as much perseverance and
assiduity. One consequence of this was that Willie Willders, having
begun as a Jack-of-all trades, pushed on until he became a
philosopher-of-all-trades, and of many sciences too, so that it would
have been difficult to find his match between Charing Cross and Primrose
Hill.

And Willie was not changeable. True to his first love, he clung with
all the ardour of youth to fire, fire-engines, and the fire-brigade. He
would have become a member of the latter if he could, but that was in
the circumstances impossible. He studied the subject, however, and knew
its history and its working details from first to last. He did his best
to invent new engines and improve on old ones; but in such matters he
usually found that his inventions had been invented, and his
improvements made and improved upon, long before. Such checks, however,
did not abate his ardour one jot. He persevered in his varied courses
until he worked himself into a species of business which could exist
only in London, which it would be difficult to describe, and which its
practitioner styled "poly-artism" with as much boldness as if the word
were in Johnson's Dictionary!

Standing on the hearth, as we have said, Willie related to his friend
all he knew in regard to the Cattley family, and wound up with an
anxious demand what was to be done for them.

Mr Tippet, leaning on his bench and looking into Willie's face with a
benignant smile, said--

"Done, my boy? why, help 'em of course."

"Ay, but how?" asked Willie.

"How?" cried Mr Tippet; "why, by giving 'em money. You are aware that
I stopped their allowance because Cattley senior went and drank it as
soon as he got it, and Cattley junior is able to support himself, and I
was not until now aware that the poor daughter was killing herself to
support her father; but as I do know it now I'll continue the allowance
and increase it, and we shall give it into the daughter's hands, so that
the father won't be able to mis-spend it."

Mr Tippet's visage glowed with ardour as he stated this arrangement,
but the glow was displaced by a look of anxiety as he observed that
Willie shook his head and looked as perplexed as ever.

"If that plan would have availed I would have tried it long ago," said
he, with a sad smile, "for my income is a pretty good one, thanks to
you, sir--"

"Thanks to your own genius, Willie, for the remarkable and prolific
offshoots which you have caused to sp