r eyes.
She was quite faint, for she had taken nothing that morning but the
glass of water which the pastry-cook in the Strand had given her, and
was forced to take hold of the railings of a house for support just as
a little gentleman with a yellow handkerchief under his arm was issuing
from the door.

"Good heavens, Mrs. Walker!" said the gentleman. It was no other than
Mr. Woolsey, who was going forth to try a body-coat for a customer. "Are
you ill?--what's the matter?--for God's sake come in!" and he took her
arm under his, and led her into his back-parlour, and seated her, and
had some wine and water before her in one minute, before she had said
one single word regarding herself.

As soon as she was somewhat recovered, and with the interruption of
a thousand sobs, the poor thing told as well as she could her little
story. Mr. Eglantine had arrested Mr. Walker: she had been trying to
gain time for him; Eglantine had refused.

"The hard-hearted cowardly brute to refuse HER anything!" said loyal Mr.
Woolsey. "My dear," says he, "I've no reason to love your husband, and I
know too much about him to respect him; but I love and respect YOU, and
will spend my last shilling to serve you." At which Morgiana could only
take his hand and cry a great deal more than ever. She said Mr. Walker
would have a great deal of money in a week, that he was the best of
husbands, and she was sure Mr. Woolsey would think better of him when
he knew him; that Mr. Eglantine's bill was one hundred and fifty pounds,
but that Mr. Mossrose would take forty per cent. if Mr. Woolsey could
say how much that was.

"I'll pay a thousand pound to do you good," said Mr. Woolsey, bouncing
up; "stay here for ten minutes, my dear, until my return, and all shall
be right, as you will see." He was back in ten minutes, and had called
a cab from the stand opposite (all the coachmen there had seen and
commented on Mrs. Walker's woebegone looks), and they were off for
Cursitor Street in a moment. "They'll settle the whole debt for twenty
pounds," said he, and showed an order to that effect from Mr. Mossrose
to Mr. Bendigo, empowering the latter to release Walker on receiving Mr.
Woolsey's acknowledgment for the above sum.

"There's no use paying it," said Mr. Walker, doggedly; "it would only
be robbing you, Mr. Woolsey--seven more detainers have come in while my
wife has been away. I must go through the court now; but," he added in a
whisper to the tailor, "