n do a great deal.'

'Ay, you are right, my girl; this is a poor world to live in without it.
Suppose you were a rich woman, what would you do with your money?'

'Help people who have none; it is the only use money is for.'

'Now you speak out of ignorance,' said the old man severely. 'Don't you
know that there's a kind of people--Walter's parents, for instance--whom
it is not only useless, but criminal, to help with money? Just think of
the poor lad's case. He has only had a small wage, certainly; but if it
had been three times bigger it would have been the same thing.'

Gladys knit her brows perplexedly.

'It is hard, uncle, certainly. The plan would be, to help them in a
different way.'

'But how? There are plenty rich and silly women in Glasgow who are
systematically fleeced by the undeserving poor--people who have no
earthly business to be poor, who have hands and heads which can give
them a competence, only they are moral idiots. No woman should be
allowed full use of large sums of money. She is so soft-hearted, she
can't say no, and she's imposed on half the time.'

'You are very hard on women, Uncle Abel,' said Gladys, still amused with
his enthusiasm. She had no fear of him. Although there was not much in
common between them, there was a kind of quiet understanding, and they
had many discussions of the kind. 'I would rather be poor always, Uncle
Abel, if I were not allowed to spend as I wished. I should just have to
learn to be prudent and careful by experience.'

'Ay, by experience, which would land you in the poorhouse. Have you no
desire for the things other women like--fine clothes, trinkets, and
such-like?'

'I don't know, uncle, because I have never had any,' said Gladys, with a
little laugh. 'I daresay I should like them very well.'

The old man gave a grunt, and turned on his pillow, as if tired of talk.

Gladys busied herself with the evening meal, and when it was ready
called Walter down. It was a pretty sight to see her waiting on the old
man, attending to his comforts, and coaxing him to eat. In the evening
she ran out to get some medicine for him, and when he was left with
Walter, busy at his books at the table, he sat up suddenly, as if he had
something interesting and important to say.

'How are you getting on with your learning, Wat? You are pretty constant
at it. If there's anything in application, you should succeed.'

'It's pretty tough work, though, when a fellow's getting olde