deed.'

'I should not wonder at his turning out something great,' said the
third.

'I have no doubt of it,' said the second.

'Many of these wild fellows do.'

'He is not so wild as we think,' said the first.

'But he is done up,' said the second.

'Is he indeed?' said the third. 'Perhaps by making a speech he wants a
place?'

'People don't make speeches for nothing,' said the third.

'I shouldn't wonder if he is after a place in the Household,' said the
second.

'Depend upon it, he looks to something more active,' said the first.

'Perhaps he would like to be head of the Admiralty?' said the second.

'Or the Treasury?' said the third.

'That is impossible!' said the first. 'He is too young.'

'He is as old as Pitt,' said the third.

'I hope he will resemble him in nothing but his age, then,' said the
first.

'I look upon Pitt as the first man that ever lived,' said the third.

'What!' said the first. 'The man who worked up the national debt to
nearly eight hundred millions!'

'What of that?' said the third. 'I look upon the national debt as the
source of all our prosperity.'

'The source of all our taxes, you mean.'

'What is the harm of taxes?'

'The harm is, that you will soon have no trade; and when you have no
trade, you will have no duties; and when you have no duties, you will
have no dividends; and when you have no dividends, you will have no law;
and then, where is your source of prosperity?' said the first.

But here the coach stopped, and the Duke got out for an hour.

By midnight they had reached a town not more than thirty miles from
Dacre. The Duke was quite exhausted, and determined to stop. In half an
hour he enjoyed that deep, dreamless slumber, with which no luxury can
compete. One must have passed restless nights for years, to be able to
appreciate the value of sound sleep.

CHAPTER IX.

_A Last Appeal_

HE ROSE early, and managed to reach Dacre at the breakfast hour of the
family. He discharged his chaise at the Park gate, and entered the house
unseen. He took his way along a corridor lined with plants, which led
to the small and favourite room in which the morning meetings of May and
himself always took place when they were alone. As he lightly stepped
along, he heard a voice that he could not mistake, as it were in
animated converse. Agitated by sounds which ever created in him emotion,
for a moment he paused. He starts, his eye sparkles with strange
del