'If we go by by-and-bye lane,' she said sharply, 'we come to the
gate of never.'

This being undeniable, no one gave her the pleasure of contradicting
her, for Archie knew it was impossible to argue with Selina, so
handy was she with her proverbial wisdom--a kind of domestic Tupper,
whose philosophy was of the most irritating and unanswerable kind.
He did the wisest thing he could under the circumstances, and
started a new subject.

'I say yon the day.'

'Yon' in this case meant Mr Villiers, whose name was tabooed in the
house, and was always spoken of in a half-hinting kind of way. As
both her servants knew all about her unhappy life, Madame did not
scruple to talk to them.

'How was he looking?' she asked, smoothing the crumbs off her dress.

'Brawly,' replied Archie, rising; 'he lost money on that Moscow
mine, but he made a fine haul owre the Queen o' Hearts claim.'

'The wicked,' observed Selina, 'flourish like a green bay tree.'

'Ou, ay,' retorted McIntosh, drily; 'we ken a' aboot that, Selina--
auld Hornie looks after his ain.'

'I think he leads a very hand-to-mouth existence,' said Madame,
calmly; 'however rich he may become, he will always be poor, because