"I fear, Miss Gentle," began Mr Blurt, when his visitor was seated in the back shop, and Mrs Murridge had been expelled to the rear as usual, and Jiggs had been left on guard in the front--"I fear that you may think it rude in me to make such a proposal, but I am driven to it by necessity, and--the fact is, I want you to become a nurse." "A nurse, Mr Blurt!" "There, now, don't take offence. It's below your position, I dare say, but I have gathered from you that your circumstances are not--are not-- not exactly luxurious, and,--in short, my poor brother Fred is a hopeless invalid. The doctors say he will never be able to leave his bed. Ah! if those diamonds I once spoke to you about had only been mine still, instead of adorning the caves of crabs and fishes, Miss Gentle, I would have had half-a-dozen of the best nurses in London for dear Fred. But the diamonds are gone! I am a poor man, a very poor man, Miss Gentle, and I cannot afford a good nurse. At the same time, I cannot bear to think of Fred being, even for a brief period, at the mercy of cheap nurses, who, like other wares, are bad when cheap--although, of course, there may be a few good ones even among the cheap. What I cannot buy, therefore, I must beg; and I have come to you, as one with a gentle and pitiful spirit, who may, perhaps, take an interest in my poor brother's case, and agree to help us." Having said all this very fast, and with an expression of eager anxiety, Mr Blurt blew his nose, wiped his bald forehead, and, laying both hands on his knees, looked earnestly into his visitor's face. "You are wrong, Mr Blurt, in saying that the office of nurse is below my position. It is below the position of no one in the land. I may not be very competent to fill the office, but I am quite willing to try." "My dear madam," exclaimed the delighted Mr Blurt, "your goodness is-- but I expected as much. I knew you would. Of course," he said, interrupting himself, "all the menial work will be done by Mrs Murridge. You will be only required to fill, as it were, the part of a daughter--or--or a sister--to my poor Fred. As to salary: it will be small, very small, I fear; but there are a couple of nice rooms in the house, which will be entirely at your--" "I quite understand," interrupted Miss Gentle, with a smile. "We won't talk of these details, please, until you have had a trial of me, and see whether I am worthy of a salary at all!" "Miss Gentle," returned Mr Blurt, with sudden gravity, "your extreme kindness emboldens me to put before you another matter of business, which I trust you will take into consideration in a purely business light.--I am getting old, madam." Miss Gentle acknowledged the truth with a slight bow. "And you are--excuse me--not young, Miss Gentle." The lady acknowledged this truth with a slighter bow. "You would not object to regard me in the light of a brother, would you?" Mr Blurt took one of her hands in his, and looked at her earnestly.