After All;

AFTER ALL ;

OB , THRICE WON . BY HENRY CALVEET APPLEBY , Son . Librarian of the Sull Literary Club , and Author of " A Qtiee ) Courtship , " " The Fatal Picture , " etc ., CHAPTER XXV . The good are better made by ill . —SAMUEL ROGERS .

AFTER the Bulliker tragedy Mr . Phane and Humberton felt as though they , had seen enough for one night . Several surprises had awaited and startled them , ancl events hacl taken a somewhat different turn from what they had anticipated . Curious reports found their way into the newspapers in connection with the explosives placed in Mr . Phane ' s offices by the unscrupulous cashier . Some ambitious journalist had reported that the whole

of the offices were blown up , causing the loss of several lives and great damage to the surrounding property ; which account was copied , with additions , by other papers . In reality , the neighbourhood was very much alarmed at the occurrences of that evening , and reports of Fenian outrages soon spread and were given credence to . A feeling of intense horror and disgust was experienced by Mi" . Bulliker ' s neighbours when they heard of the dreadful deed he had completed on his own body . The case went through the ordinary system of

inquiry , aud the usual verdict was given . Money was found hidden in many parts of the house , for the old miser had hoarded up in all the secret places he could find or invent , all the circulating medium that he had not lent on the Oakrush estates , while his poor , -wretched wife had been obliged to live on the small pittance he grudgingly allowed her , and his children were starving in squalor ancl ignorance . His parsimony had led

him to hide articles of value in unthought-of places for fear they should be taken from him . Thus , a bank-note would be found wedged in between two bricks in a corner , ancl a sovereign in the frame work of an old ei ght-day clock that no longer performed its proper functions for want of repairs . He was a regular stint , and avarice was stamped on all the lines of his countenance . He had lately often come home to his miserable wife in a state of intoxication ( though

that was at the expense of Mr . Merrisslope ) , and never given the mother or children a kindly word or look , being more like a pig than a human being . His selfish cupidity had swallowed up all his finer feelings , if he ever had possessed any . The very boys in the street used to call him " Old Clo ' , " and " Redheaded Jew , " for they knew what a skinflint he was . In short , he was generally known as mean-minded lickpenny . Nothing was too bad to dub the churlish scoundrel .

So nobody was really sorry that he was dead . The deeds of Oakrush estate were found in his possession , and a few letters referring to them from Merrisslope , These Mr . Phane could not take possession of until he had proved satisfactoril y that the money with which the estates were bought was his , and that difficult y he could now easil y overcome . But he had his creditors to think of—a clamorous , hard-hearted lot when they think their money is in danger , but mild as

new milk when they are concluding a good bargain . Some creditors are cruel devils , with no sympathy for their own kind : while others , but very few and far between , alas , are gentle and magnanimous . Such were those who came to the broken merchant and offered him more time to pay in , to reduce their claims , or wait until he got his awkward affairs settled . Then came the batch of rapacious ones , like hungry wolves on a dying horse , or the greedy vultures crowding round to suck the last life-blood from their quivering prey . 2 h