g out on your
way home with what your friend called your pile."

"I shall not be doing that," Frank said; "whatever we find, I have no
thought of going back to England."

"No? Well, lad, I don't want your confidence if you would rather not
give it; but I will tell you my story, and perhaps when you have heard
it you may be the more inclined to tell me yours. It is a painful story
to tell, but that is part of my punishment; and you, lad, have a right
to hear it, for I know that it is to you I owe my life, and that it is
through you that I am to-morrow going home to do all that I can to
retrieve my fault, and to wipe out the stain on my name. I was a
solicitor, with a good practice, in a town of the west of England,--it
does not matter what it's name was. I lost my wife, and then, like a
fool, I took to drink. No one knew it except my son, for I never went
out in the evening, but would sit at home drinking by myself till I
could scarce stagger up to bed.

"He did all that he could to persuade me to give it up, but it had got
too strong a hold upon me. At last we quarrelled over it, and he left
the house, and henceforth we only met at the office. He was engaged to
be married to the daughter of our Vicar. When the crash came--for in
these cases a crash is sure to come sooner or later--the business had
fallen off, and a bill was presented for payment which I had altogether
forgotten I had signed. Then there was an investigation into my affairs.
I could help but little, for there were but few hours in the day now
when my brain was clear enough to attend to any business whatever. Then
it was found that ten thousand pounds which had been given me to invest
by one of my clients had never been invested, and that it was gone with
the rest.

"I had not intended to do anything dishonest, that even now I can
affirm. I had intended to invest it, but in my muddled state put off
doing so, and had gone on paying the interest as if it had been invested
as ordered. When I knew that I had not enough in the bank to replace it,
I went into foolish speculations to regain what I had lost; but until
the crash came I had never fairly realised that I had not only ruined
myself but was a swindler. I shall never forget the morning when James,
who had been up all night going through my papers with my head-clerk,
came down and told me what he had discovered. I was still stupid from
what I had drunk overnight, but that sobered me. I need not tell y