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hea ded 0 Alas to the. anied rséspond noe clerk ne BU. lence want- ed," made bim look hopefully at the lines which followed, but' un- i a knowledge of Portuguese was nded as #8 French and Germiah; while the corn mer- chant who would receive a tle: "man's son in an office of i- tion was prudent enough' to add the words. 'No one need apply who is unable to pay substantial premi- 'am. t of the whole list there were only two situations for which he could even inquire, and' he soon found that for each of these there were hundreds of applicants. Each week brought him, of course, letters from Norway, his uncle sent kim letters of introduction to vari- ous London firms, but each letter brought him only fresh disappoint- ment. A At first certain aspects of Lon- don life had startled Frithiof; but be speedily became accustomed to them; if he thought of them at all it was' with indifference rather than disgust. Ome day, however, he passed with seeming abruptness in- to a new state of mind. Bick with disappointment after the failure of a rather promising scheme sug: gested to him by one of the men to whom his uncle had written, he walked through the crowded streets; 100 hopeless and wretched even to notice the direction he had taken, and with 'a miserable perception that his last good card was played, and that all hope of success was over. To gain an honest living was ap- rently impossible, the world af- rded him no facilities for that, but it afforded him countless oppor- tunities of leading another sort of life. Why should he not take what he could get Life was miserable and worthless enough, but at least he might put an end to the hideous monotony of the search after work, at least he might plunge into a phase of life which would have at any rate the charm of novelty. t was one of those autumn days when shadow 'and sun alternate quickly; a gleam of sunshine now flooded the street with brightness. It seemed to him that a gleam of light had also broken the dreari- ness of his life. If he sinned he would do so deliberately. He look- ed the two lives fairly in the.face now, and in his heart he knew which attracted him most. The dis: covery startled him. "Why not! why not?' urged the tempter. And the vague shrinking seemed to grow less; nothing in heaven or earth seemed real to him; he felt that nothing mattered a straw, Ae well that way as any other. Why not? i . Btall the thought of Bigrid held him in check, the remembrance of hier clear blue eyes seemed to force him to go deeper down beneath the surface of the sullen anger and dis intmént which were goad- ing him on to an evil life. Waa it after all nuite true! Had he really 'tried everything'? Two or three times during his wanderings he had thought of Roy Boniface, and had wondered whe- ther he should seek him out again; but in his trouble he had shrunk from going to comparative stran- for, and, as far as business went, was scarcely likely that Roy could : 'help him: ; the horrible tempta: t sort of terror of hig She stood thers with a Tittle Iy-headed. child 'in her ar BE Ie and vie deep ue eyes ) 1 8ea 3 out into the semi-darkness. Frithiof semi } 'how 'he no: longer d the in: side of the house. For the first time |" for weeks he felt the sort of rest which is akin to happiness as Cecil recognized him, abd came: forward with a pretty eagerness of manner to greet hm, too much astonished at his sudden appearance for any thought of shyness to intervene. '"We thought you must have gone back to Norway,"' she exclaimed. 'I am so glad you have come to see us. The children thought it was Roy who opened the gate. He will be home directly. He will be so glad to' dee you." "1 should have called before," said Frithiof, 'but my days have been very full, and then, too, I was not quite 'sure of your address." He followed her into the brightly lighted hall, and with a sort of sat- isfaction shut out the damp Novem- ber twilight. y "We have so often spoken of you and your gisters," said Cecil; 'but when Roy'called at the Arundel and found that you had left without giv- ing any adres we thought you must have gone back to Bergen.' "Did he call on me again there?' said Frithiof. 'I remember now he promised that he would come, I ought to have thought of it; but somehow all was confusion that night, and afterward I was too ill." 'It must have been terrible for you all alone among strangers in a foreign ocountry,'"' said Cecil, the ready tears starting to her eyes. "Oome in and see my mother, she has often heard how good you all were to us in Norway." | She opened a door on the left of the entrance hall and took him inte one of the prettiest rooms-he had ever seen; the soft crimson carpet, the inlaid rosewood furniture, the book-shelves with their rows of well-bound books, all seemed to be- long to to each other, and a delight- fully home-like feeling came over him as he sat by the fire, answering Mrs. Boniface's friendly inquiries; he could almost have fancied him- self once more in his father's study at Bergen--the room where so many of their long winter evenings had been passed. Mrs. Boniface was one of those very natural, homely people whose commonplace remarks have a sort of flavor of their own, and Cecil had something of the same gift. At last the front door opened and footsteps sounded in the hall, little Lance ran out to greet Mr, Boniface and Roy, and Frithiof felt a sudden | shame as he remembered the purse. proud tradesman that foolish pre- judice had conjured up in his brain --a being wholly unlike the kindly, pleasant-lookin man who now. shook hands with him, seeming in a moment to know who he was and all about him: EIR *'And '80 you have been in Lon- don all thie time!" exclaimed Roy. '"Whereabouts are you sta; nr "Close to Vauxhall Station, lied Frithiof.. 'Two or three | thought 3 locking, on up ' re-