ournalist, of the Smart Set. There,
where life forever bubbles a cheap and exceedingly dry champagne of a
very doubtful exhilaration, he did now and again find a poor respite
from regret till time blunted the edge of his sorrows. And when his
sorrow was no longer acute, he had formed a reckless and extravagant
habit of life from which, even when the reason for it had passed, he
never sought to free himself: indeed, it never occurred to him to try.

But he never let his effort to drown his sorrow in the whirlpool of
this strenuous life of pleasure interfere with his care of his little
son; in truth, Tinker's society was his chief relaxation from the
laborious and exacting round. Wherever he might be, in London, Paris,
Vienna, Monte Carlo, or a country-house, Tinker was at hand, in his
hotel, or lodged in the neighbourhood under the care of the faithful
Selina.

A singularly early riser for one who sojourns in the Polite, or, to be
exact, the Impolite World,--even in London he breakfasted at ten,--Sir
Tancred was able to devote two or three hours every morning to the
child before the serious and exacting pleasures of the day, and, before
three years had passed, he had grown a veritable connoisseur in wooden
bricks, tin soldiers, and composite animals. However late he returned
at night, he never failed to look at Tinker in his cot in the room
adjoining his bedroom, to assure himself that he was warm enough, or,
if need were, lift him more comfortably on to his pillow. He watched
him in his childish complaints with more care than the careful nurses
he paid to watch him, or even than the fond and faithful Selina. And
yet he did not spoil him.

Till Tinker was six years old they were playmates. Then, little by
little, Sir Tancred found himself drifting into the position of general
instructor, and after a while began to give serious thought to the
matter. It was not, perhaps, a sound education that he gave the child.
The classical side of it and the commercial were alike neglected; the
historical was forgotten. The spelling was weak, and the handwriting
was very bad. But, riding, fencing, and boxing were very carefully
cultivated, with the result that Tinker, though he lacked the lumps of
muscle which disfigured that eminent ancient, might very well have vied
in strength and agility with the child Hercules.

In the matter of languages, by dint of spending some of each year in
the different European capitals, he