separately some expression of regret at his departure; but he
had postponed his farewell till the last evening.

He now bade the maid put wine and glasses on the table;
and had the chairs arranged around the room; and sent Bunce to

each of the men to request they would come and say farewell to
their late warden. Soon the noise of aged scuffling feet was

heard upon the gravel and in the little hall, and the eleven men
who were enabled to leave their rooms were assembled.

'Come in, my friends, come in,' said the warden--he was
still warden then. 'Come in, and sit down'; and he took the

hand of Abel Handy, who was the nearest to him, and led the
limping grumbler to a chair. The others followed slowly and

bashfully; the infirm, the lame, and the blind: poor wretches!
who had been so happy, had they but known it! Now their

aged faces were covered with shame, and every kind word
from their master was a coal of fire burning on their heads.

When first the news had reached them that Mr Harding
was going to leave the hospital, it had been received with a

kind of triumph--his departure was, as it were, a prelude to
success. He had admitted his want of right to the money

about which they were disputing; and as it did not belong to
him, of course, it did to them. The one hundred a year to

each of them was actually becoming a reality; and Abel
Handy was a hero, and Bunce a faint-hearted sycophant,

worthy neither honour nor fellowship. But other tidings soon
made their way into the old men's rooms. It was first notified

to them that the incomeabandoned by Mr Harding would not
come to them; and these accounts were confirmed by attorney

Finney. They were then informed that Mr Harding's place
would be at once filled by another. That the new warden

could not be a kinder man they all knew; that he would be a
less friendly one most suspected; and then came the bitter

information that, from the moment of Mr Harding's departure,
the twopence a day, his own peculiar gift, must of necessity

be withdrawn.
And this was to be the end of all their mighty struggle--of

their fight for their rights--of their petition, and their debates,
and their hopes! They were to change the best of masters

for a possible bad one, and to lose twopence a day each man!
No; unfortunate as this was, it was not the worst, or nearly

the worst, as will just now be seen.
'Sit down, sit down, my friends,' said the warden; 'I want

to say a word to you and to drink your healths, before I leave
you. Come up here, Moody, here is a chair for you; come,

Jonathan Crumple'--and by degrees he got the men to be
seated. It was not surprising that they should hang back with

faint hearts, having returned so much kindness with such deep
ingratitude. Last of all of them came Bunce, and with sorrowful mien

and slow step got into his accustomed seat near the fire-place.
When they were all in their places, Mr Harding rose to

address them; and then finding himself not quite at home on
his legs, he sat down again. 'My dear old friends,' said he,

'you all know that I am going to leave you.'
There was a sort of murmur ran round the room, intended,

perhaps, to express regret at his departure; but it was but a
murmur, and might have meant that or anything else.

'There has been lately some misunderstanding between us.
You have thought, I believe, that you did not get all that you

were entitled to, and that the funds of the hospital have not
been properly disposed of. As for me, I cannot say what

should be the disposition of these moneys, or how they should
be managed, and I have therefore thought it best to go.'

'We never wanted to drive your reverence out of it,' said Handy.
'No, indeed, your reverence,' said Skulpit. 'We never

thought it would come to this. When I signed the petition--
that is I didn't sign it, because--'

'Let his reverence speak, can't you?' said Moody.
'No,' continued Mr Harding; 'I am sure you did not wish

to turn me out; but I thought it best to leave you. I am not
a very good hand at a lawsuit, as you may all guess; and when

it seemed necessary that our ordinary quiet mode of living
should be disturbed, I thought it better to go. I am neither

angry nor offended with any man in the hospital.'
Here Bunce uttered a kind of groan, very clearly expressive

of disagreement.
'I am neither angry nor displeased with any man in the

hospital,' repeated Mr Harding, emphatically. 'If any man
has been wrong--and I don't say any man has--he has erred

through wrong advice. In this country all are entitled to look
for their own rights, and you have done no more. As long as

your interests and my interests were at variance, I could give
you no counsel on this subject; but the connection between

us has ceased; my income can no longer depend on your
doings, and therefore, as I leave you, I venture to offer to you

my advice.'
The men all declared that they would from henceforth be

entirely guided by Mr Harding's opinion in their affairs.
'Some gentleman will probably take my place here very

soon, and I stronglyadvise you to be prepared to receive him in
a kindly spirit and to raise no further question among yourselves

as to the amount of his income. Were you to succeed
in lessening what he has to receive, you would not increase

your own allowance. The surplus would not go to you; your
wants are adequately provided for, and your position could

hardly be improved.'
'God bless your reverence, we knows it,' said Spriggs.

'It's all true, your reverence,' said Skulpit. 'We sees it all now.'
'Yes, Mr Harding,' said Bunce, opening his mouth for the

first time; 'I believe they do understand it now, now that
they've driven from under the same roof with them such a

master as not one of them will ever know again--now that
they're like to be in sore want of a friend.'

'Come, come, Bunce,' said Mr Harding, blowing his nose
and manoeuvring to wipe his eyes at the same time.

'Oh, as to that,' said Handy, 'we none of us never wanted
to do Mr Harding no harm; if he's going now, it's not along

of us; and I don't see for what Mr Bunce speaks up agen us
that way.'

'You've ruined yourselves, and you've ruined me too, and
that's why,' said Bunce.

'Nonsense, Bunce,' said Mr Harding; 'there's nobody
ruined at all. I hope you'll let me leave you all friends, I hope

you'll all drink a glass of wine in friendly feeling with me and
with one another. You'll have a good friend, I don't doubt,

in your new warden; and if ever you want any other, why
after all I'm not going so far off but that I shall sometimes see

you'; and then, having finished his speech, Mr Harding filled
all the glasses, and himself handed each a glass to the men

round him, and raising his own said:
'God bless you all! you have my heartfelt wishes for your

welfare. I hope you may live contented, and die trusting in
the Lord jesus Christ, and thankful to Almighty God For the

good things he has given you. God bless you, my friends!'
and Mr Harding drank his wine.