ashion in which he indulged this most lasting remembrance of a reckless
youth.

The club life of England had always possessed great fascinations for
this fine old republican gentleman, and he was among the first to
introduce the system in New York. Here, his naturally fine energies had
been vigorously put forth, and he became not only a prominent member of
an aristocratic club, but a principal director and supporter also.

At this lordly rendezvous, the General spent a great portion of his
time, and somehow, I do not pretend to point out the direct process, for
it was generally understood that no high play was sanctioned in the
establishment, and the mysterious glances and half-murmurs which
transferred five dollar notes into five thousand, as the harmless games
proceeded, are not capable of an embodiment--but, it chanced very often,
that General Harrington found a transfer of funds necessary after one of
these club nights, and once or twice, a rather unpleasant interview with
Mr. James Harrington had been the result.

But these unsatisfactory consequences seldom arose. The General was too
cool and self-controlled to be always the loser, and up to the time of
our story, this one active vice had rather preponderated in favor of his
own interests.

But a rash adventure, and a sudden turn of fortune, reversed all this in
a single night; and General Harrington--who possessed only the old
mansion-house, and a few thousand a year in his own right--all at once
found himself involved to more than the value of his family home, and
two years income in addition. Close upon this, came that fearful
accident upon the river----and, worse still, the application of his son
to marry a penniless little girl, whose very existence depended on his
charity.

With all these perplexities on his mind, the General had very little
time for idle curiosity, and thus his wife's secret remained for the
time inviolate.

Like most extravagant men, the General, under the weight of an enormous
gambling debt, became excessively parsimonious in his household, and
talked loudly of retrenchment and home reforms. In this new mood, Agnes
Barker found little difficulty in having several of the old servants
discharged, before Mabel left her sick room. Indeed this girl, with her
velvety tread and fawning attentions, was the only one of his household
with whom General Harrington was not for the time in ill-humor.

With all his self-possession, this old man