ached you,
putting off upon you goods which he _knew_ to be worthless."

"To be sure he did!" said Rufus. "Knew it as well as he does
now. It was nothing but a fraud. An outrageous fraud!"

Winthrop made no answer, and the brothers paused again, each
in his meditations. Winnie, passing her eyes from one to the
other, thought Winthrop looked as if his were very grave.

"I depend upon you, Governor," the elder brother said more
quietly.

"To do what?"

"Why! --" said Rufus firing again, -- "to do whatever is
necessary to relieve me! Who should do it?"

"I wish you could get somebody else, Will," said the other.

"I am sorry I cannot!" said Rufus. "If I had the money I would
pay it and submit to be trodden upon -- I would rather take it
some ways than some others -- but unhappily necessity is laid
upon me. I _cannot_ pay, and I am unwilling to go to jail, and I
_must_ ask you to help me, painful as it is."

Winthrop was silent, grave and calm as usual; but Winnie's
heart ached to see _how_ grave his eye was. Did she read it
right? He was silent still; and so was Rufus, though watching
for him to speak.

"Well!" said Rufus at last getting up with a start, "I will
relieve you! I am sorry I troubled you needlessly -- I shall
know better than to do it again! --"

He was rushing off, but before he reached the door Winthrop
had planted himself in front of it.

"Stand out of my way."

"I am not in it. Go back, Will."

"I won't, if you please. -- I'll thank you to let me open the
door."

"I will not. Go back to your seat, Rufus -- I want to speak to
you."

"I was under the impression you did _not_," said Rufus, standing
still. "I waited for you to speak."

"It is safe to conclude that when a man makes you wait, he has
something to say."

"You are more certain of it when he lets you know what it is,"
said Rufus.

"Provided he knows first himself."

"How long does it take _you_ to find out what you have to say?"
said Rufus, returning to his ordinary manner and his seat at
once. The fire seemed to have thrown itself off in that last
jet of flame.

"I sometimes find I have too much; and then there is apt to be
a little delay of choice."

"A delay to choose? -- or a choice of delay?" said Rufus.

"Sometimes one and sometimes the other."

One or the other seemed still in force with Winthrop's present
matter of speech, for he came before the fire and stood
mending it, and said nothing.

"Winthrop," s