, if you tell him that my name is Howard,' said
Fred. 'I have come to see him about my brother, who was hurt at school
to-day.'

The doctor was certainly mystified as to the meaning of the last part
of the message, but he was glad to see Fred, for he had promised his
mother he would see him as soon as possible.

The doctor rose from his seat and took Fred's hands as he entered the
room. 'I am very glad to see you. I have some wonderful news for you.
I left your father a few hours ago. Your mother wished me to tell you.
Do you remember your father?'

'Yes, sir, a little,' answered Fred, quite forgetting what he actually
had come for.

'You do remember him?' repeated the doctor.

'I know he was a gentleman,' said Fred, a little proudly.

'Yes, he has proved himself a steadfast, God-fearing, humble
Christian. A true gentleman in these later years,' said Mr. Morrison;
'and I have promised him, and your mother too, that you shall hear
something of what those years have been.'

'But I should like to know first why he went away and left us all
alone,' said Fred, with reddening brow. 'It was not fair to my mother,
or to any of us, and I am not sure that I shall ever want to see him
again.' And then the tears filled Fred's eyes.

'Sit down, my lad,' said the doctor; 'your father knew that you must
feel angry at what has happened, and, to use his own words, he does
not deserve anything else at your hands, but I was to tell his story
in as few words as possible, and leave the rest to you.

'Some time before he went away he had a patient named Taylor. He
seems to have been a very fascinating sort of man, and your father was
not a very strong one. Through this man he neglected his practice a
great deal--he was a doctor, you know--his friend always seemed to
have plenty of money, and they went about the country a good deal
together enjoying themselves, doing no great harm, beyond your father
neglecting his work and you at home.

'This lasted for some time, and then one day his friend begged him, as
a great favour, to sign his name to a bill. Of course, by doing this
your father became responsible for the whole amount of the debt, if
his friend should fail to repay it within the time named; but he had
such confidence in Mr. Taylor, and believed all he said about the
wealth coming to him, that he signed it after a little persuasion,
although it was for a very large amount of money.

'He never told your mother of this tran