appeal to Mrs. Joy. We
had to consent, of course, and we gave him all the money we had, and we
thought he was gone; but just a few days after he appeared again on the
Polo Ground, and handed Berry a note, which he pretended she had dropped
out of the carriage. But it was really from himself; and he said that he
had lost the money we gave him on a bet which had turned out badly, and
he must have a hundred dollars more. You can't think how hard it has
been for us to raise all this money, Cannie. Berry has her own income,
but her mother likes to know what she does with it; and mamma chooses my
things for me, so I don't have much of an allowance. We have been at
our wits' end sometimes to know how to manage."

"And how did you?"

"Berry sold a diamond ring which she doesn't often wear, so her mother
has not missed it, and I put in thirty dollars, which was all I had; and
he went away, for good as we hoped. He promised solemnly not to come to
Newport, or ask us for money again this season; and we were so relieved.
For a few days I was almost happy," with a miserable little laugh. "But
what fools we were to believe him! I can't imagine why we should, for he
has deceived us all through. I don't think he has spoken the truth once
from the very beginning. Berry came just now to tell me that he is back
already. She saw him herself this morning in Thames Street. He didn't
see her, for she was in the close coupe, and he was looking in at a shop
window; but, of course, he has come for money, and neither of us has any
more. We shall have to refuse, and he will go straight to papa, and
then--oh, what will become of me?" She buried her face again in the
pillows.

Candace was trembling with a mixture of sensations,--pity for her
cousin, indignation at this mean persecution of which she was the
victim, and withal a fine touch of scorn over the weakness which was so
easily played upon. With all her country breeding and ignorance of the
world and its ways, there was in our little maiden a large share of the
strong, self-respecting pride of her ancestry. _She_ would never have
stooped to buy the silence of a low knave like this Alexander; and her
clear truthfulness of soul indicated at once the single, straight,
unerring clew which could lead out of this labyrinth of difficulties.

"Georgie," she said, after a moment's thought, "there is just one thing
for you to do. You must tell Cousin Kate all about this."

"Oh, Candace, never!" sc