w he could put his hand
upon five hundred pounds.

He might easily have saved twice the sum before now; but he had never
learned the art of saving. He thought of his father, whom he had not
seen or written to for more than a month, and determined that he would
at all events go down and consult the rector. He had not realized the
fact that his father's resources were already exhausted, and that mere
humanity, to say nothing of filial duty, required him to come to the old
man's assistance, instead of asking him for fresh sacrifices.

"If he has not the money," Sydney said, "no doubt he can help me to
raise it. It will be an excellent investment of our joint credit, and a
very good thing for us both."

So he telegraphed to Angleford--

"I am going to contest a borough. Must make provision. Shall be with you
by next train."

CHAPTER IV.

FATHER AND SON.

Sydney's telegram reached Angleford at an awkward time. Things had been
going from bad to worse with Mr. Campion, who had never had as much
money as he needed since he paid the last accounts of the Cambridge
tradesmen. In the vain hope that matters would mend by and by--though he
did not form any precise idea as to how the improvement would take
place--he had been meeting each engagement as it came to maturity by
entering on another still more onerous. After stripping himself of all
his household treasures that could be converted into money, he had
pledged his insurance policy, his professional and private income, and
at last even his furniture; and he was now in very deep waters.

A great change had come over him. At sixty, when Sydney took his degree,
he was still handsome and upright, buoyant with hope and energy. At
sixty-six he was broken, weak, and disheartened. To his wife and
daughter, indeed, he was always the same cheerful, gentle, sanguine man,
full of courtesy and consideration. In the village he was more beloved
than ever, because there was scarcely a man or woman who was not
familiar with the nature and extent of his troubles. In a country parish
the affairs of the parson, especially when they do not prosper, are apt
to become the affairs of the congregation as well. Who should know
better than a man's butcher and baker when the supply of ready money
runs short, when one month would be more convenient than another for the
settlement of a bill, or when the half-year's stipend has been
forestalled and appropriated long before it fell due?

Ho