Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. [Illustration: "They've not got there! Never arrived!"] THE ANDERSONS BROTHER AND SISTER BY AGNES GIBERNE AUTHOR OF "THE DALRYMPLES," "MISS CON," "SWEETBRIAR," ETC. ETC. "Live to thy neighbor: live unto thy God: Not to thyself alone." LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO., LIMITED 21 BERNERS STREET CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. IN BRIGHTON LODGINGS II. LETTICE'S DREAD III. A NEW ACQUAINTANCE IV. PRUE AND BERTHA V. THEIR NON-ARRIVAL VI. QUARRINGTON COTTAGE VII. SUMMONED VIII. FROM READING TO BRISTOL IX. A NEW HOME X. AGED NINETEEN XI. A VANISHED BANK-NOTE XII. FOUND! AND WHERE? XIII. THE VALENTINES AGAIN XIV. A DISCOVERY XV. A CRASH! XVI. A PERSONAL APPEAL XVII. RULING PASSIONS XVIII. A NEEDED TOUCH XIX. RETRIBUTION THE ANDERSONS: Brother and Sister. CHAPTER I. IN BRIGHTON LODGINGS. "IT doesn't matter! That's to say, it can't be helped. I wouldn't have done the same in your place, Sissie. But perhaps you were right. I don't know exactly how we should have managed. I don't mean to be indebted to him or to anybody. I have my own way to make in the world; and I mean to make it. I'll get on—somehow." The words were spoken resolutely, and the speaker, a lad of about seventeen or eighteen, gave a slight toss to his head, which shook back a loose lock of hair, given to dropping over the brow. It was a gesture characteristic of Felix Anderson. He was a good-looking young fellow, not tall but well-made, with a resolute square jaw. "I mean to get on, and I will," he repeated. "Anybody can who chooses. I have to begin at the bottom of the ladder: but that's no reason why I shouldn't got to the top some day. Anyhow, I don't mean to be easily beaten. If I take this thing now, it is only as a stepping-stone to something better. I shall not be a bookseller's accountant all my days." There was a touch of egoism in all this, but egoism is almost an essential part of youth, and the boy was thinking of others besides himself. "I wouldn't have written to Dr. Bryant in your place,—after the way he treated my father and your mother. But if you thought it best—" "I could not see what else to do. It is hard enough to ask help of anybody. For myself I would not—only for you and Lettice." "Not for me. I can do without him, thank goodness! I wouldn't touch a dirty penny of the old fellow's with a pair of tongs! Not for anything you could mention," declared Felix, with unnecessary vehemence. "It is different for you and Lettice. Not that I couldn't have kept you both."