ismay which was very nearly too much for
Dr. Arthur.

'Waltzing?' said Prudentia, mystified. 'I did not say anything
about waltzing. Why shouldn't he waltz? I think he used. Why
yes; he was a famous waltzer. Don't you waltz, Miss Kennedy?'

'But I was always known to be out of my head,' said Hazel. 'In
what other possible way could Mr. Rollo shew the state of
his?'

'I don't know what you mean,' said Prudentia, handling her
bonnet. 'Then you haven't heard my story already. You know
that old Mr. Morton has failed; did you hear of that?'

'Not the first time, is it?' said Miss Kennedy coolly. Dr.
Arthur bit his lips.

'Yes, my dear! it's the first and only time; he was always
supposed to be a very rich man. Well, Dane has taken his
fortune and thrown it into those mills!'

'I was afraid you were going to say the mill stream,' said
Wych Hazel, who was getting so nervous she didn't know what to
do with herself; 'but the mills seem a safe place.'

'I don't know but he's better done that of the two,' said
Prudentia. 'A safe place? Why, my dear, just think! he has
bought all of Mr. Morton's right and title there; with Mr.
Morton's three mills. Of course, it _must_ have taken very
nearly his whole fortune; it _must_.'

'I fancy there's a trifle left over,' said Mr. Falkirk. 'But I
can't conceive what possessed him. What does Rollo know of the
mill business?'

'Nothing at all, of course,' said Prudentia. 'Nor of any other
business. And he has shewed his ignorance--did Arthur tell you,
sir, how he has shewed it?'

'In buying three mills to begin with,' said Mr. Falkirk. 'A
modest man would have begun with one.'

'But my dear sir, _that_ isn't all. What _do_ you suppose, Miss
Kennedy, was his first move?'

'One is prepared for almost anything.'

'He will learn the business, before long,' said Dr. Arthur,
'if close attention can do it.'

'What should he learn the business for?' said his sister. 'He
has already all that the mill business could give him, without
any trouble. _I_ think he's troubled in his wits; I do indeed.
He was always a wild boy, and now he's a wilder man.'

'Troubled in his wits!' said Dr. Arthur, with such supreme
derision, that Wych Hazel laughed. To her own great relief, be
it said.

'But what is this that he has done?' Mr. Falkirk inquired, his
brows looking very much disgusted.

'My dear sir! Fancy it. Fancy it, Miss Kennedy. The first
thing he did was to _raise the wages of his ha