on the morning after the reverend martin gurwood and madame du tertre had had their game at chess, and held the conversation just recorded, a straggling sunbeam, which had lost its way, turned by accident into 'change-alley, and fell straight on to the bald head of a gentleman in the second-floor of one of the houses there. this gentleman, who, according to the inscription on the outer door jamb, was mr. humphrey statham, was so astonished at the unexpected solar apparition, that he laid down the bundle of red tape with which he was knotting some papers together, and advancing to the grimy window, rubbed a square inch of dirt off the pane, and bending down, looked up at as much as he could discern of the narrow strip of dun-coloured sky which does duty for the blue empyrean to the inhabitants of 'change-alley. the sun but rarely visits 'change-alley in summer, and in winter scarcely ever puts in--an appearance; the denizens endeavour to compensate themselves for its absence by hanging huge burnished tin reflectors outside their windows, or giving up all attempts at deception, and sitting under gaslight from morning till eve. so that what mr. statham saw when he looked up was as satisfactory as it was unexpected, and he rubbed his hands together in sheer geniality, as he muttered something about having "decent weather for his trip."

a tall, strongly-built man, and good-looking after his fashion, with a fringe of dark-brown hair round his bald crown, large regular features, piercing hazel eyes, somewhat overhanging brows, a pleasant mobile mouth, and a crisp brown beard.

humphrey statham was a ship-broker, though, from a cursory glance at his office, it would have been difficult to guess what occupation he pursued, furnished as it was in the ordinary business fashion. there was a large leather-covered writing-table, at which he was seated, a standing desk in the window, an old worn stained leather easy-chair for clients, the customary directories and commercial lists on shelves against the wall, the usual stationers' almanac hanging above the mantelpiece, the usual worn carpet and cinder-browned hearth-rug. in the outer office, where the four clerks sat, and where the smaller owners and the captains had to wait mr. statham's leisure (large owners and underwriters being granted immediate audience), the walls were covered with printed bills, announcing the dates of departure of certain ships, the approaching sale of others; the high desks were laden with huge ledgers and files of lloyd's lists; and one of the clerks, who took a deep interest in his business, gave quite a maritime flavour to the place by invariably wearing a particular short pea-jacket and a hard round oilskin hat.

not much leisure had these clerks; they were, to use their own phrase, "at it" from morning till night, for mr. statham's business was a large one, and though all the more important part of it was discharged by himself, there was plenty of letter-writing and agreement copying, ledger-entering, and running backwards and forwards between the office and lloyd's when the "governor," as they called him, was busy with the underwriters. this year had been a peculiarly busy one; so busy, that mr. statham had been unable to take his usual autumnal holiday, a period of relaxation which he always looked forward to, and which, being fond of athletics, and still in the very prime of life, he usually passed among the swiss alps. this autumn he had passed it at teddington instead of courmayeur, and had substituted a couple of hours' pull on the river in the evening for his mountain climbing and hairbreadth escapes. but the change had not been sufficient; his head was dazed, he suffered under a great sense of lassitude; and his doctor had ordered him to knock-off work, and to start immediately for a clear month's vacation. where he was to go he had scarcely made up his mind. of course, switzerland in november was impossible, and he was debating between the attractions of a month's snipe-shooting in ireland and the delight of passing his time on board one of the scilly islands pilot-boats, roughing it with the men, and thoroughly enjoying the wild life and the dangerous occupation. a grave, plain-mannered man in his business--somewhat over cautious and reserved they thought him at lloyd's--humphrey statham, when away for his holiday, had the high spirits of a boy, and never was so happy as when he had thrown off all the ordinary constraints of conventionality, and was leading a life widely different from that normally led by him, and associating with persons widely different from those with whom he was ordinarily brought into contact. mr. statham was, however, in his business just now, and had not thrown off his cautious habits. by his side stood a large iron safe, with one or two of its drawers open, and before him lay a number of letters and papers, which he read through one by one, or curiously glanced at, duly docketed them, made some memorandum regarding them in his note-book, and stowed them away in a drawer in the safe. as he read through some of them, he smiled; at others he glanced with an angry frown or a shoulder-shrug of contempt; but there were one or two during the perusal of which the lines in his face seemed to deepen perceptibly, and before he laid them aside he pondered long and deeply over their contents.

"what a queer lot it is!" said humphrey statham wearily, throwing himself back in his chair; "and how astonished people would be if they only knew what a strange mass of human interests these papers represent! with the exception of collins, outside there, no one, i suppose, comes into this room who does not imagine that this safe contains nothing but business memoranda, insurances, brokerages, calculations, and commissions; details concerning the lively polly of yarmouth, or the saucy sally of whitstable; or who has the faintest idea that among the business documents there are papers and letters which would form good stock-in-trade for a romance writer! why on earth do those fellows spin their brains, when for a very small investment of cash they could get people to tell them their own experiences, actual facts and occurrences, infinitely more striking and interesting than the nonsense which they invent? every man who has seen anything of life must at one time or other have had some strange experience: the man who sells dog-collars and penknives at the corner of the court; the old broken-down hack in the outer office, who was a gentleman once, and now copies letters and runs errands for fifteen shillings a week; and i, the solemn, grave, trusted man of business--i, the cautious and reserved humphrey statham--perhaps i too have had my experiences which would work into a strange story! a story i may have to tell some day--may have to tell to a man, standing face to face with him, looking straight into his eyes, and showing him how he has been delivered into my hands." and humphrey statham crossed his arms before him and let his chin sink upon his breast, as he indulged in a profound reverie.

we will anticipate the story which mr. statham imagined that he would some day have to tell under such peculiar circumstances.

humphrey statham's father was a merchant and a man of means, living in good style in russell-square; and, though of a somewhat gloomy temperament and stern demeanour, in his way fond of his son, and determined that the lad should be educated and prepared for the position which he would afterwards have to assume. humphrey's mother was dead--had died soon after his birth--he had no brothers or sisters; and as mr. statham had never married again, the household was conducted by his sister, a meek long-suffering maiden lady, to whom hebdomadal attendance at the foundling chapel was the one joy in life. it had first been intended that the child should be educated at home; but he seemed so out of place in the big old-fashioned house, so strange in the company of his grave father or melancholy aunt, that, to prevent his being given over entirely to the servants, whom he liked very much, and with whom he spent most of his time, he was sent at an early age to a preparatory establishment, and then transferred to a grammar-school of repute in the neighbourhood of london. he was a dare-devil boy, full of fun and mischief, capital at cricket and football, and though remarkably quick by nature, and undoubtedly possessing plenty of appreciative common-sense and savoir faire, yet taking no position in the school, and held in very cheap estimation by his master. the half-yearly reports which, together with the bills for education and extras, were placed inside master humphrey's box, on the top of his neatly-packed clothes, and accompanied him home at every vacation from canehambury, did not tend to make mr. statham any the less stern, or his manner to his son any more indulgent. the boy knew--he could not help knowing--that his father was wealthy and influential, and he had looked forward to his future without any fear, and, indeed, without very much concern. he thought he should like to go into the army, which meant to wear a handsome uniform and do little or nothing, to be petted by the ladies, of whose charms he had already shown himself perfectly cognisant, and to lead a life of luxury and ease. but mr. statham had widely different views. although he had succeeded to his business, he had vastly improved it since he became its master, and had no idea of surrendering so lucrative a concern to a stranger, or of letting it pass out of the family. as he had worked, so should his son work in his turn; and accordingly, master humphrey on his removal from canehambury was sent to a tutor resident in one of the rhineland towns, with a view to his instruction in french and german, and to his development from a careless, high-spirited lad into a man of business and of the world.

the german tutor, a dreamy misty transcendentalist, was eminently unfitted for the charge intrusted to him. he gave the boy certain books, and left him to read them or not, as he chose; he set him certain tasks, but never took the trouble to see how they had been performed, or, indeed, whether they had been touched at all, till he was remarkably astonished after a short time to find his pupil speaking very excellent german, and once or twice took the trouble to wonder how "homfrie," as he called him, could have acquired such a mastery of the language. had an explanation of the marvel ever been asked of humphrey himself, he could have explained it very readily. the town selected for his domicile was one of the celebrated art-academies of germany, a place where painters of all kinds flocked from all parts to study under the renowned professors therein resident. a jovial, thriftless, kindly set of bohemians these painters, in the strict sense of the word, impecunious to a degree, now working from morn till eve for days together, now not touching pencil or maulstick for weeks, living in a perpetual fog of tobacco, and spending their nights in beer-drinking and song-singing, in cheap epicureanism and noisy philosophical discussions. to this society of careless convives humphrey statham obtained a ready introduction, and among them soon established himself as a prime favourite. the bright face and interminable spirits of "gesellschap's englander," as he was called (gesellschap was the name of his tutor), made him welcome everywhere. he passed his days in lounging from studio to studio, smoking pipes and exchanging jokes with their denizens, occasionally standing for a model for his hosts, now with bare neck and arms appearing as a roman gladiator, now with casque and morion as a young flemish burgher of van artevelde's guard, always ready, always obliging, roaring at his own linguistic mistakes, but never failing to correct them; while at night at the painters' club, the malkasten, or the less aristocratic kneipe, his voice was the cheeriest in the chorus, his wit the readiest in suggesting tableaux vivants, or in improvising practical jokes.

a pleasant life truly, but not, perhaps, a particularly reputable one. certainly not one calculated for the formation of a city man of business according to mr. statham's interpretation of the term. when at the age of twenty the young man tore himself away from his bohemian comrades, who kissed him fervently, and wept beery tears at his departure, and, in obedience to his father's commands, returned to england and to respectability, to take up his position in the paternal counting-house, mr. statham was considerably more astonished than gratified at the manner in which his son's time had been passed, and at its too evident results. about humphrey there was nothing which could be called slang in the english sense of the term, certainly nothing vulgar; but there was a reckless abandon, a defiance of set propriety, a superb scorn for the respectable conventionality regulating the movements and the very thoughts of the circle in which mr. statham moved, which that worthy gentleman observed with horror, and which he considered almost as loathsome as vice itself. previous to his presentation to the establishment over which he was to rule, humphrey's long locks were clipped away, his light downy beard shaved off, his fantastic garments exchanged for sad-coloured soberly-cut clothes; and when this transformation had been accomplished, the young man was taken into the city and placed in the hands of mr. morrison the chief clerk, who was enjoined to give a strict account of his business qualifications. mr. morrison's report did not tend to dissipate the disappointment which had fallen like a blow on the old man's mind. humphrey could talk german as glibly and with as good an accent as any rhinelander from manheim to düsseldorf; he had picked up a vast amount of conversational french from the french artists who had formed part of his jolly society; and had command of an amount of argot which would have astonished monsieur philarète chasles himself; but he had never been in the habit of either reading or writing anything but the smallest scraps of notes; and when mr. morrison placed before him a four-sided letter from their agent at hamburg, couched in commercial german phraseology, and requested him to re-translate and answer it, humphrey's expressive face looked so woe-begone and he boggled so perceptibly over the manuscript, that one of the junior clerks saw the state of affairs at a glance, and confidentially informed his neighbour at the next desk that "young s. was up a tree."

it was impossible to hide these shortcomings from mr. statham, who was anxiously awaiting mr. morrison's report; and after reading it, and assuring himself of its correctness by a personal examination of his son, his manner, which ever since humphrey's return had been frigid and reserved, grew harsh and stern. he took an early opportunity of calling humphrey into his private room, and of informing him that he should have one month's probation, and that if he did not signally improve by the end of that time, he would be removed from the office, as his father did not choose to have one of his name the laughing-stock of those employed by him. the young man winced under this speech, which he received in silence, but in five minutes after leaving his father's presence his mind was made up. he would go through the month's probation, since it was expected of him, but he would not make the smallest attempt to improve himself; and he would leave his future to chance. punctually, on the very day that the month expired, mr. statham again sent for his son; told him he had discovered no more interest in, or inclination for, the business than he had shown on his first day of joining the house, and that in consequence he must give up all idea of becoming a partner, or, indeed, of having anything farther to do with the establishment. an allowance of two hundred pounds a year would be paid to him during his father's lifetime, and would be bequeathed to him in his father's will; he must never expect to receive anything else, and mr. statham broadly hinted, in conclusion, that it would be far more agreeable to him if his son would take up his residence anywhere than in russell-square, and that he should feel particularly relieved if he never saw him again.

this arrangement suited humphrey statham admirably. two hundred a year to a very young man, who has never had any command of money, is an important sum. he left the counting-house; and whatever respect and regard he may have felt for his father had been obliterated by the invariable sternness and opposition with which all his advances had been received. two hundred a year! he would be off back at once to rhineland, where, among the painters, he could live like a prince with such an income; and he went--and in six months came back again. the thing was changed somehow; it was not as it used to be. there were the same men, indeed, living the same kind of life, equally glad to welcome their english comrade, and to give him the run of their studios and their clubs and kneipes; but after a time this kind of life seemed very flat and vapid to humphrey statham. the truth is, that during his six weeks' office experience he had seen something of london; and on reflection he made up his mind that, after all, it was perhaps a more amusing place than any of the rhineland towns. on his return to london he took a neat lodging, and for four or five years led a purposeless idle life, such a life as is led by hundreds of young men who are burdened with that curse--a bare sufficiency, scarcely enough to keep them, more than enough to prevent them from seeking employment, and to dull any aspirations which they may possess. it was during this period of his life that humphrey made the acquaintance of tom durham, whose gaiety, recklessness, and charm of manner, fascinated him at once; and he himself took a liking to the frank, generous, high-spirited young man, tom durham's knowledge of the world made him conscious that, though indolent, and to a certain extent dissipated, humphrey statham was by no means depraved, and to his friend mr. durham therefore exhibited only the best side of his nature. he was engaged in some wild speculations just at that time, and it was while careering over the country with tom durham in search of a capitalist to float some marvellous invention of that fertile genius, that humphrey statham met with an adventure which completely altered the current of his life.

they were making leeds their headquarters, but tom durham had gone over to batley for a day or two, to see the owner of a shoddy mill, who was reported to be both rich and speculative; and humphrey was left alone. he was strolling about in the evening, thinking what a horrible place leeds was, and what a large sum of money a man ought to be paid for living in it, when he was overtaken and passed by a girl, walking rapidly in the direction of headingley. the glimpse he caught of her face showed him that it was more than ordinarily beautiful, and humphrey quickened his lazy pace, and followed her until he saw her safely housed in a small neat dwelling. the next day he made inquiries about this girl, the transient glance of whose face had made such an impression upon him, and found that her name was emily mitchell; that her father, now dead, had been a booking-clerk in one of the large factories; that she was employed in a draper's shop; and that she lived with her uncle and aunt in the small house to which humphrey had tracked her. humphrey statham speedily made miss mitchell's acquaintance, found her more beautiful than he had imagined, and as fascinating as she was lovely; fascinating not in the ordinary sense of the word, not by coquetry or blandishment, but by innate refinement, grace, and innocence. after seeing her and talking with her a few times, humphrey could no longer control his feelings, and finding that he was not indifferent to emily--his good looks, his frank nature, and his easy bearing, well qualified him to find favour in the eyes of such a girl--he spoke out plainly to her uncle, and told him how matters stood. he was in love with emily, he said, and most anxious to marry, but his income was but 200l. a year, not sufficient to maintain her, even in the quiet way both he and she desired they should live; but he was young, and though he had been idle, now that he had an incentive to work he would show what he could do. it was possible that, seeing the difference in him, his father might be inclined to relent, and put something in his way, or some of his father's friends might give him employment. he would go to london and seek for it at once, and so soon as he saw his way to earning 200l. a year in addition to his annuity, he would return and claim emily for his wife.

in this view the uncle, a practical old north-countryman, coincided; the young people could not marry upon the income which mr. humphrey possessed; they had plenty of life before them; and when the young man came back and proved that he had carried out his promise, no obstacle should be made by emily's friends.

humphrey statham returned to london, and wrote at once to his father, telling him that he had seen the errors of his youth, and was prepared to apply himself to any sort of business which his father could place in his way. in reply he received a curt note from mr. statham, stating that the writer did not know of any position which humphrey could competently fulfil, reminding him of the agreement between them, and hinting dislike at the reopening of any correspondence or communication. foiled at this point, humphrey statham secretly took the advice of old mr. morrison, the chief clerk in his father's office, a kindly as well as a conscientious man, who had endeavoured to soften the young man's lot during the few weeks he had passed in the dull counting-house, and at his recommendation humphrey established himself as a ship-broker, and for two years toiled on from morning till night, doing a small and not very remunerative business, but proving to such as employed him that he possessed industry, energy, and tact. during this period he ran down to leeds, at four distinct intervals, to pass a couple of days with emily, whose uncle had died, and who remained in the house of her helpless bed-ridden aunt. at the end of this time mr. statham died, leaving in his will a sum of 10,000l. to his son, "as a recognition of his attempt to gain a livelihood for himself;" and bequeathing the rest of his fortune to various charities.

so at last humphrey statham saw his way to bringing emily home in triumph as his wife, and with this object he started: for leeds, immediately after his father's funeral. he had written to her to announce his arrival, and was surprised not to find her awaiting him on the platform. then he jumped into a cab, and hurried out to headingley. on his arrival at the little house, the stupid girl who attended on the bed-ridden old woman seemed astonished at seeing him, and answered his inquiries after emily inconsequently, and with manifest terror. with a sudden sinking of the heart humphrey made his way to the old lady's bedside, and from her quivering lips learned that emily had disappeared.

yes! emily had fled from her home, so said her aunt, and so said the few neighbours who, roused at the sight of a cab, had come crowding into the cottage. about a week ago, they told him, she had gone out in the morning to her work as usual, and had never returned. she left no letter of explanation, and no trace of her flight had been discovered; there was no slur upon her character, and, so far as their knowledge went, she had made no strange acquaintance. she received a number of letters, which she had always said were from mr. statham. what did he come down there for speering after emily, when, of all persons in the world, he was the likeliest to tell them where she had been?

humphrey statham fell back like a man stunned by a heavy blow. he had come down there to carry out the wish of his life; to tell the woman whom, in the inmost depths of his big manly heart he worshipped, that the hope of his life was at last accomplished, and that he was at length enabled to take her away, to give her a good position, and to devote the remainder of his existence to her service. she was not there to hear his triumphant avowal--she had fled, no one knew where, and he saw plainly enough that, not merely was all sympathy withheld from him, but that he was suspected by the neighbours to have been privy to, and probably the accomplice of, her flight, and that his arrival there a few days afterwards with the apparent view of making inquiries was merely an attempt to hoodwink them, and to divert the search which might possibly be made after her into another direction.

under such circumstances, an ordinary man would have fallen into a fury, and burst out into wild lamentation or passionate invective; but humphrey statham was not an ordinary man. he knew himself guiltless of the crime of which by emily's friends and neighbours he was evidently suspected, but he also knew that the mere fact of her elopement, or at all events of her quitting her home without consulting him on the subject, showed that she had no love for him, and that therefore he had no right to interfere with her actions. he told the neighbours this in hard, measured accents, with stony eyes and colourless cheeks. but when he saw that even then they disbelieved him, that even then they thought he knew more of emily mitchell's whereabouts than he cared to say, he instructed the local authorities to make such inquiries as lay in their power, and, offered a reward for emily mitchell's discovery to the police. he returned, to london an altered man; his one hope in life had been rudely extinguished, and there was nothing now left for him to care for. he had a competency, but it was valueless to him now; the only one way left to him of temporarily putting aside his great grief was by plunging into work, and busying his mind with those commercial details which at one time he had so fervently abhorred, and now, when it was no longer a necessity for him, business came to him in galore, his name and fame were established in the great city community, and no man in his position was more respected, or had a larger number of clients.

"too late comes this apple to me," muttered humphrey statham, quoting owen meredith, as he shook himself out of the reverie into which he had fallen. "nearly four years ago since i paid my last visit to leeds; more than three since, as a last resource, i consulted the scotland-yard people, and instructed them to do their best in elucidating the mystery. the scotland-yard people are humbugs; i have never heard of them since, and shall never hear of emily again. good god, how i loved her! how i love her still! was it that she stands out in my memory as my first and only real love, lit up perhaps by boyish fancy--the same fancy that makes me imagine that my old bare cock-loft in the adelphi was better than my present comfortable rooms in sackville-street. dans un grenier qu'on est bien à vingt ans. no, she was more than that. she was the only woman that ever inspired me with anything like real affection, and i worship her--her memory i suppose i must call it now--as i worshipped her own sweet self an hour before i learned of her flight. there, there is an end of that. now let me finish-up this lot, and leave all in decent order, so that if i end my career in a snipe-bog, or one of the tresco pilot-boats goes down while i am on board of her, old collins may have no difficulty in disposing of the contents of the safe."

out of the mass of papers which had originally been lying before him, only two were left. he took up one of them and read the indorsement, "t. durham--to be delivered to him or his written order (akhbar k)." this paper he threw into the second drawer of the safe; then he took up the last, inscribed "copy of instructions to tatlow in regard to e. m."

"instructions to tatlow, indeed!" said humphrey statham, with curling lip; "it is more than three years since those instructions were given, but hitherto they have borne no fruit. i have half a mind to destroy them; it is scarcely possible--"

his reflections were interrupted by a knock at the door. bidden to come in, mr. collins, the confidential clerk, put in his head, and murmured, "mr. tatlow, from scotland-yard."

"in the very nick of time," said humphrey statham, with a half-smile; "send mr. tatlow in at once."