his state of perturbation.

"'We are ruined; that is what is wrong,' answered Jasper.

"He then entered into particulars with which I need not trouble you. A
great house, one of the greatest and largest houses in the City, had
come to absolute grief; it was bankrupt. In its fall many other houses,
ours amongst them, must sink.

"I saw it all quite plainly. I sat down quiet and stunned; while Jasper
raved and swore and paced up and down the room, I sat still. Yes we
were, beggars, nothing could save the house which our father had made
with such pride and care.

"After a time I left Jasper and returned to my wife's room. On the way I
entered the nursery and paid my pretty little Charlotte a visit. She
climbed on my knee and kissed me, and all the time I kept saying to
myself, 'The child is a beggar, I can give her no comforts; we are
absolutely in want.' It was the beginning of the winter then, and the
weather was bitterly cold. The doctor met me on the threshold of my
wife's room; he said to me, 'As soon as ever she is better, you must
either take or send her out of England. She may recover abroad; but to
winter in this climate, in her present state, would certainly kill her.'
How bitter I felt; for was I not a beggar? How could I take my wife
away? I sat down again in the darkened room and thought over the past.
Hitherto the wealth, which was so easily won, seemed of comparatively
small importance. It was easy with a full purse to wish, then to obtain.
I had often wondered at Constance's love for all the pretty things with
which I delighted to surround her, her almost childish pleasure in the
riches which had come to her. She always said to me at such times:

"'But I have known such poverty; I hate poverty, and I love, I love the
pretty things of life.'

"This very night, as I sat by her bedside, she opened her lovely eyes
and looked at me and said:

"'John, I have had such a dream so vivid, so, so terrible. I thought we
were poor again--poorer than I ever was even with my father; so poor,
John, that I was hungry, and you could give me nothing to eat. I begged
you to give me food. There was a loaf in a shop window, such a nice
crisp loaf; and I was starving. When you said you had no money, I begged
of you to steal that loaf. You would not, you would not, and at last I
lay down to die. Oh! John, say it was a dream.'

"'Of course it was only a dream, my darling!' I answered, and I kissed
her and soothed her, thou