but as these people did not fall under his eye, he had never thought of
them--he had only thought of their rents, which he received with more
or less regularity through the hands of his agent. The sums due,
however, were often deficient, for sometimes the tenants were unable to
pay them, because they were so sick they could not work; and sometimes
they died, leaving nothing behind them to seize for their debts. Mr
Benjamin had looked upon this evil as irremediable; but when he heard of
the sanitary movement, it occurred to him, that if he did something
towards rendering his property more eligible and wholesome, he might let
his rooms to a better class of tenants, and that greater certainty of
payment, together with a little higher rent, would remunerate him for
the expense of the cleaning and repairs. The idea being agreeable both
to his love of gain and his benevolence, he summoned his builder, and
proposed that he should accompany him over these tenements, in order
that they might agree as to what should be done, and calculate the
outlay; and the house inhabited by Glegg and his daughter happening to
be one of them, the old gentleman, in the natural course of events,
found himself paying an unexpected visit to the unconscious subject of
his last experiment; for the last it was, and so it was likely to
remain, though three months had elapsed since he made it; but its ill
success had discouraged him. There was something about Mary that so
evidently distinguished her from his usual customers; she looked so
innocent, so modest, and withal so pretty, that he thought if he failed
with her, he was not likely to succeed with anybody else.

'Who lives in the attics?' he inquired of Mr Harker, the builder, as
they were ascending the stairs.

'There's a widow and her daughter and son-in-law, with three children,
in the back-room,' answered Mr Harker. 'I believe the women go out