st, pulling out his
handkerchief and his vial-book together as he got into the coach. And he
hastily swallowed his anti-lachrymal.

CHAPTER XIV.

Richard Avenel was in a state of great nervous excitement. He proposed
to give an entertainment of a kind wholly new to the experience of
Screwstown. Mrs. M'Catchley had described with much eloquence the
_dejeunes dansants_ of her fashionable friends residing in the elegant
suburbs of Wimbledon and Fulham. She declared that nothing was so
agreeable. She had even said point-blank to Mr. Avenel, "Why don't you
give a _dejeune dansant_?" And, therewith, a _dejeune dansant_ Mr.
Avenel resolved to give.

The day was fixed, and Mr. Avenel entered into all the requisite
preparations with the energy of a man and the providence of a woman.

One morning as he stood musing on the lawn, irresolute as to the best
site for the tents, Leonard came up to him with an open letter in his
hand.

"My dear uncle," said he, softly.

"Ha!" exclaimed Mr. Avenel, with a start. "Ha--well--what now?"

"I have just received a letter from Mr. Dale. He tells me that my poor
mother is very restless and uneasy, because he can not assure her that
he has heard from me; and his letter requires an answer. Indeed, I shall
seem very ungrateful to him--to all--if I do not write."

Richard Avenel's brows met. He uttered an impatient "pish!" and turned
away. Then coming back, he fixed his clear, hawk-like eye on Leonard's
ingenuous countenance, linked his arm in his nephew's, and drew him into
the shrubbery.

"Well, Leonard," said he, after a pause, "it is time that I should give
you some idea of my plans with regard to you. You have seen my manner of
living--some difference from what you ever saw before, I calculate! Now
I have given you, what no one gave me, a lift in the world; and where I
place you, there you must help yourself."

"Such is my duty, and my desire," said Leonard, heartily.

"Good. You are a clever lad, and a genteel lad, and will do me credit. I
have had doubts of what is best for you. At one time I thought of
sending you to College. That, I know, is Mr. Dale's wish; perhaps it is
your own. But I have given up that idea; I have something better for
you. You have a clear head for business, and are a capital
arithmetician. I think of bringing you up to superintend my business;
by-and-by I will admit you into partnership; and before you are thirty
you will be a rich man. Come, doe