friends may then sneer at me and abuse me, and blacken my
darling child's heart towards me if they choose. And I thank you, Mrs.
Pendennis, for all your kindness towards my daughter's family, and for
the furniture which you have sent into the house, and for the trouble
you have taken about our family arrangements. It was for this I took
the liberty of calling upon you, and I wish you a very good morning."
So speaking, the Campaigner left my wife; and Mrs. Pendennis enacted the
pleasing scene with great spirit to her husband afterwards, concluding
the whole with a splendid curtsey and toss of the head, such as Mrs.
Mackenzie performed as her parting salute.

Our dear Colonel had fled before. He had acquiesced humbly with the
decree of fate; and, lonely, old and beaten, marched honestly on the
path of duty. It was a great blessing, he wrote to us, to him to think
that in happier days and during many years he had been enabled to
benefit his kind and excellent relative, Miss Honeyman. He could
thankfully receive her hospitality now, and claim the kindness and
shelter which this old friend gave him. No one could be more anxious to
make him comfortable. The air of Brighton did him the greatest good;
he had found some old friends, some old Bengalees there, with whom
he enjoyed himself greatly, etc. How much did we, who knew his noble
spirit, believe of this story? To us Heaven had awarded health,
happiness, competence, loving children, united hearts, and modest
prosperity. To yonder good man, whose long life shone with benefactions,
and whose career was but kindness and honour, fate decreed poverty,
disappointment, separation, a lonely old age. We bowed our heads,
humiliated at the contrast of his lot and ours; and prayed Heaven to
enable us to bear our present good fortune meekly, and our evil days, if
they should come, with such a resignation as this good Christian showed.

I forgot to say that our attempts to better Thomas Newcome's money
affairs were quite in vain, the Colonel insisting upon paying over every
shilling of his military allowances and retiring pension to the parties
from whom he had borrowed money previous to his bankruptcy. "Ah! what
a good man that is," says Mr. Sherrick with tears in his eyes, "what a
noble fellow, sir! He would die rather than not pay every farthing over.
He'd starve, sir, that he would. The money ain't mine, sir, or if it
was do you think I'd take it from the poor old boy? No, sir; by J