ttered or joined in with
more fervour than that which was offered by Thomas Bradly after he had
given to Kate Foster a full account of the evening's adventure. Then
all sat down to a simple supper, at which Foster was asked by Thomas
Bradly to tell him how he came to be taken in by such a man as Levi
Sharples.

"I don't wonder," began Foster, "that you should think it weak and
strange in me; but you shall judge. Levi Sharples and myself used to be
great friends--or rather, perhaps, I ought to say frequent companions,
for I don't think there was ever anything worth calling friendship
between us. He used to profess a great respect for my opinion. He
regularly attended the meetings of our club, and made smart speeches,
and would come out with the vilest sentiments expressed in the vilest
and foulest language, such as disgusted me even then, and makes me
shudder now when I think of it. He had a ready way with him, and could
trip a man up in an argument and get the laugh against him. Not that he
had really read or studied much; but he had gathered a smattering on
many subjects, and knew how to make a little knowledge go a great way.
Most of the other members of the club were afraid of him, for he had no
mercy when he chose to come down on a fellow; and if any one tried to
make a stand against him for a bit, he would soon talk him down with his
biting sarcasms and loud sneering voice.

"I told you that he professed to have a high opinion of myself as a
debater and free-thinker. He seldom crossed me in argument, and when he
did he was sure to give in in the end. I was vain enough at the time to
set this down to my own superior wit and knowledge; but I am now fully
persuaded that he was only pretending to have this good opinion of me
that he might make use of me for his own purposes. He knew that I was a
skilful workman, and earned more than average wages, and so he would
often borrow a few shillings from me, which he never remembered to pay
back again. But he managed to get these loans very dexterously, always
mixing up a little flattery when he came to borrow.

"Often and often, I'm ashamed to say, I have wandered out with him and
other members of our club in the summer, on Sunday afternoons, to
Cricketty Hall; and there, down in the old vault, we have been playing
cards and drinking till it was time to return. I could see plainly
enough on these occasions that Levi would have been only too glad to win
largely f