and sixpence! On the other hand, rubbish was at a premium. The
kitchen utensils were dispersed at an alarmingly high figure, and a
Turkey carpet, aged twenty years, fetched more than its original cost.

The sale was over. Needless to say, it had afforded enormous interest
to the inmates of Highfield Cottage. Miss Jane could almost tell the
price and history of each individual lot.

In a short time the great placards of advertisement were torn off the
gate piers at "Littlecote," the house was closed, and once more the
blinds were down.




CHAPTER IV

KICKS AND HALFPENCE

More than four years had elapsed since Mrs. Shafto and her son had
driven away from "Littlecote" behind a pair of smart bay steppers.
(The widow was determined to keep up what she was pleased to call "her
position" to the last.) Immediately succeeding this dignified exit
came a woeful change in their circumstances. Mrs. Shafto was obliged
to make the best of boarding-house and 'bus, and Douglas, thanks to the
exertions of his friends the Tremenheeres, found a situation in a
mercantile house in the City. There was no time for him to pick and
choose. It was imperative that he should begin to earn without delay,
and not, as his parent frankly remarked, "look to a poor widow for
support." This condition of abject poverty was, she declared,