own living to earn; other people are dependent upon me, so
I must make as much money as possible. I can t afford to pay a manager.
I shall go behind the counter myself, and Allchin, if he cares for the
place, shall be my assistant."

The good woman could find no words to express her astonishment.

"Suppose you have a word with Allchin, and send him to see me this
evening? I say again, there's no need to talk about the thing to
anybody else. We'll just keep it quiet between us."

"You can depend upon me, sir," declared Mrs. Hopper. "But did you
_hever_! It's come upon me so sudden like. And what'll Allchin say!
Why, he'll think I'm having a game with him."

To this point had Will Warburton brought himself, urged by conscience
and fear. Little by little, since the afternoon when he gazed at
Boxon's closed shop, had this purpose grown in his mind, until he saw
it as a possibility--a desirability--a fact. By shopkeeping, he might
hope to earn sufficient for supply of the guaranteed income to his
mother and sister, and at the same time be no man's servant. His
acquaintance with Allchin enabled him to disregard his lack of grocery
experience; with Allchin for an assistant, he would soon overcome
initial difficulties. Only to Godfrey Sherwood had he communicated his
project. "What difference is there," he wrote, "between selling sugar
from an office in Whitechapel, and selling it from behind a counter in
Fulham Road?" And Sherwood--who was still reposing in North
Wales--wrote a long, affectionate, admiring reply. "You are splendid!
What energy! What courage! I could almost say that I don't regret my
criminal recklessness, seeing that it has given the occasion for such a
magnificent display of character." He added, "Of course it will be only
for a short time. Even if the plans I am now working out--details
shortly--come to nothing (a very unlikely thing), I am sure to recover
my ten thousand pounds in a year or so."--"Of course," he wrote in a
postscript, "I breathe no word of it to any mortal."

This letter--so are we made--did Warburton good. It strengthened him in
carrying through the deception of his relatives and of Mr. Turnbull,
for he saw himself as _splendide mendax_. In Sherwood's plans and
assurances he had no shadow of faith, but Sherwood's admiration was
worth having, and it threw a gilding upon the name of grocer. Should he
impart the secret to Norbert Franks? That question he could not decide
just yet. In an