He took some money from his purse and held it towards her, but she refused it. “I have taken this case in hand,” she said. “You will find plenty of others quite near if you are really in earnest; but what all these people want is not charity, but justice.”
“It is good of you to visit and help them,” began Knight; but the young lady smiled a peculiar smile that made him feel uncomfortable.
“Good?” she said. “If any of us were good, we would surely be able to prevent such things as these.”
Knight much wished to know something of the young lecturer who had so taken him to task; but she dismissed him with a stately bow, and there was nothing for him but to leave, more resolute than ever to at once begin what really appeared a hopeless task. But early the next morning he had an inspiration.
It was possible for him, with the money which he had and could make, to take his business and his people out of this terrible city altogether, and he would do it! What a chance he had! He could plan a model town; and there set his people to work under far different conditions. He felt that the thought was a call from God, and he had some minutes of such joyous thankfulness as come to few men in a lifetime. Here was a bit of work that suited him exactly; and with all the energy he had, he at once set about making the thought an accomplished fact. He had an inheritance, indeed, of duty and of joy.
CHAPTER VII.
MARY WYTHBURN’S WEDDING.
John Dallington had his own troubles to bear, although they were of a different character from those of Arthur Knight. For a few weeks he rejoiced greatly in his heritage, while the land of his fathers grew dearer to him day by day; and then he learnt that only a part of it was really his own, and that some of it had been mortgaged. That there could be a debt upon his inheritance was a possibility that had never once occurred to him; and the fact was an exceedingly bitter one—indeed, he had not known how to bear it. Years afterward he remembered the lawyer’s office in which the unwelcome news was told him so distinctly that he knew the pattern of the paper on the wall and the number of panes in the window.
“I will redeem it,” he said; “I could not bear to let even a bit of the land go. It will take me years to do it, no doubt, but if I live it shall be accomplished.”
“A very worthy ambition,” replied the solicitor, who was sorry for the young man, and sympathised with him. “It is a good thing to have an object in life—keeps a man out of mischief, you know, and helps him to put forth his best powers. I assure you, Mr. Dallington, that there is nothing like trouble of this sort for making a man of you.”
But it was with a sore heart and rueful countenance that Dallington betook himself to his farm. He had been so sure that it was his, to do as he liked with, and his fancy had painted glowing pictures of what he would do for his mother, and his cottage tenants afterwards. And now he must economise, and deny himself the pleasure of making improvements, and must be careful of his own personal expenses. The thought made him sigh; not that he had extravagant habits, but because he had already hoped to persuade the lady of his heart to begin with him the new life which was before him. That was out of the question now, and he must not seek her, nor even think of her.