saw the whole family crying and fainting away in every direction! Mrs. Crewler couldn’t see me before we left — couldn’t forgive me, then, for depriving her of her child — but she is a good creature, and has done so since.

I had a delightful letter from her, only this morning.’

‘And in short, my dear friend,’ said I, ‘you feel as blest as you deserve to feel!’

‘Oh! That’s your partiality!’ laughed Traddles. ‘But, indeed, I am in a most enviable state. I work hard, and read Law insatiably. I get up at five every morning, and don’t mind it at all. I hide the girls in the daytime, and make merry with them in the evening.