A Great Man

ipper-bag which depended from a glittering brass nail in the recess to the right of

, springing up with all her excessive stoutness from the

it,' said

t it,' said

slipper (sole upwards) in front of the brisk

fat thing of sixteen or so, proud of her cap and apron

ll come at nine o'clock, or as

d, comprehending, sympathetic smile, as if to say:

t will do.' Aunt Annie

es

and it said now: 'I'm sorry I presumed to

ach other interrogatively,

ning at doors?' Aunt Ann

ned her name in a whisper, lest she might overhear. And, by the way, Sarah's name was not Sarah, but Susan. It had been altered in deference to a general op

night 'I put her straight a

r to see to the

s us,

ie rang

in your master's bed. And be su

ust coming down th

en foot by four, which was the symbol of the park in which the house would have stood if it had been a mansion. In a stride he walked from one end to the other of the path, which would have been a tree-lined, winding carriage-drive had the garden been a park. As he fumbled for his latchkey, he

Henry,' said Aunt Annie, f

re, aged twenty-three, with a face made grave, perhaps prematurely, by the double responsibilities of a househo

curtly, taking off his bl

mother in the dining-room and his helot in the cellar-kitche

ace there was Henry Shakspere. The youth had just left school; he left it without special distinction (the brilliant successes of the marred Speech Day were never repeated), but the state of his education may be inferred from the established fact that the headmaster had said that if he had stayed three months longer he would have gone into logarithms. Instead of going into logarithms, Henry went into shorthand. And

attempt, and his fame was, perhaps, due mainly to this success. All Wesleyan solicitors in large practice achieve renown, whether they desire it or not; Wesleyans cannot help talking about them, as one talks about an apparent defiance of natural laws. Most of them are forced into Parliament, and compelled against their wills to accept the honour of knighthood. Mr. George Powell, however, had so far escaped both Parliament and the prefix-a fact which served only to increase his fame. In fine, Mr

ght's two thousand pounds on mortgage or freehold security at five per cent., and upon this interest, with Henry's salary and Aunt Annie's income, the three lived in comfort at Dawes Road. Nay, they saved, and Henry travelled second-class between Walham Green and the Temple

and Aunt Annie seemed to assume that Henry had at least contributed to the knighthood and that the knighthood was in some subtle way the reward of Henry's talent, rectitude, and strenuousness. 'Sir George'-those two syllables which slipped smoothly off the to

wrote essays which were read and debated upon at the sessions of the Debating Society. (One of the essays was entitled: 'The Tendencies of Modern Fiction'; he was honestly irate against the Stream of Trashy Novels Constantly Poured Forth by the P

But he was very serious. His mother and aunt strained every nerve, in their idolatrous treatment of him, to turn him into a conceited and unbear

is aunt, had been curt, fretful, peevish, nearly cantankerous. 'Don't worry me!' he had irascibly protested, well knowing that his g

ing; his mother wormed out of him that his throat tickled and his mouth was sore. When Aunt Annie asked him if his eyes ached as well as ran, he could not deny it. On the third day, at breakfast, he shivered, and the two ladies perceived simultaneously the existence of a peculiar rash behind Henry's ears. On the morning of the fourth day Aunt Annie, up early, scored one over her siste

ie casually, while Henry was assuming his toasted crimson

ly, and as if defensively. Then

ad a recurren

, 'I thought it would be as we

ly,' sai

eat contribution to the

pecially chosen because it was a dish that

ed, dear,' his

th a touch of irony, 'I must do some wor

Knight cried out, mov

ure with a glance full of meaning. 'Sir Ge

Christmas appeal for the Clerks' Society, and

ousand and first time, that Sir George would

to maintain the silence which was the necessary environment of Henry's labours. And in the calm and sane domestic interior, under the mild r

ore to-night,' he sai

dear,' his mo

ladies disappeared. Dr. Dancer was on friendly terms with the household, and, his

r staring hard at Henry. 'What's

enry repeated

t's have

ended with the thrusting of a therm

doctor, and, smiling faintly,

g,' Henry rep

ous. But it means bed for a fortnight

ly been doing that which they so strongly d

lack-currant tea in the kitchen; and Aunt Annie was taking down from dictation, in her angular Italian hand, a letter which began: 'Dear Sir George

d the doctor's, 'I am going to trust you. Your master has got the measles, b

' said

as a boy,' Mrs. K

e, mum?'

own with measles. But he was soon compelled to perceive his mistake. By a united and tremendous effort Mrs. Knight and Aunt Annie made measles au

red to provide for every