"It's what I am thinking of, sir; I don't want to grow wicked, and flowers are the only things that will prevent me. Mr. Cohen, if it hadn't been for you I shouldn't have been no good at all. I don't forget the first night I come to you with Victoria Regina in Gosport; if I lived to be as old as Methusalem I couldn't never forget it. And then when missus got me the gillard water to bathe my eyes--I should be the ungratefullest woman that ever drew breath if I could forget those things. Do, please, sir, let me have my way. You've paid me a lot more wages than I was worth, and all my money is in the Post-office Savings Bank, and it aint mine at all, it's yours----" "My good Prissy," said Aaron, much affected, for Prissy could not continue, her voice was so full of tears, "do as you wish, but be very careful, as you have promised. Perhaps fortune will turn again, and then----" "And then, sir," said Prissy, taking up her words, "you shall give it all back to me. And it will turn, sir; you see if it won't!" Aaron was very busy for several days after this, making a careful inventory of his possessions in the house in Prince's Gate, which he sent to the appointed liquidators of the bankrupt bank. Of all the debtors he was the only one who did not wait for the law's decree to give up his fortune, to the last farthing, and perhaps he was the only one whose conscience was free of the intention of wrong. He had his gleams of sunshine. First, as ill news travel fast, his son, Joseph, upon his arrival in Australia, was made acquainted through the public journals of the condition of affairs, and divining that his father was in need of money he cabled home advices which assisted Aaron in his extreme need. The young man had saved some money, and he placed it all at the disposal of his parents, who derived an exquisite pleasure from this proof of affection. As in Gosport twenty years before, Rachel did not know the stress to which her husband was put. He kept from her knowledge everything of a distressing nature, and in this loving task he was silently assisted by Prissy, whose thoughtfulness and devotion were not to be excelled. She watched her mistress' every movement and anticipated her slightest wish. "What should I do without you, Prissy?" said Rachel. "I hope you'll never want to do without me, ma'am," answered Prissy. Another gleam of sunshine came to him in the offer of a situation from a merchant who had known him in his days of prosperity. He was not asked to occupy a position of responsibility, and the offer was conveyed to him in apologetic terms. "I cannot displace men who have been long in my employ," the merchant said, "but a desk is vacant which you can have if you think it worthy of you." Aaron accepted it gladly and expressed his thanks.