was an honest man ; his accounts were 
all right ; everything was right except himself. His only 
fault was bis special fault, he was not sinuular in this 
.respect A great number of people with this fault were 
