at till
this moment--looking upon it merely as an amusement, something to keep
one from going to sleep over a newspaper in that vile reading-room--I
have never taken the trouble to consider whether there was any right or
wrong in the matter. I am very much obliged to you for the hint,
Frank; I'll think it all over to-night, and see how much I owe Master
Cumberland, and I'll tell you to-morrow what conclusion I have come to.
I hate to do anything in a hurry--even to think; one must take time to
do that well."

We had now reached home, and, mindful of his promise, Oaklands begged
Thomas to use his interest with the cook, for the purpose of postponing
dinner for a few ~73~~minutes, in order to give Cumberland a chance of
being ready--to which Thomas replied:--

"Very well, sir, anything to oblige you, Mr. Oaklands," muttering to
himself as he went off, "wonder what that chap Cumberland is up to now;
no good, I'll be bound".

In another minute we heard his voice in the lower regions, exclaiming:--

"I say, cook, mustn't dish up for the next ten minutes; master ain't
quite finished his next Sunday's sermon; he's got hitched just at
thirdly and lastly, and mustn't be disturbed; not on no account";--which
produced from that functionary the following pathetic rejoinder:--

"Then, it's hall hup with the pigeon pie, for it will be burnt as black
as my blessed shoe by that time!"

As I was descending the stairs, ready to go out, the next day, Oaklands
called me into his room, and, closing the door, said:--

"Well, Fairlegh, I have thought over all you said yesterday,--made up my
mind--and acted upon it".

"Bravo!" replied I, "I am so glad, for, whenever you will but rouse
yourself, you are sure to act more rightly and sensibly than anybody
else; but what have you done now? Let me hear all about it."

"Oh, nothing very wonderful," answered Oaklands; "when I came to look
at my pocket-book, I found I had lost, from first to last, above one
hundred and fifty pounds."

"Good gracious!" cried I, aghast at the magnitude of the sum; "what will
you do?"

Oaklands smiled at my look of horror, and continued:--

"About one hundred pounds of this I still owe Cumberland, for, after my
ready money was gone, I merely set down on paper all I won or lost, as
he said I could pay him at any time, just as it suited me best; and I
thought I would wait till I got my next quarter's allowance, pay him out
of that, and be very economical eve