of a little
yellow dust, my superior! I wandered from the town, and paused by the
winding and shagged banks of the river. It was a gloomy winter's day,
the waters rolled on black and sullen, and the dry leaves rustled
desolately beneath my feet. Who shall tell us that outward nature has no
effect upon our mood? All around seemed to frown upon my lot. I read in
the face of heaven and earth a confirmation of the curse which man hath
set upon poverty. I leant against a tree that overhung the waters, and
suffered my thoughts to glide on in the bitter silence of their course.
I heard my name uttered--I felt a hand on my arm, I turned, and Houseman
was by my side.

"'What, moralizing?' said he, with his rude smile.

"I did not answer him.

"'Look,' said he, pointing to the waters, 'where yonder fish lies
waiting his prey, that prey his kind. Come, you have read Nature, is it
not so universally?'

"I did not answer him.

"'They who do not as the rest,' he renewed, 'fulfil not the object of
their existence; they seek to be wiser than their tribe, and are fools
for their pains. Is it not so? I am a plain man, and would learn.'

"Still I did not answer.

"'You are silent,' said he; 'do I offend you?'

"'No!'

"'Now, then,' he continued, 'strange as it may seem, we, so different in
mind, are at this moment alike in fortunes. I have not a guinea in
the wide world; you, perhaps, are equally destitute. But mark the
difference, I, the ignorant man, ere three days have passed, will have
filled my purse; you, the wise man, will be still as poor. Come, cast
away your wisdom, and do as I do.'

"'How?'

"'Take from the superfluities of others what your necessities crave.
My horse, my pistol, a ready hand, a stout heart, these are to me, what
coffers are to others. There is the chance of detection and of death; I
allow it. But is not this chance better than some certainties?'

"I turned away my face. In the silence of my chamber, and in the
solitude of my heart, I had thought, as the robber spoke--there was a
strife within me.

"'Will you share the danger and the booty?' renewed Houseman, in a low
voice.

"I turned my eyes upon him. 'Speak out,' said I; 'explain your purpose!'

"Houseman's looks brightened.

"'Listen!' said he; 'Clarke, despite his present wealth lawfully gained,
is about to purloin more; he has converted his legacy into jewels; he
has borrowed other jewels on false pretences; he purposes to make
thes