te natural, perhaps,
considering that they had once been such friends. Circumstances had
made the brothers strangers during the boyhood of the younger, and it
was hard that circumstances should separate them again, just as they had
been beginning to know and to value each other. Charlie had hoped for a
long time that Allan might come back after a year or two; for his estate
was by no means a large one, and he believed that he would soon weary of
a life of inactivity, and return to business again. He was still young,
and might, with his knowledge and experience, do anything he liked in
the way of making money, Charlie thought, and he could not be satisfied
with his decision. But Will, who had visited Allan lately, assured
Charlie that his brother was settling down to the enjoyment of a quiet
country life, and that though he might visit Canada, there was little
chance of his ever making that country his home again.

"I should think not, indeed," said Arthur, one night, as they were
discussing the matter in connection with Will's last letter. "You don't
display your usual good judgment, Charlie, man, where your brother is
concerned. Why should he return? He is enjoying now, a comparatively
young man, all that you and Harry expect to enjoy after some twenty or
thirty years of hard labour--a competency in society congenial to him.
Why should he wait for this longer than he need?"

"Twenty or thirty years!" said Harry. "Not if I know it. You are
thinking of old times. But I must say I agree with Charlie. It is
strange that Mr Ruthven should be content to sit down in comparative
idleness, for, of course, the idea of farming his own land is absurd.
And to tell you the truth, I never thought him one to be satisfied with
a mere competency. I thought him at one time ambitious to become a
rich, man--a great merchant."

"It would not be safe or wise to disparage the life and aims of a great
merchant in your presence, Harry," said Rose, "but one would think the
life of a country gentleman preferable in some respects."

"I don't think Allan aspires to the position of a country gentleman--in
the dignified sense in which the term is used where he is. His place is
very beautiful, but it is not large enough to entitle him to the
position of one of the great landed proprietors."

"Oh! as to that, the extent makes little difference. It is the land
that his fathers have held for generations, and that is a thing to be
proud