hould be sirenian
moons and dawns, and life would be this dream's perfect fulfilment. In
what loggia, firefly-haunted, would he hold her? The desire with which
the picture flamed upon his imagination was almost intolerable, and here
he always brought her back to Plashers Mead on a June dusk. Then she
could be conjured in this house, summoned in spirit here to this very
room; and if they had loved Italy, how they would love England as they
walked across their meadows, husband and wife! With such visions Guy set
on fire each January night that floated frorely into his bedroom, until
one morning a letter arrived from Mr. William Worrall that made his
fingers tremble as he broke the envelope and read the news:

217 COVENT GARDEN, W.C.,
_January 6th_.

DEAR SIR,--I have looked at the poems you were kind enough to send
for my consideration, and I shall be happy to hand them to a
reader for his opinion. The reader's fee is one guinea. Should his
opinion be favorable, I shall be glad to discuss terms with you.

Yours faithfully,
WILLIAM WORRALL.

Guy threw the letter down in a rage. He would almost have preferred a
flat refusal to this request for money to enable some jaded hack to read
his poems. The proposal appeared merely insolent, and he wrote curtly to
Mr. William Worrall to demand the immediate return of his manuscript.
But after all, if Worrall did not accept his work, who would? Money was
an ulterior consideration when the great object was to receive such
unanimous approval as would justify the apparent waste of time in which
he had been indulging. The moment his father acknowledged the right he
had to be confident, he in turn would try to show by following his
father's advice that he was not the wrong-headed idler of his
reputation. Perhaps he would send the guinea to Worrall. He tore up his
first letter and wrote another in which a cheque was inclosed. Then he
began to add up the counterfoils of his cheque-book, a depressing
operation that displayed an imminent financial crisis. He had overdrawn
L5 last quarter. That left L32 10_s_. of the money paid in on December
21st. The quarter's rent was L4 10_s_. That left L28. Miss Peasey's
wages were in arrears, and he must pay her L4 10_s_. on the fifteenth of
this month. That would leave L23 10_s_., and he must knock off 7_s_.
6_d_. for Bob's license. About L3 had gone at Christmas and there were
the books still to pay. Twenty pounds was no