There are evidences of a day of better things; and prejudices, bigotries, social barriers are being gradually beaten down by advancing intelli

gence.

MY NEW FRIEND.

IN FOUR CHAPTERS.-CHAPTER II.

ACTING upon our friend's advice, and overborne perhaps by his energy, we told Lizzie to ask the applicant into the room in which we were seated, which, bad as it was, was by far the most presentable part of the house. The stranger was heard descending the stairs slowly, and apparently with caution; then he presented himself at the open door, and, in obedience to my invitation, entered and took a seat. He looked round slowly upon us, and then, fixing a large double eyeglass upon his nose, looked again. He was a stout man, apparently about sixty years of age, for his hair was gray, his whiskers quite white, and though at one time he must have been of powerful frame, he was now evidently somewhat feeble, as we could judge by the manner in which he seated himself and groaned slightly as he did so.

I am sorry to intrude upon you at this time of the evening, madam,' he began; but I noticed the bill in your window a few days ago, when I was in this neighbourhood. As I must reside somewhere in this vicinity, I should have called earlier; but I was not quite certain that an old friend could not accommodate me. I find now that he cannot do so, so have ventured to trouble you at this unusual hour.'

'Ah! I am afraid, sir, that an unfortunate change has put it out of my power to offer you suitable apartments,' I replied. "To be frank, sir, I have now not enough furniture for myself, instead of being able to spare any for my lodgers.' While I had been speaking, the old gentleman had dropped his eyeglass, and now, ere replying, he felt about for it in a helpless way, which would have been laughable if it had not been somewhat pitiful too. Adjusting it to his eyes again, he looked at us for a moment, then said: I don't want furnished apartments. I ought to have explained that at first. I have not long come home from abroad; and my only daughter, with whom I have been staying, has now gone with her husband to Australia; leaving me a little furniture, in case I like to keep on the house. But I don't like it; it won't suit me at all. I want a quiet lodging with a small family, where I can furnish my two rooms; taking my meals by myself, or with the family, as I please. I a quiet person, I think, rather an invalid, but no trouble; and I am willing to pay you rent for my rooms, and thirty shillings a week for my board.' His eyeglass tumbled down once more, and while he was fumbling for it-for he did not seem able to do anything without it Scate nudged me with his elbow, and gave a knowing wink.-'I thought it best to explain that I cannot afford very high terms, madam,' continued the old gentleman, addressing my wife, ' in order to save discussion. I have made a memo. of two other addresses which may suit, but should prefer to close without further trouble, as, being an invalid, I do not care about much worry. There is my card. He handed to Mr

am

Scate, who sat nearest to him, a card, from which the latter read aloud, 'Mr Daniel Chelps,' and then passed it to me.

'Mr Chelps,' exclaimed Scate, as if struck with a sudden thought, 'allow me to offer you some refreshment.' Mr Chelps, turning his head a little towards him, said: "Will you please to speak a trifle louder, sir? I am unfortunately a little hard of hearing.'

Scate loudly repeated his invitation; it was easier for him to speak loudly than in a subdued key.

'No, sir-no, sir!' returned the other with a sad smile. You have brandy there, I think, and the doctors won't allow me to touch anything but sherry.'

"Then, it's just the thing!' cried Scate; 'for this is sherry, and the best you'll find within five miles from this place, I'll bet.'

The old gentleman sipped the wine, smacked his lips approvingly, and said: 'And now, sir, we will proceed to business.-I do not see, madam, that the misfortune to which Mr Matley has alluded need make any difference in my plans. I am an old man, as you see, and merely want to be comfortable. I want, as I have said, to live where I can either mix with the family, or shut myself up in my own room, just as I please. I shall give no trouble; and though I cannot afford more than I said, my money is safe. I want to settle my plans to-night; and I must honestly own, that from some little information which I obtained in my first inquiries, a week or so back, I should prefer to come here to anywhere else I have heard of, believing I should be more comfortable.'

Finding him still willing to go on with the negotiations, I at once declared my anxiety to obtain a tenant, and although he asked a few questions, Mr Chelps made no difficulties, and it was arranged that he should take up his quarters with us on the following day. The effect of the sherry upon him was to open out his heart; for he grew so loquacious and discursive, that with very little encouragement he would have told us all about his married daughter who had gone to Australia; about the late Mrs Chelps, on whose worth he dilated, and to whose memory he wiped his eyes; and would, I believe, have furnished us with complete biographies of every relative he had ever possessed. We got rid of him chiefly through the tact of Mr Scate, who declared he was going to the street through which ran the omnibus the old gentleman wished to catch, and he offered his company, which the other very eagerly accepted.

Mr Chelps having no friends in the vicinity whom he cared about troubling in the matter, gave us the name of a firm somewhere down by the Docks as referees. I say 'somewhere down;' for I did not take the trouble, as I ought to have done, of going there to make the proper inquiries. He had done business with them, he said; and they had known him, at home and abroad, for years. He insisted on paying a deposit; and while he was settling this with my wife, and she was writing down the address of his reference, which was rather a tedious affair, as Mr Chelps's memory for names and addresses

did not appear to be very good, Mr Scate seized the opportunity of saying a few words in an under-tone to me.

'This is a lift!' he said. "You have let your place, and let it well too, I consider, to an old fellow with no wife or relative to bother you or give trouble. Didn't I tell you your luck would turn ?—and here it's turning like the tide. Tell your good little wife to keep up her spirits. I shall be round to-morrow night, and I expect to see my friends between this and then. I am sure to have something to tell you; and while you are waiting, if a five-pound note is of any service to you, it is ready at a moment's notice.Coming, sir!-quite ready.' This was in answer to Mr Chelps; and then the two left the room and the house together; Mr Scate turning at the last moment to favour us with a grin full of meaning.

It may be guessed that Susan and I sat up for some little time talking over the strange and unexpected events of the night; of our good fortune in securing such a lodger; and what a good thing, too, it was that he had not come a few days earlier, when he would have been subject to all the annoyance and turmoil of the sale. We could manage now, poor Susan thought, especially if I could contrive to obtain some employment, which I seemed likely to do through the disinterested kindness of Mr Scate. This latter recollection of course started another subject of conversation, and we could hardly say enough in praise of him. Yet it was plain we had each a secret but very real dislike to the man, which we sought to smother by continual laudation of him. It would have been ungrateful in the highest degree to utter a word which could reflect anything but praise of him-so we did not say it; but we found out that each thought unfavourably of him all the same.

Well, the morning came; and punctually at the time he had named, came Mr Chelps also, closely followed by a small van-load of furniture. We were pleased to see that this furniture was all in good condition; was, in fact, almost or quite new, so bright and shining was everything. He explained, on our remarking upon this, that his married daughter who had gone to Australia, had furnished some rooms entirely for him, just before she knew she was going, and that her departure was very sudden. He was as chatty as before, having a nice sympathising way, which won very much upon Susan, who was greatly taken with him.

The deposit he had left in my wife's hands had enabled us to purchase one or two necessities, and even luxuries; and in the evening Mr Chelps joined us at tea, and was so cheerful in his conversation, and so full of queer little anecdotes, that he quite led us away from our own troubles, until he brought them back by asking, but in a very nice way too, what I thought of doing in the future. I told him that so far as my own resources and influence were concerned, I had little prospect of doing any good, but that a friend an entirely new friend, indeed-Mr Scate, the gentleman whom he had seen on the previous evening, had most generously, most unexpectedly come forward, and had almost obtained the promise of a situation for me. As in duty bound, Susan and I here broke into praise

of Mr Scate, and told how he had been an entire stranger, and how he was the only one who showed anything like a kindly feeling towards us.

While I was talking, and while Susan was talking, Mr Chelps listened with great intentness; but it was difficult to avoid a smile when I saw him put up his double eyeglass, as though he listened with it; and then, when it fell off, as it was continually doing, the helpless way in which he would grope about for it, was more comical still. We raised our voices at first when speaking to him; but he told us there was no occasion for this with us, as, when persons spoke clearly and distinctly, he could hear them much better than he could those who bawled at him. He was very much interested in our account of Mr Scate, in whom he declared he had taken an interest at first sight.

Very soon after this, the latter's loud knock was heard; and then Mr Scate was immediately shown in. Mr Chelps rose as he entered, and after a very friendly bow to the visitor, said to us: 'I shall be down again in a few minutes, Mr Matley, when, if you will allow me, I will sit for half-an-hour and have a chat with Mr Scate and yourselves.' Of course we all said we should be much pleased if he would join us, Mr Scate probably being the most emphatic of the three; and the old gentleman toddled slowly up-stairs.

Scate listened to his retreating footsteps with a knowing look, until he was satisfied Mr Chelps was out of hearing; then turning to us with the grin and wink so customary with him, said: 'You've got the old boy all right then?--You will always recollect, Mrs Matley, that I said at the first moment "he would do."' My wife assured him she should always remember this; and then Mr Scate proposed that we should sit down and talk business.

He at once said he had seen the friends from whom he hoped so much, and that they were quite willing to engage me, so that I might expect to hear from them in a few days. If I did join them, I should find it somewhat better than drudging on in a miserable office as clerk. His friends did not go in much for clerks-no, no; that was not their game. On hearing this, I naturally inquired in what their game,' as he styled it, consisted; but although he launched out into copious praise of their liberality, and admiration of their extensive transactions, I could not understand what kind of business they carried on, or what particular situation I was likely to fill. Yet he kept on talking about the firm, and congratulating me upon my good fortune in securing a position with them, and glancing at the confidence they reposed in him, as shown by their accepting a stranger on his recommendation, until I heard Mr Chelps's slow lumbering step approaching.

I called his attention to this, and said that we perhaps had better go up-stairs into the parlour, dismantled as it was, for a short time, in order that we might for a few minutes more speak uninterruptedly. Scate reflected for an instant, then exclaimed: "O no. Never mind the old fellow! I shan't say anything that I don't want him to hear. I shan't let him know too much, believe me. Besides, he is rather good fun, and I like to watch him.-Hush! here

he is. Ha! Mr Chelps,' he cried, with an assumption of the heartiest good-fellowship, as the old gentleman entered the room, 'how are you now?'

Mr Chelps, as he came in, answered the salutation frankly; and then Mr Scate proceeded to repeat the information he had just given to us. While Mr Scate was telling all this to Mr Chelps, my wife left us, to superintend Lizzie in her domestic operations.

Mr Chelps's mind still ran on my affairs; and as the evening wore on, he plied Mr Scate with very direct questions, such as I much wished to ask, but lacked the courage to do. Mr Scate was at first as vague with him as he had been with me; but under the pressure of the old gentleman's repeated inquiries, he eventually explained that his friends were general agents and miscellaneous merchants,' who bought and sold all kinds of goods for all markets, home and foreign. Anything, anywhere, they would buy if it were cheap and saleable; and would sell at the smallest profit to do business quickly. That, their business being rather peculiar, they preferred to conduct it by agents on whom they could rely-Such as our friend here, Mr Matley,' he said-'to having a central office, as other merchants did. They always bought for ready-money, which gave them a command of the market, so far as needy venders were concerned, so that they could often obtain goods at much less than the cost of production. This applied as much to foreign manufacturers as to English. When they gave short bills to foreigners, they would always discount them themselves if required. They reckoned on a dividend of forty per cent. every year.'

The eyes of Mr Chelps twinkled and glistened more than ever as he listened to this, until finally he said, that the idea seemed so good, so feasible, and so profitable, that having a great deal of time on his hands, and some spare capital by him, he

was more than half inclined to set on foot something of the kind himself. At this Mr Scate's eyes twinkled and glistened even more than those of the old gentleman, and he said that, with his influence, it was not impossible but that Mr Chelps might be admitted to take a small share in this very business. A most difficult thing to be done, I assure you,' said he; 'for they won't look at outsiders as a rule-turn away thousands after thousands every year, that people are almost going down on their knees and asking them to take. Yet, with my recommendation, perhaps- But how much could you invest?' he said abruptly.

'Not a great deal-not more than eleven or twelve hundred pounds, which, by-the-by, is already invested,' returned Chelps, who seemed by his tone to admit the contemptible smallness of the sum he spoke of. 'All the rest is in houses, with a few ground-rents.'

Well, never mind; I will see what I can do about it,' returned Scate. 'When can you get at your money? I ask, because I know they are making a lot of purchases, so now will be the time.' As soon as you please after the first of next month,' replied Chelps. That is not very far off. What name did you say your firm's was?'

man not to go any further with his inquiries at present, until he knew whether there would be any chance of his money being used. But Chelps by this time was in no mood to be put off or evaded, and he determined to have their names, if only to wish success to the venture.

'Bunner, Wreggs, and Carrowble, that's them,' said Mr Scate at last; and then he went on to explain that the time named by Mr Chelps was the most auspicious he could possibly have chosen for his money to be accepted, and this being the case, he would not lose a day in breaking the matter to his firm.

This so delighted Mr Chelps, that he insisted upon our having a friendly glass of something hot, which was immediately sent for, and actually proposed to sing a song, on condition that Mr Scate would help in the chorus. This the latter unhesitatingly promised to do; and Mr Chelps began My Pretty Jane, and sang it through, while Mr Scate repeated the last part of each verse in conjunction with him, as a chorus ! Anything more awful in the way of singing I never heard; I should think nothing more awful ever was heard. Then, after a little more discussion of business matters, Mr Scate left, with many a shake of the hand from Mr Chelps, and protestations of the warmest friendship on both sides.

I think I have said that Mr Chelps's conversation was on this evening more than usually cheerful and interesting; but directly Mr Scate had left, he seemed to fall back into his natural manner. Noticing this, I did not find my liking for Mr Scate increased; in fact, it was as much as I could do to avoid thoroughly disrelishing him, in spite of the benefit he was conferring upon me and the trouble he was taking in my behalf.

THE articles on the above subject, which appeared in this Journal on March 19, July 23, and August 20, 1881, seem to have created interest both at home and abroad. Many people have cheerfully, and even enthusiastically accepted the tea and silk enterprise as one well suited to the age and locality. It has also occurred to the Councils of two of our learned Societies that an impetus might be given to the movement one way or other, if papers on the subject were read before their members, or contributed to the pages of their Transactions. Accordingly, on the 31st of January, this year, the Society of Arts, London, listened to and discussed an essay; and in April the annual volumes of the Highland and Agricul tural Society of Scotland (Edinburgh) contained a contribution on the same topic.

Among the encouraging symptoms which the proposed enterprise has elicited, it may not prove uninteresting to allude to one or two. By a New Zealand newspaper, the Thames Advertiser of January 28, we are informed that at a public meeting held in the north of Auckland it was decided to form a joint-stock Company to commence silk-culture in that district on a commercial scale, and that four hundred shares were subscribed for in the room.

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