as twenty
years this man's junior. Youth was his, if he was poor and unlucky. The
desire to say to the banker, "If I should tell you what I thought of
_you_ as a husband and a father," he checked, and instead cried hotly--

"God's here, at all events, sir, and perhaps my way of calling on Him is
as good as another."

He extended his hand. It did not tremble. "Good-bye, Aunt Caroline."

Hers, cold as ice, just touched his. "_Henry_," she gasped, "he's
Arabella's son."

Again the scarlet Antony had seen, touched the banker's face. Fairfax
limped out of the room. His clothes were so shabby (as he had said a few
moments before, he had worked in them like a nigger), that, warm as it
was, he wore his overcoat to cover his suit. The coat lay in the hall.
Bella and Gardiner had been busy during his visit on their own affairs.
They had broken open their bank. Bella's keen ears had heard Antony's
remark to her mother about being down on his luck, and her tender heart
had recognized the heavy note in his voice. The children's bank had been
their greatest treasure for a year or two. It represented all the
"serious" money, as Bella called it, that had ever been given them. The
children had been so long breaking it open that they had not heard the
scene below in the drawing-room.

As Fairfax lifted his coat quickly it jingled. He got into it, thrust
his hands in the pockets. They were full of coin. His sorrow, anger and
horror were so keen that he was guilty of the unkindest act of his life.

"What's this!" he cried, and emptied out his pockets on the floor. The
precious coins fell and rolled on every side. Bella and her little
brother, who had hid on the stairs in order to watch the effect of their
surprise, saw the disaster, and heard the beloved cousin's voice in
anger. The little girl flew down.

"Cousin _Antony_, how _could_ you? It was for _you_! Gardiner and I
broke our bank for you. There were ten dollars there and fifty-nine
cents."

There was nothing gracious in Fairfax's face as it bent on the excited
child.

"Pick up your money," he said harshly, his hand on the door. "Good-bye."

"Oh," cried the child, "I didn't know you were proud like _that_. I
didn't know."

"Proud," he breathed deeply. "I'd rather starve in the gutter than touch
a penny in this house."

He saw the flaming cheeks and averted eyes, and was conscious of
Gardiner's little steps running down the stairs, and he heard Bella call
"Cousin _Ant