holidays, sir."

PARSON.---"Your wife has cut for you, Mr. Hazeldean. I don't think it
was quite fair; and my partner has turned up a deuce,--deuce of hearts.
Please to come and play, if you mean to play."

The squire returns to the table, and in a few minutes the game is decided
by a dexterous finesse of the captain against the Hazeldeans. The clock
strikes ten; the servants enter with a tray; the squire counts up his own
and his wife's losings; and the captain and parson divide sixteen
shillings between them.

SQUIRE.--"There, Parson, I hope you'll be in a better humour. You win
enough out of us to set up a coach-and-four."

"Tut!" muttered the parson; "at the end of the year, I'm not a penny the
richer for it all."

And, indeed, monstrous as that assertion seemed, it was perfectly true,
for the parson portioned out his gains into three divisions. One-third
he gave to Mrs. Dale, for her own special pocket-money; what became of
the second third he never owned even to his better half,--but certain it
was, that every time the parson won seven-and-sixpence, half-a-crown,
which nobody could account for, found its way to the poor-box; while the
remaining third, the parson, it is true, openly and avowedly retained;
but I have no manner of doubt that, at the year's end, it got to the poor
quite as safely as if it had been put into the box.

The party had now gathered round the tray, and were helping themselves to
wine and water, or wine without water,--except Frank, who still remained