ts he found little cause for
smiling. He was not yet a purified being, and even the peril he had
been in had not cast out the fires of pride and temper that lurked
within him.

It now stung him with an unspeakable misery to find that he was supposed
to owe his life to one whom he so thoroughly mistrusted and dreaded as
Scarfe. He persuaded himself that it was all a delusion--that he could
easily have extricated himself without anybody's aid but that of the
faithful Julius; that Scarfe had run absolutely no risk in crawling out
to him on the ladder; that, in short, he owed him nothing--if, indeed,
he did not owe him resentment for allowing himself to be credited with a
service which he had no right to claim.

Ungrateful and unreasonable, you will say, and certainly not betokening
a proper spirit in one so recently in great danger. Jeffreys, as he
walked moodily along, was neither in a grateful nor reasonable mood, nor
did he feel chastened in spirit; and that being so, he was too honest to
pretend to be what he was not.

To any one less interested, there was something amusing in the manner in
which Scarfe took his new and unexpected glory. At first he seemed to
regard it doubtfully, and combated it by one or two modest
protestations. Then, becoming more used to the idea, it pleased him to
talk a little about the adventure, and encourage the others to recall
the scene. After that it seemed natural to him to be a little languid
and done-up by his exertions, and, as a hero, to establish a claim on
Raby's admiration. And finally, being quite convinced he was a hero of
the first water, he regarded Jeffreys with condescension, and felt a
little surprise that he should remain both silent and apparently
disdainful.

As Raby was beforehand with her in blaming herself, the wind was taken
out of Mrs Rimbolt's sails in that quarter, even had she been disposed
to let out in that direction. But it was so much more convenient and
natural to blame Jeffreys, that the good lady was never in a moment's
doubt upon the subject.

"How excessively careless of him!" said she; "the very one of the party,
too, whom we expected to keep out of danger. It is a mercy every one of
you was not drowned."

"It's a mercy he wasn't drowned himself," said Percy; "so he would have
been if it hadn't been for Scarfe."

"It was a very noble thing of Mr Scarfe," said Mrs Rimbolt. "I'm
sure, Louisa, my dear, you must be proud of your boy."

"