nce to her stockbroker, and sold out of the funds all the
little property she possessed, amounting to rather less than seven
hundred pounds. Determined, if necessary, to pay the price of her
sister's liberty with every farthing she had in the world, she repaired
the next day, having the whole sum about her in bank-notes, to her
appointment outside the Asylum wall.

The nurse was there. Miss Halcombe approached the subject cautiously
by many preliminary questions. She discovered, among other
particulars, that the nurse who had in former times attended on the
true Anne Catherick had been held responsible (although she was not to
blame for it) for the patient's escape, and had lost her place in
consequence. The same penalty, it was added, would attach to the
person then speaking to her, if the supposed Anne Catherick was missing
a second time; and, moreover, the nurse in this case had an especial
interest in keeping her place. She was engaged to be married, and she
and her future husband were waiting till they could save, together,
between two and three hundred pounds to start in business. The nurse's
wages were good, and she might succeed, by strict economy, in
contributing her small share towards the sum required in two years'
time.

On this hint Miss Halcombe spoke. She declared that the supposed Anne
Catherick was nearly related to her, that she had been placed in the
Asylum under a fatal mistake, and that the nurse would be doing a good
and a Christian action in being the means of restoring them to one
another. Before there was time to start a single objection, Miss
Halcombe took four bank-notes of a hundred pounds each from her
pocket-book, and offered them to the woman, as a compensation for the
risk she was to run, and for the loss of her place.

The nurse hesitated, through sheer incredulity and surprise. Miss
Halcombe pressed the point on her firmly.

"You will be doing a good action," she repeated; "you will be helping
the most injured and unhappy woman alive. There is your marriage
portion for a reward. Bring her safely to me here, and I will put
these four bank-notes into your hand before I claim her."

"Will you give me a letter saying those words, which I can show to my
sweetheart when he asks how I got the money?" inquired the woman.

"I will bring the letter with me, ready written and signed," answered
Miss Halcombe.

"Then I'll risk it," said the nurse.

"When?"

"To-morrow."

It