[CONTENTS OF VOLUME III]
[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE]

SINK OR SWIM?

A Novel.
BY THE AUTHOR OF
“RECOMMENDED TO MERCY,”
ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18 CATHERINE ST. STRAND.
1868.
[The right of translation and reproduction is reserved.]
LONDON:
ROBSON AND SON, GREAT NORTHERN PRINTING WORKS,
PANCRAS ROAD, N.W.

CONTENTS OF VOL. III.

CHAP. PAGE
[I.][“He comes too near,” etc.][1]
[II.][A Lover found and lost][21]
[III.][What was Honor doing?][36]
[IV.][Mrs. Beacham writes a Letter][46]
[V.][Honor turns rebellious][54]
[VI.][What, sell Rough Diamond!][62]
[VII.][Mea culpa][77]
[VIII.][John Beacham makes a Discovery][87]
[IX.][John proves his Right][104]
[X.][“As well as can be expected”][111]
[XI.][From lively to severe][119]
[XII.][Mrs. Beacham refuses to forget][131]
[XIII.][Arthur cheers up][136]
[XIV.][Arthur finds himself done][146]
[XV.][Misfortunes never come singly][154]
[XVI.][Out at Sea][164]
[XVII.][Honor makes a new Acquaintance][188]
[XVIII.][John discovers his Loss][202]
[XIX.][Another Escape][208]
[XX.][Poor Sophy!][216]
[XXI.][Suspense][227]
[XXII.][John gives way][237]
[XXIII.][Honor receives a Letter][243]
[XXIV.][The Uses of Adversity][259]
[XXV.][Conclusion][274]

SINK OR SWIM?

CHAPTER I.
“HE COMES TOO NEAR,” ETC.

The merrie month of May was speeding onward, and with it—fast and furious—rattling over stones, and dashing over impediments, ran the fierce strong current of “London life.” There is an intoxicating influence, especially on the inexperienced, in the rapid motion, the ever-changing aspect of pleasure, the atmosphere redolent of poisonous influences, that is breathed by the upper ten thousand in the month of May, in busy, half-mad London. By none was this insidious influence more perilously undergone than by the impressionable, weak-nerved woman who, through her own folly, considerably aided by “circumstances over which she had no control,” was standing on the very brink of the abyss, the name of which is “ruin.”