Rookstone Priory.

it had groivn too dark to read b y the open Avindow , and Mrs . Lorrimore , as usual , behind her wool-frame , was snoring audibly , her long Avool-needle at rest , stuck perpendicularly through the centre of an Egyptian soldier ' s body" you have

, neA'cr told mo IIOAV you lost your eyesight . Will you toll me toni ght , dear , if tho recollection does not pain you 1 I have a reason for asking you , LoAvndes , " she pleaded . In the twilight she saAV his nice cloud

over . "It is an old Around , Alice , " he ansAvered ; "hut I think it has healed now . " "Tell me about it , " said she , softly , coming from her side of the AAU ' . OAV , and kneeling on thc floor beside his chair .

" Of course , dear , I will , " he replied , putting his arm round tho small lithe figure— " though it is not a pleasant story . " "I Avould not ask you , LoAvndes , " she said , " only that my reason is a grave one .

You shall knoAV it Avhen I have heard your story . " " Very Avell , " replied lie , smiling doAvn at the beautiful earnest face , whose loveliness lie had resigned himself never to sec . " You did not knoAV , little one , that I had a brother once 1 "

. He spoke in a IOAV tone UOAV , and had turned his sightless gaze toAvards the open AvindoAV , as though looking intently across tho shadowed twili ght , out of doors . Alice thought that his face in the dark looked sterner and more set than it had

been a IOAV minutes before . "A brother ? " she repeated , gently . " No , Lowndes , I did not . " " Yes , " he Avont on , quietly , " a younger brother . His name Avas Alec . It ia Avrong , Alice , to speak otherwise than

reverently of tho dead who once irerc witJi us ; yet at times I ' havo found it a difficult tiling to remember my brother , AJec Forrester , Avith a kindl y heart . Ho Avas only a year my junior , and choose , at an early age , the profession of a soldier . M y lather

purchased a first-rate commission for him ; and , had ho been a temperate , steady felloAv , he might have been alive and amongst us now . Naturall y , I , as tho eldest , remained at home Avith my father at l . ooks _ oi _ e . It was the old man ' s particular Avish , and of course it Avas but right

that I should obey him . Do not think me unbrotherly , Alice , if I say that Alec ' s conduct was deserving of the severest censure . Do not deem mo uncliristianlike if I speak of his character as callous , unforgiving and jealous to a degree . It is

true , though it seems scarcely fair of me , his brother , to say so . Worse still , he Avas wildly extravagant . His expenses hi his regiment Ai'ore forever exceeding by many Avasted thousands the handsome annual allowance ivhich my father paid himand

, Avhen in debt he -would come to Rookstone and almost drive the poor old man out of his mind Avith extortionate demands for ready money , Avhich at that time was not so plentiful Avith the Forresters as I am

thankful to say it is HOAV . I have said that he Avas of a jealous disposition ; he AA as jealous particularly of me—jealous to think that I should HATS hi ease , as he termed it , at Rookstone Priory , Avhilst he , away , Avas made to do ivith a quarter of

Avhat he declared that I , in idle affluence , spent at home Avith our poor old father . No amount of reasoning Avould ever convince him that he Avas treated other-Avise than badly , and , seeing his obstinacy , we soon gave up reasoning Avith him .

" One chill autumn day my brother came to the Priory totally unexpected , and demanded , as he generally did lvhen he arrived on a flying visit , a heavy sum of money , of ivhich , according to his own account , he ivas sadly in need . Of all times to come this Avas the Avorst , for just

then my father was ailing . Poor old man , lie had had a great deal of trouble of one sort or another during his lifetime , and noiv in his old age ho Avas not very strong . That autumn clay he was very ill ; I knew he ivas not in a lit stale to be bothered .

So when Alec came I called him into the library , and endeavoured , as I had really done , to expostulate Avith him in a quiet , brotherly manner , telling him , Avhich ivas tho truth , that the money he required Avas not in tho house , but that in a lew days , if

lie would only wait , the amount , high as it Avas , should bo paid him . "' I Avanfc it immediately , ' lie said , doggedly ; ' and have it I must and will !' " Oh , Alice ! I remember his Avoids so plainly—I remember that day so well . " ' I repeat , it is not in the bouse , ' ivas my ansAver ; and I spoke with a weary firmness .