The Novelist.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 318, 16 March 1878, Page 4

The Novelist.

SOLOMON ISAACS, A CHRISTMAS STORY. By B. L. Farjeon.

Chapter Nil.—Solomon Isaacs makes a Proposition to Rachel. Finding that Moses Levy would not speak, Solomon Isaacs was compelled once more to break the silence. In an injured tone he asked, “ Ain’t you pleased to see me, Mo . Moses Levy return a qualified answer. “ I ain always pleased to see my friends. , “I’d ’ave been ’ere before, but I couldn’t find time. I’ve come now on a little bit of business. Business is always agreeable, eh, Mo ?” Always agreeable !” “ I didn’t suppose you came on a little bit of pleasure,” replied Moses Levy, pointedly waiving the agreeable aspect of the visit ; though you have been glad to do that, now and then, you remember.” “Yes, yes,” said Solomon Isaacs, turning his largest diamond to the light and admiring the brillancy of the stone ; “but times is changed now, times is changed !” “They are, indeed,” responded Moses Levy. “ And we must go with ’em ; we’ve got to go with ’em—eh ?” “ You know best, Mr. Isaacs.” “Of course I do, of course I do. Im a rich man now”—and Solomon Isaacs would have proceeded to dilate upon his riches but that Moses Levy, mildly and firmly, arrested the arragent current with, “ Never mind that if you please.” “ Oh, a.s you like !” blustered Solomon Isaacs ; “I don’t want to force it on you.” “ Thank you. Will you be kind enough, to let me know the little bit of business you ve come upon?” Thus challenged, Solomon Isaacs turned to Rachel, and addressed her in a tone of whining familiarity. “ Rachel, I want to say something private to your father. ’Adn’t you better leave the room, my dear ?” Rachel raised her eyes pleadingly to her father’s face, and said to him without uttering a tvord—eyes can on occasion speak more eloquently than words—“ He is going to speak about Leon. Do not send me away ; let me stay.” “ Yes, my child,” said Moses Levy, in answer to the silent appeal, “ you can stay. There is not the slightest occasion fer you to go.” “As a particular favor, Rachel !” said Solomon Isaacs ; I arks it as a particular favor !” Rachel did not look at him ; her eyes were still directed towards her father, waiting for a fuller expression of his wish. “ Mr. Isaacs,” continued Moses Levy steadily, “ has been in the habit of coming here night after night, ever since you were born Rachel ; he has been in this room hundreds of times, and never a word has passed between us that I should be sorry for you to hear. What he has to say now he can say before you, if he is not ashamed.” “ Ashamed !” cried Solomon Isaacs. “ You must blame yourself for making me speak the word,” said Moses. Levy, with .a grave motion of his hands ; “ if I have used it wrongly, I beg your pardon.” “ But, Mo !” still urged Solomon Isaacs. “ Call me Mr. Levy,” said Moses Levy with a touch of pride ; “it will sound much better as things are. And as for Rachel, it is my desire that she should not leave the room. So, as your time must be very precious now that yom»Te a rich man, you had best come at once to your little bit of business. It was evident that delicacy of feeling was thrown away upon such an obstinate old man as Moses Levy, and Solomon Isaacs had no alternative but to speak in the presence of Rachel, who had auietly resumed her work. “ Well/then, Mo ” “ Mr. Levy, if you please,” again interrupted Moses Levy. ; “ Well, then, Mr. Levy,’ cried Solomon Isaacs, firing up at Moses Levy’s obstinacy, but cooling down immediately at the thought that if he spoke in anger he might not be able to accomplish his purpose. “ It’s best to speak plain, ain’t it ?” “ Surely, surely !” said Moses Levy, with a significant glance at the rich man ; plain and honest speaking, like plain and honest dealing, is the best.” “ Jist my motto ! No ’umbug, you know ; come to the point, you know ! Since I’ve got rich—no offence in mentioning it, I ’ope ?” and Solomon Isaacs broke off suddenly, thinking he had made a good hit. M “ It’s no offence to me, if it’s none to you. “ You’re very good. I can’t say ow much obliged to you I am.” “ Don’t then.”

“ Don’t what ?” exclaimed Solomon Isaacs, not knowing from Moses Levy’s impenetrable manner, whether his arrows were taking effect. “ Don’t say how much obliged to me you are,” replied Moses Levy. Solomon Isaacs felt as though he would have liked to throw something at Moses Levy’s head. “You exasperate me so,” he cried, “ that I don’t know where I am ! Where was I ? ’ “Since you grew rich,” prompted Moses Levy. “ Yes, yes, that’s it. Since I’ve got rich, I’ve been thinking a good deal. When a—a gentleman ain’t got no longer to go out with ’is bag for a living, he can’t ’elp thinking of all sorts of things, can he ?” A happy illustration occurred to him here. “ When a old suit of clothes is worn out, and you’ve got no more use for ’em, you throw ’em away or sell ’em, you know.” “ And when old friends,” added Moses Levy, continuing the illustration, “ are, as you say, worn out and you have no further use for them, do you throw them away or sell them ? “ Ha, ha !” chuckled Solomon Isaacs ; “ you will ’ave your joke, Mo, you will 'ave your joke.”

“My joke !” echoed Moses Levy sadly. “Among other things,” said Solomon Isaacs, “ I’ve been thinking of Leon, and what’s open to ’im now that he’ll come into money.” He watched M.oses Levy’s face narrowly, to see how this was received. “Go on, Mr. Isaacs,” said Moses Levy quietly. “ Well, this is ’ow it is. There’s a sort of a a, kind of a—you know what I mean—between Leon and Rachel.” “ I don’t know what you mean,” said Moses Levy ; his heart was bleeding in his daughter’s cause, but he was at the same time obstinately bent rrpon compelling Solomon to speak plainly. Another opportunity might not be afforded to him of acertaining exactly how the ground lay. “ A. kind of a—a sort of a—what, between Leon and Rachel ?”

“You know, Mo—Mr. Levy I mean— a sort of engagement.” “ I can’t say that I exactly understand you,” said Moses Levy, his hands tightly clasped. “ There is no question as to the engagement between my daughter and your son. There is an absolute and not-to-be disputed engagement Rachel, my dear, you can leave the room, if you wish.” “No, father,” said Rachel, in as steady a voice as she could command. “ I will stay, if you please.” “ Very good, my dear ; go on with your work.” He was fearful that if he watched her too closely, she might break down, and he therefore turned his attention to his visitor. He had a duty to perform towards his daughter. He was her champion, her defender, her only friend, and his eyes kindled as they fell, upon the hard face of the man who sat opposite to him. “ There is as I have said an absolute and positive engagement between my child and yours. They sat for joy in this very room ; you were present the whole of the day, and shook hands with every one who came to congratulate us upon what I hoped would prove the happiness of my child’s life. You have no intention of denying this, I suppose ?” “ I ain’t a-going to deny it. I’ve come ’ere for your good, and Rachel’s.” “ I hope so, Mr. Isaacs,” said Moses Levy more mildly. “ If you’ll only listen to reason ! You’re old enough to know the ways of the world, but you talk like a babby,—as if you were born yesterday !”. (So ill at ease was Solomon Isaacs as he administered this rebuke, that in his nervousness lie plucked the button from one of the gloves—color, invisible green in which his large coarse hands were incased.) “ Can’t you see ’ow it is yourself ? When you was poor and I was poor, it was all very well ; but now that I’m rich, things is different to what they was. Leon can look ’igher than Rachel, who is a good girl—oh, yes, a good girl ! I’m not a-going to speak agin ’er, for I’ve always been fond of ’er, and she wouldn’t stand in Leon’s way. She knows ’er position, and —and ” And here Solomon Isaacs’ voice trailed off like a clock that had been overwound, and had come to a gradual stop. The color had flushed into Moses Levy’s face, and Rachel’s head had dropped lower, lower over her work, upon whieh her tears were falling. “Yes, Mr. Isaacs,” said Moses Levy, “Rachel knows her position. You are quite right there. Has that anything to do witli the business you have come upon ?” “ Of course it ’as. Rachel’s been properly brought up, and ’as feelings ; I’ve thought a good°deal of that. Oh, yes—Rachel 'as feelings ! Now, what will people say about Rachel when they know that she wants to marry Leon for ’is money—that she wants to marry ’im because he’s rich ? What will people say —eh ? All sorts of nasty things—all sorts of nasty things ! And Rachel’s too proud a girl, I’m sure—ain’t you, my dear ?—to stand it.” No sound came from Rachel’s lips iu response. Her tear-stained face was hidden both from the man who loved her more dearly than his own life, and the man who was conspiring against her happiness. Her fingers were idle now—indeed, she could not see her work, for her tears were blinding her—and they trembled so that, even if her eyes had been clear, she would have made but a clumsy job of her stitches. Meses Levy leant forward to her, and with a firm, fond clasp of her hand, whispered, “ Keep up your courage, my dear—don’t break down before him. I, your father, will speak for you.” Then he said aloud, “ When Leon and Rachel were engaged, Mr. Isaacs, there was no question of money between them. It was known that I was a poor man, and I told Leon that Rachel had not a penny not a penny. He was quite satisfied. He said he wanted nothing with my daughter—he wanted only her.” “That was then,” said Solomon Isaacs testily, “ and then ain’t now.” “ I believed —everybody believed—that Leon was quite as poor as Rachel is. If there was any advantage on either side—God forbid I should say there was ! —but if calculating persons had at that time reckoned up what they mio-ht have considered advantages, the balance of °good fortune would have fallen to Leon’s share in having won the love of my daughter. It was not a question of money—it was a question of love.” “ Love !” sneered Solomon Isaacs. Kubbish —rubbish !” “ That is your creed—it is not mine. Anyhow, I did not welcome Leon here for anything but himself and his good qualities. I did not ask him to come—which does not mean that I was not glad to see him, and that I did not feel towards him as I would have felt towards a son of ray own. He came after Rachel ; Rachel did not go after him—-although,” added Moses Levy, in the words a patriarch of old might have used, “ Rachel’s heart went out to him, and she -was ready to follow him, even as Rebecca followed Isaac.” “ I daresay, I daresay,” responded Solomon Isaacs, displaying infinite patience in his con-

duct of this delicate matter. “ But then it was water and water ; now, it’s water and wine.”

“ Which is the water, and which the wine, Mr. Isaacs ?”

“ What a question ! Are you out of your mind ? Water you can git for nothing ; but you can’t pump wine out of a well, and when it rains you know what goes into your waterbutt. I say agin—think of what people’ll say when they know that Rachel wants to marry Leon for ’is money !” “If they know anything of the sort, it will be a false knowledge, and as for what might fall from wicked tongues, under any circumstances —though, out of this room I’ve heard nothing as yet that Rachel would be sorry to hear—you know, Mr. Isaacs, that you can’t keep people from saying ill-natured things. There’s that man the Vampire, that you had the quarel with when you tried to sell your bag. You’d be astonished to hear the nasty things he has said about you since you left Spitalfields.” “The Irish thief !” cried Solomon Isaacs in a fury ; “he tried to swindle me, he did ! He may thank ’is stars I didn’t ’ave the law of ’im. I could ruin ’im, the thief, I could ?”

“ Don’t you think, therefore,” remarked Moses Levy, “ that we had best leave off talking of what people choose to say of us ? Have nt we troubles enough already, without making another trouble of that ? The best judge we can have is our conscience.” “So it is, so it is. That is what I want Rachel to consider.” “ She will consider it ; and now, as I suppose you have said all that you came here to say, let us wish each other good-night, and leave everything else to be settled when Leon comes home from Germany.” Moses Levy made this suggestion from his conviction that no good result would be achieved by continuing the interview, and in the belief that Solomon Isaacs had really nothing more to say. He was soon uudeceived.” “There you go,” exclaimed Solomon Isaacs ; “ flying off* agin before I’ve commenced what I want to speak about !” “ Indeed ! Had you not better come to the point at once, then ?” “To be sure—yes, yes—that’s sensible. Well, Mrs. Isaacs and me ’as talked it over, and wo’ve thought it best to make a proposition.” “ A proposition !” echoed Moses Levy, clutching the arms of his chair. . “Yes, a proposition —a sensible, business proposition. It stands to reason, don t it, AIo ? Mr. Levy I mean—that as things is, Leon can’t marry Rachel, and Rachel’s too good a girl, too good and sensible a girl, to want to marry Leon now that nasty remarks ’ll be sure to be thrown in ’er face. But right’s right oh, you’ll find I mean to act straight and honest ! Rachel ’ll be a little disappointed at first, perhaps, at losing a chance. Not that there’s not as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it. Rachel’s a good-looking girl, and there’s a ’undred young chaps as’d be glad to "ave ’er j and I’m going to make it up to er, ’andsomc, Mo, ’andsome ! I daresay she d like a new silk dress, and a gold watch and chain, and a ring—and —and —the long and the short of it is that if you and Rachel ’ll sign this paper, only jist put your names to it, I’ll give you fifty pounds—there ! —not a cheque, Mo, or bank-notes, but gold —fifty golden sovereigns ’ere this very minute, on this very table !” Solomon Isaacs took from his breast pocket, very near his heart, a little chamois-leather bag, tightly strangled at the neck, filled with sovereigns, and plumped it upon the table, so that the full rich sound might convey its proper meaning to the ears of Rachel and her father. But though he danced it upon the table, and dandled it with as much pride and affection as he might have exhibited had it been his own flesh and blood, he kept a firm hold of the little bag, lest either Moses Levy or Rachel should snatch it from him, and run away with the precious treasure. In one hand he held the gold, close to him ; in his other hand he held the paper, for the signing of which he was ready to pay so handsome a sum. Strange to say, Moses Levy evinced no immediate anxiety to examine the document which Solomon Isaacs held towards him, and for a little while neither moved nor spoke. “It is only fair to us,” he said presently, that we should know the exact truth. . “ That’s what I want you to know,’’said Solomon Isaacs, congratulating himself upon the absence of passion in Moses Levy’s voice. “ You think it would be wrong, notwithstanding what has passed between them, that Rachel should desire to marry Leon ?” “ She wouldn’t desire no such a thing. She’s too proud a girl—too proud a girl.” “ Answer my question, if you please, Mr. Isaacs. You think it would be wrong ?” “You’re as good as a lawyer, Mo. Yes, I think it would be wrong. It stands to reason. ’ “ Mrs. Isaacs also thinks so ?” “ Of course she does.”

“She has said as much? One moment, please,” stopping the answer he saw rising to Solomon Isaacs’ lips. “ I might take it into my head to go to Mrs. Isaacs, and ask her the question myself, if I saw any reason to doubt.” “Well, then,” said Solomon Isaacs, with prudent candor, “ she ain’t said so exactly ; but she thinks so—she can’t think different.”

“Then it isn’t quite true that you and Mrs. Isaacs have talked it over as you said just now ? ” “ Well, not exactly talked it over, Mo ; I ain’t going to deceive you —but I ought to know my own wife by this time.” “ You ought to —yes.” “ It’s what she would say, then, if we ’ad talked it over. There’s no doubt of that.” “ You didn’t show her the little bag of money you have there ?” “ There was no call to show s er,” said Solomon Isaacs, beginning to experience some slight annoyance at this string of questions. “ So that we know exactly how the matter stands,” remarked Moses Levy, taking the paper which Solomon Isaacs wished them to sign.

It was a carefully-worded document, drawn up by Solomon Isaacs’ lawyer, in which Rachel Levy, for the consideration of fifty pounds current coin of the realm, the receipt of which she acknowledged, released Leon Isaacs from his engagement with her. “ And this is your little piece of business?” said Moses Levy, after a silent perusal of the release.

“ Yes, Mo, yes !” replied Solomon Isaacs, rubbing his hands in satisfaction. Everything was right ; there was no scene, no bullying. Moses Levy was, to all appearance, calm and composed, and no word escaped from Rachel’s lips. Her bosom l’ose and fell tumultuously, but nothing could be more natural than such emotion, undoubtedly produced by the startling prospect of coming into so much money. There crept into Solomon Isaacs mind, now that the matter was about to be satisfactorily setted, a feeling of remorse that he had offered so much. Fifty pounds ! he was a fool —a fool ! Why had he not offered twenty-five ? It would have done the business quite as well as fifty. “Mo Levy’s a thief !” he thought, with a troubled heart ; he’s a thief ! He’s robbing me of twenty-five pound!” “Are you sure,” said Moses Levy, “that you have not given me the wrong paper ?” The chance shot took effect, for it happened that Solomon Isaacs had carried away from his laAvyer’s two documents, closely resembling each other in appearance, but entirely different in the nature of their contents. “ Let me see it !” he cried, in alarm, snatching the paper away from Moses Levy’s hands. “No, no ; it’s the right ’un ; I put a thumb mark in the corner ’ere, so that I should know it agin !” The unmistakable mark of a broad and dirty thumb was there ! but Solomon Isaacs, gazing at his sign-manual, was still haunted by a misgiving that he might have smudged the wrong document. The contents did not enlighten him, being as so much Greek in his eyes. “ Read it to Rachel,” said Moses Levy, with a pardonable touch of spiteful satire. “But I forgot ; you are not able to read. Rachel, my dear, listen to me. This is a paper which Mr. Isaacs wishes you to sign, by which act you release Leon from his engagement with you, and leave him free to marry whom he pleases. For signing this release, Mr. Isaacs is ready to give you fifty sovereigns—he has the money in the little bag he is dancing on the table. I see that Mr. Isaacs’ lawyer has written R. L. with a pencil to show you where your name is to go ; and here is M. L. in pencil, in the place my name is to go. lam to witness your signature, my dear. Do you understand ?” “ Yes, father.” “ Mr. Isaacs is anxious that the matter should be placed clearly before you, and that you should know the exact truth —are you not, Mr. Isaacs ?”

“Certainly, Mo, certainly,” replied Solomon Isaacs, with a wistful, hungry look at the bag ®f gold. “ Therefore, Rachel, it is right I should tell you what Mr. Isaacs has forgotten to mention. He is afraid that you might bring an action for breach of promise against Leon.” “ No, Mo, I give you my word !” remonstrated Solomon Isaacs, raising his hands in astonishment at the suggestion. “ And,” continued Moses Levy, taking no notice of the interruption, “ Mr. Isaacs does not relish the idea of going to law. Such ugly things come out when a man’s in the witnessbox ! Think carefully of everything, Rachel. Think of the effect it will have upon Leon when Mr. Isaacs tells him you have taken money to give him up; and at the same time, my dear, don’t forget the gold watch and chain, and the silk dress, and the other nice things you can buy for the money—for it will be yours, my dear, not mine. Take time, Rachel, before you decide.” Not a muscle in Rachel Levy’s face had stix-red during the explanation. In a voice almost as calm as her father’s, she said, “ Does Leon know of this, father ?” “ Does Leon know of this, Mr. Isaacs ?” repeated Moses Levy. “ Yes —no ! I won’t tell a lie, Mo. Leon is away in Germany, you know.” For the first time that evening, Rachel turned towards Solomon Isaacs, and looked him steadily in the face. His lips twitched as the pure light of her truthful eyes fell upon them, and he plucked the button off his other glove in his nervousness. “You are a rich man, sir,” said Rachel, and Leon’s father ; but if I thought that Leon’s heart was like yours, and that it could be so hard and cruel, I should be even more unhappy than you have made me.” “ What do you mean ? What does she mean?” stammered Solomon Isaacs, confounded at this change in the aspect of affairs. “She means this, Solomon Isaacs,” exclaimed Moses Levy j “ be silent, Rachel, my dear , I will say the rest. She means this—that you re a contemptible, rascally ! But no, I will not say it, because of Leon and Rachel. I I don’t want to fox get myself, so take yourself, and your new clothes, and your diamond rings, and vour bag of money, out of my room at oncel Take them out, I say, and never show your face here again, unless it is to beg pardon of my child ?” . Solomon Isaacs grew scarlet in the face. “ I wash my ’ands of you !” he cried, as he rose, trembling with passion. “You—you beggar !” _ “ Yes, I am a beggar,” said Moses Levy, also rising and speaking with dignity—he afterwards declared that he was astonished he had been able to keep himself cool ; “ and you are a rich man. But I wouldn’t change places with you were your money multiplied a thousandfold. I would like to be rich, not for my own sake, but for my child’s”—(his hand was resting on her head, as if in the act of blessing her)—“ but I would not care to grow so in the way you have done if a tenth part of what I have heard is true. You and I are old men, and must soon die —but I think my deathbed will be happier than yours, poor as I am, rich as you are. You can’t take your diamonds with you to the grave. Naked shall you stand before the Glory of God, and by your deeds shall you be judged !”

Chapter XIII. —Solomon Isaacs Changes his Name. Solomon Isaacs strove to put the words addressed to him by Moses Levy entirely out of his mind. IJpon his return home Mrs. Isaacs was in bed, and as the game had gone against him, no impulse came upon him to awake her, for the purpose of relating how it had been played. The next morning other matters occupied his attention, among them being' the important announcement of Leon’s early return. The young man’s employers told Solomon Isaacs they expected him in a couple of days, and as Leon’s first business was with them, Solomon Isaacs left his new address for his son, desiring him to come at once to the grand house in the West-end which was henceforth to be Lis home. Two days afterwards Leon arrived. His train was l?.te, and his interview with his employers delayed him until nearly midnight. As the son of a rich man, they received him at their private house, and before he left he was informed of the change that had taken place in his father’s circumstances. “ But why has he been so secret about it ?” inquired Leon. “ I have been away now nearly four months, and this is the first word I have heard.” “ Your father wished to surprise you,” they replied. “ He has surprised me,” was Leon’s remark, as he wished his employers good-night, in a somewhat bewildered mood. Why had Rachel not written to him about it ? What was the reason of all this mystery ? These were the questions that perplexed the young man’s mind. It was nearly midnight, and therefore too late to go to Spitalfields, so he had no option but to drive straight to his father’s house.

His mother and father were waiting up for him. The door was opened by a solemn individual in silk stockings and a powdered wig, at whom Leon burst out laughing, as much from nervousness as from a sense of humor. His nerves were so highly strung that any trifle would have driven him either into a fit of crying or laughing. “ Where is my father ?” asked Leon. “ Hup-stairs, sir,” replied the footman, not a muscle in his face moving. Mrs. Isaacs wanted to run down when she heard Leon’s ring at the door, but her husband bade her sit still. “ We must do the thing fashionable,” he said. “ We mustn’t expose ourselves to the servants.” So, when Leon entered the drawing-room, he beheld his parents sitting bolt upright in gilt chairs, from which they did not move until the servant shut the door upon them. In the passage, and alone, that functionary’s proceedings were worth seeing. Gavarni or Leech would have been delighted at the study. His face broadened in laughing lines, Lis eyes twinkled with merriment, he rubbed his plush breeches, he twisted himself about in the most extraordinary way. Not a sound escaped him; he went through the impromptu programme in dead silence, and stepped into the pantry with a cat’s step, shaking with laughter. Leon’s parents were dressed in their finest clothes ; both wore gloves ; his mother had a feather stuck in her hair ; his father wore a fashionable dressing-gown, with gold tassels, and a smoking-cap perched on one side of his head. These small matters of detail were the invention of Solomon Isaacs ; lie kept his eyes open'in his new sphere of life, and knew the correct thing to do. He lucked rakish and foolish ; Mrs. Isaacs was trembling and agi-

tated ; her only desire was to throw her arms round her boy’s neck, and clasp him to her bosom. “ Well, Leon,” said Solomon Isaacs, observing with satisfaction the expression of wonder on his son’s face. “Well, father,” said Leon —and would have said Heaven knows what in his bewilderment, had not a look of alarm on his father’s lips arrested his words. “ Supper is served, sir,” said a voice behind him. It was another footman, acting according to his instructions, but entering a minute sooner than he wqs expected by his master. Solomon Isaacs was afraid of Iris grand servants, and was apprehensive that Loon might say something that would compromise him in the eyes of his domestics. “I don’t want any supper,” said Leon, motioning the servant out of the room with an impatient wave of his hand. “ What is the meaning of all this, father ?” “ Can’t you see ?” answered Solomon Isaacs. “ We’re rich now, and moving in a different spear.” “ All right,” exclaimed Leon, shrugging his shoulders ; “ you can tell me everything tomorrow. Mother, give me a kiss, and take that absurd feather out of your head. Goodnight, father. I’m tired, and I’m going to bed. What are you ringing for ?” “ For the servant to show you your room,” replied Solomon Isaacs, somewhat abashed. “ Mother will show it to me. Good-night.” In the bedroom his mother told him a good deal ; he listened patiently, and took advantage of a pause by inquiring after Rachel and Moses. “I’ll tell you all about ’em to morrow, Leon,” said Mrs. Isaacs. “Go to sleep, now ; there’s jour father a-calling of me.”

Bor the first time in her life she felt unhappy and uncomfortable in the presence of her son. In the morning she was in his room before he was awake. When he opened his eyes, the sun was pouring in at the window, and his mother was sitting by his bedside. “ Why, mother,” said Leon, drawing her down to him, and kissing her, “ it must be late.” “ It’s past eleven, Leon,” said Mrs. Isaacs. But don’t ’urry up. You must be dreadful tired after your long journey. ’Ere’s some letters for you. When you’re dressed, get your breakfast—l’ve ’ad mine hours ago—and then come to us, and we’ll ’ave a long, long talk.” Leon was satisfied with this arrangement, and allowed his mother to leave the room without inquiring about Rachel. In a lazy mood he looked at the letters his mother had placed on the bed. An exclamation of gladness escaped him as on one of the envelopes he recognised Rachel’s handwriting. He opened it eagerly, and read : “ My dear Leon, — Since I last saw you so many strange things have occurred that I scarcely know how to write to you. Aud yet I have a duty to perform which must be performed, notwithstanding the pain it gives me. When we were first engaged, our circumstances were equal, aud we were both poor. Some time ago, however, we were all surprised to hear that your father had grown rich. I was a little bit afraid of the news, I must confess, for I know the difference that money makes in people. It has made a great difference in your father. You know he used to come to outplace twice a week to play eribbage with my dear father, but from the moment that lie was rich ho never came near us until the night before last. I am sorry to have to tell you tlio purpose for which he came, but I am compelled

to do so by truth and respect for myself and my own dear father. He said that now you were rich it would not be right for you to marry a poor girl like me, and that he was sure I would not stand in your way. I would not stand in your way, Leon, for worlds, although I believe if I was somehow to grow suddenly rich, and you remained poor, it would be my best pleasure to come to you and say, “ Here, Leon, here is my money —-it is yours, and I only hope it will make us happier than I am sure we .should have been without it 1” But, then, that is all fancy, and I only write it because it is in my thoughts, and because I think it right that you should know something of what is in my mind. Your father, after a good deal of hesitation, then asked me to sign a paper releasing you from our engagement, and offered me fifty sovereigns if I would do it. Eifty sovereigns ! Why it would more than furnish the rooms we were to live in when we were married ! But I was hurt and sorry that lie should have made the offer ; for he must have thought within himself that I could lie bought for money —that I could sell my love for money. As if love was a thing that can be bought and sold ! Well now, Leon, you can guess the answer I gave him ; you, who know me so well, can understand that I refused his money. Aud 1 am afraid that my dear father said some very hard words to him. But they were true hard as they were. All this occurred two days ago, and I have been thinking very seriously of what is the right thing for me to do. I have made up my mind. Now that you are rich I have no right to stand in your way ; as your father says, you can look higher than me now. I do for love what I would not for money ; I release you from the engagement. There ! it is written ; and hard as it was to write, I feel more easy now.

You must not think harshly of me ; you must not think that I am changed ; I am the same Rachel that you have always knowD, and I am doing what I believe to be right. So now, Leon, good-bye. I hope you will be happy and prosperous.—Yours affectionately, “Rachel Levy.”