Trying To Change A Sovereign.

tantSjlike the wedge-shaped line you may see outside the door of a Parisian theatre , and presently , when his or her turn arrived , a stern-faced cashier would compare the order for iiaymeiit with the presented voucher , at the same time searchingly , through his pince-nez , examining the features of the presenter . In the interval the books of the bank had been consulted to ascertain whether the customer had standing to his credit sufficient funds to meet the demand .

When the widow ' s turn arrived , the official gravely addressed her in these ominous words : — " We will honour this cheque , madam , for the credit of the concern , but we have long since ceased to haA'e dealings with the drawers . " Those individuals constituted , in point of fact ,

A "LONG" FIRM !!! The cheque purported to be given in ] 5 ayment for coals ancl firewood sup plied , and ivas signed " CATESEY & Co . ( Limited . ) " How came the widow Critchett by that cheque ? That is the question . The sequel must disclose . If you come to that , AA-1 LO was the widoAV Critchett ? The following chapter shall inform you .

CHAPTEll II . PETTY 11 UNCE . IN that part of the ancient city of Westminster which , in the beginning of the reign of King James the First , was knoAvn as Petty France , the widow Critchett kept a small coal , potato , and fire-wood store . The lady was something more than a AVICIOAV . The circumstance that had made her a relict had

eA'en a romantic interest . She Avas wont to say that her dear departed was killed h y a fall from a , tree . The fact that a rope round his neck prevented the gravitating body from reaching the earth was an insignificant detail with which she did not consider it necessary to encumber the narrative . In plain truth , however , Mrs . Critchett was what was , in those days , known in thieves' slangas a "hempen widow , " * her late husband having , in an evil hour for himself ,

experimented in endeavouring to appropriate by manual dexterity Avhat he had theretofore been content to acquire by craft or purchase . About two years before Mrs . Critchett presented the cheque at the counter of the Jerkback Bank , Mr . Critchett had been seduced into listening to the Great Northern Railway Company ' s attractive proffer of cheap excursion tickets to behold the entry of his MajestKing James the Sixth of Scotland

y into his newly-acquired English dominions . At Newark-on-Trcnt the thrifty excursionist from London , Avith a laudable desire to defray the expenses of his trip without encroaching on the domestic funds , mingling in the croAvd , saw what he conceived to be a profitable opening a la Autolycus , and being taken red , or rather silver , handed with a fat Northumbrian grazier ' s well-stuffed pouch between his lissom fingers , was haled before the newly-arrived Solon , then