the tontine. if the reader only knew how important a share the tontine--with its results--holds in this little history, he would enter on it with interest.

tontines may be of different arrangement. in fact they are so. this one was as follows. it had been instituted at whitborough. ten gentlemen put each an equal sum into a common fund, and invested the whole in the joint names of ten children all under a year old. this money was to accumulate at compound interest, until only one of these children should be living: the last survivor would then receive the whole of the money unconditionally.

of these ten children whose names were inscribed on the parchment deed, oliver rane and bessy north alone survived. mr. north had been wont to call it an unlucky tontine, for its members had died off rapidly one after another. for several years only three had been left; and now one of them, george massey, had followed in the wake of those who were gone. under ordinary circumstances, the tontine would have excited no comment whatever, but have gone on smoothly to the end: that is, until one of the two survivors had collapsed. the other would have had the money paid him; and nothing would have been thought about it, except that he was a fortunate man.

but this case was exceptional. the two survivors were man and wife. for the good fortune to lapse to one of them, the other must die. it was certainly a curious position, and it excited a great deal of comment in the neighbourhood. dallory, as prone to gossip as other places, made of it that oft-quoted thing, a nine-days' wonder. in the general stagnation caused by the strike, people took up the tontine as a source of relief.

practically the tontine was of no further use to the two remaining members: that is, to the two combined. they were one, so to say; and so long as they continued to be so, the money could not lapse to either. if bessy died, dr. rane would take it; if dr. rane died, she would take it. nothing more could be made of it than this. it had been accumulating now just one-and-thirty years; how much longer it would be left to accumulate none could foresee. for one-and-thirty years to come, in all human probability; for dr. rane and his wife appeared to possess sound and healthy constitutions. nay, they might survive ten or twenty years beyond that, and yet not be very aged. and so, there it was; and dallory made the matter its own, with unceremonious freedom.

but not as dr. and mrs. rane did. they had need of money, and this huge sum--huge to them--lying at the very threshold of their door, but forbidden to enter, was more tantalizing than pen can describe. richard north had not been far wrong in his computation: and the amount, as it stood at present, was considerably over two thousand pounds. the round sum, however, was sufficient to reckon by, without counting the odds and ends. two thousand pounds! two thousand pounds theirs of right, and yet they might not touch it because both of them were living!

how many hours they spent discussing the matter with each other could never be told. as soon as twilight came on, wherever they might be and whatever the occupation, the theme was sure to be drifted into. in the dining-room when it grew too dark for dr. rane to pursue his writing; in the drawing-room, into which bessy would wile him, and sing to him one of her simple songs; walking together, arm within arm, in the garden paths, the stars in the summer sky above them, the waving trees round about them, the subject of the tontine would be taken up: the tontine; nothing but the tontine. no wonder that they grew to form plans of what they would do if the money were theirs: we all know how apt we are to let imagination run away with us, and to indulge visions that seem to become almost realities. dr. rane sketched a bright future, with two thousand pounds in hand, he could establish himself in a first-rate metropolitan locality, set up well, both professionally and socially; and there would be plenty of money for him and his wife to live upon whilst the practice was growing. bessy entered into it all as eagerly as he. having become accustomed to the idea of quitting dallory, she never glanced at the possibility of remaining there. she thought his eager wish, his unalterable determination to leave it, was connected only with the interests of his profession; he knew that the dread of a certain possible discovery, ever haunting his conscience, made the place more intolerable to him day by day. at any cost he must get away from it: at any cost. there was a great happiness in these evening conversations, in the glowing hopes presented by plans and projects. but, where was the use of indulging in them, when the tontine money--the pivot on which all was to turn--could never be theirs? as often as this damping recollection brought them up with a check, dr. rane would fall into gloomy silence. gradually, by the very force of thinking, he saw a way, or thought he saw a way, by which their hopes might be accomplished. and that was to induce the trustees to advance the money at once to him and his wife jointly.

meanwhile the strike continued with unabated force. not a man was at work; every one refused to do a stroke unless he could be paid for it what he thought right, and left off his daily labour! when he chose. one, might have supposed, by the independence of the demands, that the men were the masters, north and gass the servants. privation was beginning to reign, garments grow scanty, faces pale and pinched. there was not so much as a sixpence for superfluities: and under that head in troubled times must be classed the attendance of a medical man. it will readily be understood, therefore, that this state of affairs did not contribute to the income of dr. rane.

one day, mr. north, sitting on the short green bench in front of his choicest carnation bed, found two loving hands put round his neck from behind. he had been three parts asleep, and woke up slightly bewildered.

"bessy, child, is it you?"

it was mrs. rane. her footfall on the grass had not been heard. she wore a cool print dress and a black silk mantle; and her plain straw bonnet looked charming, around the pretty falling curls. bessy looked quiet and simple at all times: and always a lady.

"did i startle you, papa?"

"no, my dear. when i felt the arms, i thought it was mary dallory. she comes upon me without warning sometimes. here's room, bessy."

she sat down beside him. it was a very hot morning, and bessy unfastened the strings of her bonnet. there was a slight look of weariness on her face as if she were just a little worried with home cares. in truth she felt so: but all for oliver's sake. if the money did not come in so freely as to make matters easy, she did not mind it for herself, but for him.

"papa, i have come to talk to you," she began, laying one of her hands affectionately on his knee. "it is about the tontine money. oliver thinks that it might be paid to us conjointly; that it ought to be."

"i know he does," replied mr. north. "it can't be done, bessy."

her countenance fell a little. "do you think not, papa?"

"i am sure not, child."

"papa, i am here this morning to beg you to use your interest with sir thomas ticknell. oliver knows nothing about my coming. he said last night, when we were talking, that if you could be induced to throw your influence into the scale, the bank might listen to you. so i thought that i would come to you in the morning and ask."

"the bank won't listen to me, or to any one else, in this matter, bessy. it's illegal to pay the tontine money over while two of you are living, and the ticknells are too strict to risk it. i shouldn't do it myself in their places."

"what oliver says is this, papa. the money must, in the course of events, come to either him or me, whichever of us survives the other. we have therefore an equal interest in it, and possess at present an equal chance of succeeding to it. no one else in the wide world, but our two selves, has the smallest claim to it, or ever can have. we are the only survivors of the ten; the rest are all dead. why, then, should the trustees not stretch a point and let us have the money while it can be of use to us conjointly? oliver says they ought to do it."

"i know he does," remarked mr. north.

"has oliver spoken to you, papa?"

"no," said mr. north. "i heard about it from dick. dick happened to be at the bank yesterday, and thomas ticknell mentioned to him that dr. rane had been urging this request upon them. dick said sir thomas seemed quite horrified at the proposition; they had told dr. rane, in answer, that if they could consent to such a thing it would be no better than a fraud."

"so they did," replied bessy. "when oliver was relating it to me after he came home, he could not help laughing--in spite of his vexation. the money is virtually ours, so where would the fraud lie?"

"to be virtually yours is one thing, bessy; to be legally yours is another. you young women can't be expected to understand business problems, my dear; but your husband understands them. of course it would be a great boon to get the two thousand pounds whilst you are both together; but it would not be legal for the bankers to do it, and they are right in refusing it."

"then--do you think there is no chance for us, papa?"

"not the least chance, child."

a silence ensued. mr. north sat watching his carnations, bessy watching, with far-off gaze, the dark-blue summer sky. in spite of her father's opinion, she thought the brothers, thomas and william ticknell, unduly hard.

the ticknells were the chief bankers of whitborough. upon the institution of the tontines, the two brothers, then in their early prime, had been made trustees to it, in conjunction with a gentleman named wilson. in the course of time, mr. wilson died: and thomas and william ticknell grew into tolerably aged men; they wanted now not much of the allotted three score years and ten. the elder brother had gone up to court with some great local matter, and he came back sir thomas. these two gentlemen had full power over the funds of the tontine. they were straightforward, honourable men; of dispositions naturally cautious; and holding very strict opinions in business. increasing years had not tended to lessen caution, or to soften strict tenets: and when dr. rane, soliciting a private interview with the brothers, presented himself before them with a proposition that they should pay over the tontine money to him and his wife conjointly, without waiting for the death of either, the few hairs remaining on the old gentlemen's white heads rose up on end.

truly it had seemed to them, this singular application, as touching closely upon fraud. dr. rane argued the matter with them, putting it in the most feasible and favourable light: and it must be acknowledged that, to his mind, it appeared a thing not only that they might do, but that it would be perfectly right and honest to do. all in vain; they heard him with courtesy, but were harder than adamant. richard north happened to go in upon some business soon after the conclusion of the interview, and the brothers--they were the bankers of north and gass--told him confidentially of the application. richard imparted it to his father: hence mr. north heard bessy without surprise.

regarded from the narrow, legal point of view, of course the messrs. ticknell might be right; but, taking it broadly and comprehensively, there could be no doubt that it seemed hard upon oliver rane and his wife. the chief question that had presented itself to richard north's mind was: if the money were handed over now, would the messrs. ticknell be quite secure from ulterior consequences? they said not. upon richard north's suggesting that a lawyer might be consulted on the point, sir thomas ticknell answered that, no matter what a lawyer might say, they should never incur the responsibility of parting with the tontine money so long as two of its members were living. "and i think they must be right," richard remarked afterwards to his father. turning to bessy, sitting by him on the bench, mr. north repeated this. bessy listened in dutiful silence, but shook her head.

"papa, much as i respect richard's judgment, clever as i know him to be, i am sure he is wrong here. it is very strange that he should go against me and oliver."

"it is because of that same good judgment, my dear," replied mr. north simply. "i'd trust it against the world, on account of his impartiality. when he has to decide between two opposite opinions, he invariably puts himself, or tries to put himself, in either place, weighs each side, and comes to an unbiassed conclusion. look at this present strike: dick has been reproached with leaning to the men's side, with holding familiar argument with them, for and against; a thing that few masters would do: but it is because he sees they really believe they have right on their side, and he would treat their opinions with respect, however mistaken he may know them to be."

"richard cannot think the men are not to blame!" exclaimed mrs. rane.

"he lays the blame chiefly where, as he says, it is due--on the trade union. the men were deluded into listening to it at first; and they can't help obeying its dictates now. they have given themselves over to it, body and soul, bessy, and can no more escape from it than a prisoner from a dungeon. that's richard's view, mind; and it makes him lenient; i'd try and bring them to their senses in a different way, if i had the power and the means left me."

"in what way, papa?"

"bessy, if i were what i once was--a wealthy man, independent of business--i'd close the works for good: break them up: burn them if necessary: anything but reopen them. the trade should go where it would, and the men after it; or stay here and starve, just as they chose. i would never have my peace of life worried out of me by these strikes; or let men that i have employed and always done liberally by dictate to me. they'll find it out, bessy, to their cost, as sure as that we two are sitting here."

mr. north seized the hoe that was resting beside the bench, and struck it lightly on the ground. meaning no doubt to give emphasis to his words. bessy rane passed from the subject of the strike to that which more immediately concerned her.

"richard is honest, papa; he would never say what he did not think; but he may be mistaken sometimes. i cannot understand how he can think the ticknells right in refusing to let us have the money. if there were the slightest, smallest reason for their keeping it back, it would be different: but there is none."

"see here, bessy. if they go by the strict letter of the law, they cannot do it. the tontine deed was drawn up as tightly as any deed can be: it expressly says that nine of the members must be dead, and only the tenth remaining, before the money can be withdrawn from its investment. the ticknells can't get over this."

"papa--forgive me--you should not say can't, but won't," spoke mrs. rane. "they can do it if they please; there is nothing to prevent it. all power lies with them; they are responsible to none. if they paid over the money to oliver tomorrow, not an individual in the whole world could call them to account for it. the strictest judge on the bench could not say to them afterwards, you have paid away money that you had no right to pay."

"stop, bessy--that's just where the weak point lies. the ticknells say that if they parted with the money now, they might be called upon again for it at some future time."

bessy sat in amazement. "why! how could that be?"

"dick put it somehow in this way, my dear: that is, thomas ticknell put it to him. if you should die, bessy, leaving your husband a widower with children: or, for the matter of that, if he should die, leaving you with some: those children might come upon the ticknells for the money over again. or rane might come upon them, if he were the one left; or you, if you were. it was in that way, i think dick said; but my memory is not as clear as it used to be."

"as if we should be so dishonourable! besides--there could be no possibility of claiming the money twice over. having received it once, the ticknells would hold our receipt for it."

mr. north shook his head. "the law is full of quips and quibbles, bessy. if the trustees paid over this money to you and your husband now, contrary to the provisions of the tontine deed, i suppose it is at least a nice question whether the survivor could not compel them to pay it again."

bessy held her breath. "do you think they could be compelled, papa?"

"well, i don't know, bessy. i fancy perhaps they might be. dick says they are right, as prudent men, to refuse. one thing you and oliver may rest assured of, my dear--that, under the doubt, the ticknells will never be persuaded to do it as long as oak and ash grow."

bessy rane sighed, and began to tie her bonnet. she had no idea that paying the money would involve the trustees in any liability, real or fancied, and hope went out of her from that moment. by nature she was as just as richard; and she could not henceforth even wish that the bankers should incur the risk.

"dick's indoors, my dear, if you'd like to ask him what thomas ticknell said; he would explain it to you better than i have. no hurry now, to be off in a morning: there are no works open to go to."

"i have heard enough, papa; i quite understand it now," was mrs. rane's answer. "it will be a dreadful disappointment to oliver when he hears that no chance, or hope, is left. it would have been--oh such a help to us."

"he is not getting on very well, is he, bessy?"

"no. especially since the strike set in. the men can't pay."

"seeley must feel it as well as oliver."

"not half as much; not a quarter. his practice chiefly lies amongst the richer classes. well, we must have patience. as oliver says, fortune does not seem to smile upon us just now."

"if i could put a hundred-pound note, or so, into your hand, whilst these bad times are being tided over, i'd do it, bessy, with all my heart. but i can't. tell oliver so. the strike is bringing us no end of embarrassment, and i don't know where it will end. it was bad enough before, as you remember, bessy: but we always had richard as a refuge."

"richard will take care of you still, papa; don't be troubled; in some way or other, i am sure he will. as to ourselves, we are young, and can wait for the good time coming."

very cheerily she spoke. and perhaps felt so. bessy's gentle nature held a great deal of sunshine.

"i wonder oliver's mother does not help him," remarked mr. north.

"she would gladly do it, papa, but she lives up to every farthing of her income: beyond it, i fancy, sometimes. she is accustomed to luxuries, and her travelling about costs a good deal. mrs. cumberland is not one to economize, or to put up with small lodgings and discomforts on her different sojourns. sometimes, as you know, she posts: it is easier, she says; and that is expensive."

"you'll come in, won't you, bessy?" said mr. north as she rose. "miss field and matilda were sitting in the hall just now; it is the coolest place in the house."

she hesitated for a moment, and then walked on by his side. mrs. rane's visits to the hall were rare. madam had not been cordial with her since her marriage; and she had never once condescended to enter bessy's home.

the hall was empty. bessy was about to enter the drawing-room in search of matilda, when the door opened and madam appeared. madam started haughtily, stepped back, and shut the door in bessy's face. next moment, a hand was extended over bessy's shoulder, and threw it wide.

"by your leave, madam," said richard north calmly. "room for my sister."

he marshalled her in as though she had been a duchess. madam, drawing her lace shawl round her shoulders, swept majestically out, vouchsafing neither word nor look. it was nothing more than the contempt often dealt to bessy: but richard's blood went up in a boil.

that the trustees' refusal to part with the funds of the tontine was irrevocable, there could be no doubt about: nevertheless, oliver rane declined to see it. the matter got wind, as nearly everything else seemed to do in dallory, and many people took his part. it was a frightful shame, they thought, that a man and his wife could not enjoy together the money that was their due, but must wait for one or the other's death before they received it. jelly's tongue made itself particularly busy. dr. rane was not a favourite of hers on the whole, but she espoused his cause warmly in this.

"it's such a temptation," remarked jelly to a select few, one night at ketler's, whither she had betaken herself to blow up the man for continuing to keep out on strike, to which movement jelly was a determined foe.

"a temptation?" rejoined tim wilks respectfully, who made one of her audience. "in what way, miss jelly?"

"in what way," retorted jelly with scorn. "why in the way of stealing the money, if it's to be got at; or of punching those two old bankers' heads. when a man's kept out of his own through nothing but some crotchet, it's enough to make him feel desperate, tim wilks."

"so it is," acquiesced meek timothy.

"if my mistress withheld my wages from me--which is twenty pounds a-year, and her left-off silks--i should fight, i know: perhaps take them. and this is two thousand pounds."

"two thousand pounds!" ejaculated honest ketler in low tones of reverence, as he lifted his hands. "and for the doctor to be kept out of it because his wife's not dead! it is a shame."

"i wouldn't say, either, but it might bring another sort of temptation to some men, besides those mentioned by miss jelly," put in timothy wilks with hesitation.

"and pray what would that be?" demanded jelly tartly--for she made it a point to keep timothy under before company.

"the putting his wife out of the way on purpose to get the money, miss jelly," spoke tim with deprecation. and the words caused a sudden pause.

"you--you don't mean murdering her!" shrieked mrs. ketler, who was a timid woman and given to being startled.

"yes i did," replied timothy wilks. "some might be found to do it. no offence to dr. rane. i'm putting the possible case of a bad man; not of him."