ill-fated mail steamer _Trident_. That lady had chanced, some
weeks before, to pass the ornithological shop, and, looking in, was
struck dumb by the sight of the never-forgotten fellow-passenger who had
made her a confidant. Recovering speech, she entered the shop and
introduced herself. The introduction was needless. Mr Blurt
recognised her at once, dropped his paper, extended both hands, gave her
a welcome that brought even Jiggs back to the verge of sanity, and had
her into the back shop, whence he expelled Mrs Murridge to some other
and little-known region of the interior.

The interview was so agreeable that Mr Blurt begged it might be
repeated. It was repeated four times. The fifth time it was repeated
by special arrangement in the evening, for the purpose of talking over a
business matter.

"I fear, Miss Gentle," began Mr Blurt, when his visitor was seated in
the back shop, and Mrs Murridge had been expelled to the rear as usual,
and Jiggs had been left on guard in the front--"I fear that you may
think it rude in me to make such a proposal, but I am driven to it by
necessity, and--the fact is, I want you to become a nurse."

"A nurse, Mr Blurt!"

"There, now, don't take offence. It's below your position, I dare say,
but I have gathered from you that your circumstances are not--are not--
not exactly luxurious, and,--in short, my poor brother Fred is a
hopeless invalid. The doctors say he will never be able to leave his
bed. Ah! if those diamonds I once spoke to you about had only been mine
still, instead of adorning the caves of crabs and fishes, Miss Gentle, I
would have had half-a-dozen of the best nurses in London for dear Fred.
But the diamonds are gone! I am a poor man, a very poor man, Miss
Gentle, and I cannot afford a good nurse. At the same time, I cannot
bear to think of Fred being, even for a brief period, at the mercy of
cheap nurses, who, like other wares, are bad when cheap--although, of
course, there may be a few good ones even among the cheap. What I
cannot buy, therefore, I must beg; and I have come to you, as one with a
gentle and pitiful spirit, who may, perhaps, take an interest in my poor
brother's case, and agree to help us."

Having said all this very fast, and with an expression of eager anxiety,
Mr Blurt blew his nose, wiped his bald forehead, and, laying both hands
on his knees, looked earnestly into his visitor's face.

"You are wrong, Mr Blurt, in saying that the offic