should have been the worst of sons if I had not done my
duty as I did.

The next few months were chiefly spent in getting things into order, and
in the midst of my busiest time Tom came to me one day, bringing with
him Sally.

"Hallo!" I said, "what does this mean?"

"Oh, nothing at all, Mas'r Harry; only now I'm settled as a gentleman of
property I'm going to be married."

"Don't you believe him, Master Harry," said Sally; "it's all his
nonsense," and she was scarlet as she spoke.

"Don't you believe her, Mas'r Harry," said Tom grinning; "she promised
me she would, and she can't draw back, can she?"

"Certainly not, Tom," I said. "A lady's under her bond just as a
gentleman is."

"There! hear that, Sally?" said Tom.

"Yes, I hear," she said, "so I suppose I must;" and Sally spoke in quite
a resigned way, keeping her word to Tom within three months, my father
saying that Sally had been the most faithful of servants, and had forced
upon them all her little savings in the time of their distress.

You may be sure I did not forget this on the day when my father gave her
away, and Tom had a nice little dowry with his wife.

It may be thought that, with so great a sum of money--so large a
fortune--I must have lived in great splendour during the rest of my
life. But it was not so. Certainly I have always since enjoyed the
comfort of a pleasant, well-kept, unostentatious home; but the fact is
this--it was my fate to marry a woman generous almost to a fault. As
you have seen, she began by giving the greatest treasure I found in the
New World--herself--to me; and then, upon the strength of our having
plenty of money, she was of opinion that its proper purpose was being
spent in doing good to others.

My uncle and Mrs Landell were settled in a pleasant little estate of
their own; and after a great deal of persuasion my father was induced to
take upon himself the position of a country gentleman. One way and
another our income became shrunk down to very reasonable proportions;
though, after Lilla has done all the good that she can in the course of
the year, we have always a little to spare.

My story is ended. And now that grey hairs have made their appearance,
bringing with them sounder thought and the ripe judgment of experience,
I often go over my adventures again, and chat about them with Tom, and
Sally his wife, when I have taken a run over to their prosperous farm;
but in spite of all the success that has