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Object oriented JavaScript 3rd Edition Ved Antani
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ved Antani, Stoyan Stefanov
ISBN(s): 9781785880568, 178588056X
Edition: 3rd
File Details: PDF, 4.32 MB
Year: 2017
Language: english
Object-Oriented JavaScript

Third Edition

Ved Antani
Stoyan Stefanov

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Object-Oriented JavaScript
Third Edition
Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

First published: July 2008

Second edition: July 2013

Third edition: January 2017

Production reference: 1050117

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78588-056-8
www.packtpub.com
 Contents
Preface 1

Chapter 1: Object-Oriented JavaScript 6

A bit of history 7
Browser wars and renaissance 8
The present 9
The future 10
ECMAScript 5 11
Strict mode in ES6 12
ECMAScript 6 12
Browser support for ES6 13
Babel 13
Object-oriented programming 15
Objects 16
Classes 16
Encapsulation 17
Aggregation 18
Inheritance 18
Polymorphism 19
OOP summary 19
Setting up your training environment 20
WebKit's web inspector 21
JavaScriptCore on a Mac 22
More consoles 24
Summary 26
Chapter 2: Primitive Data Types, Arrays, Loops, and Conditions 27
Variables 27
Variables are case sensitive 29
Operators 30
Primitive data types 33
Finding out the value type – the typeof operator 34
Numbers 35
Octal and hexadecimal numbers 35
Binary Literals 36
Exponent literals 37
 Infinity 38
NaN 39
Number.isNaN 40
Number.isInteger 40
Strings 41
String conversions 42
Special strings 43
String template literals 44
Booleans 46
Logical operators 46
Operator precedence 48
Lazy evaluation 49
Comparison 50
Undefined and null 52
Symbols 53
Primitive data types recap 54
Arrays 55
Adding/updating array elements 56
Deleting elements 57
Arrays of arrays 57
Conditions and loops 59
Code blocks 59
The if condition 60
The else clause 60
Checking if a variable exists 61
Alternative if syntax 63
Switch 64
Don't forget to break 65
Loops 65
While loops 66
Do-while loops 67
For loops 67
For…in loops 70
Comments 71
Exercises 71
Summary 72
Chapter 3: Functions 73
What is a function? 74
Calling a function 74
Parameters 75
Default parameters 77
Rest parameters 78
Spread operators 79
 Predefined functions 80
parseInt() 80
parseFloat() 82
isNaN() 83
isFinite() 83
Encode/decode URIs 84
eval() 84
A bonus – the alert() function 85
Scope of variables 85
Variable hoisting 87
Block scope 88
Functions are data 90
Anonymous functions 92
Callback functions 92
Callback examples 94
Immediate functions 96
Inner (private) functions 97
Functions that return functions 98
Function, rewrite thyself! 99
Closures 101
Scope chain 101
Breaking the chain with a closure 102
Closure #1 105
Closure #2 106
A definition and closure #3 106
Closures in a loop 107
Getter and setter 109
Iterator 110
IIFE versus blocks 111
Arrow functions 112
Exercises 113
Summary 114
Chapter 4: Objects 116
From arrays to objects 116
Elements, properties, methods, and members 118
Hashes and associative arrays 119
Accessing an object's properties 119
Calling an object's methods 121
Altering properties/methods 122
Using the this value 123
Constructor functions 124
 The global object 125
The constructor property 126
The instanceof operator 127
Functions that return objects 128
Passing objects 129
Comparing objects 130
Objects in the WebKit console 130
Logging using the console.log method 132
ES6 object literals 133
Object properties and attributes 135
ES6 object methods 135
Copy properties using Object.assign 136
Compare values with Object.is 137
Destructuring 137
Built-in objects 140
Object 141
Array 142
A few array methods 144
ES6 array methods 146
Array.from 146
Creating arrays using Array.of 148
Array.prototype methods 148
Function 150
Properties of function objects 151
Using the prototype property 152
Methods of function objects 153
Call and apply 153
The arguments object revisited 155
Lexical this in arrow functions 155
Inferring object types 157
Boolean 158
Number 159
String 161
A few methods of string objects 162
Math 165
Date 168
Methods to work with date objects 170
Calculating birthdays 172
RegExp 172
Properties of RegExp objects 173
Methods of RegExp objects 174
String methods that accept regular expressions as arguments 175
 search() and match() 175
replace() 176
Replace callbacks 177
split() 178
Passing a string when a RegExp is expected 179
Error objects 179
Exercises 183
Summary 185
Chapter 5: ES6 Iterators and Generators 187
For…of loop 187
Iterators and iterables 188
Iterators 188
Iterables 189
Generators 190
Iterating over generators 194
Collections 195
Map 195
Iterating over maps 196
Converting maps to arrays 198
Set 198
WeakMap and WeakSet 199
Summary 200
Chapter 6: Prototype 201
The prototype property 202
Adding methods and properties using the prototype 202
Using the prototype's methods and properties 204
Own properties versus prototype properties 205
Overwriting a prototype's property with an own property 206
Enumerating properties 207
Using isPrototypeOf() method 210
The secret __proto__ link 211
Augmenting built-in objects 213
Augmenting built-in objects – discussion 214
Prototype gotchas 215
Exercises 217
Summary 218
Chapter 7: Inheritance 219
Prototype chaining 220
Prototype chaining example 221
 Moving shared properties to the prototype 223
Inheriting the prototype only 226
A temporary constructor – new F() 227
Uber – access to the parent from a child object 229
Isolating the inheritance part into a function 231
Copying properties 232
Heads-up when copying by reference 235
Objects inherit from objects 238
Deep copy 240
Using object() method 241
Using a mix of prototypal inheritance and copying properties 242
Multiple inheritance 244
Mixins 246
Parasitic inheritance 246
Borrowing a constructor 247
Borrowing a constructor and copying its prototype 250
Case study – drawing shapes 251
Analysis 251
Implementation 252
Testing 256
Exercises 257
Summary 258
Chapter 8: Classes and Modules 262
Defining classes 264
Constructor 266
Prototype methods 266
Static methods 267
Static properties 268
Generator methods 268
Subclassing 268
Mixins 270
Modules 272
Export lists 274
Summary 275
Chapter 9: Promises and Proxies 276
Asynchronous programming model 278
JavaScript call stack 281
Message queue 281
 Event loop 282
Timers 282
Run to completion 282
Events 283
Callbacks 283
Promises 285
Creating promises 287
Promise.all() 289
Metaprogramming and proxies 289
Proxy 290
Function traps 292
Summary 293
Chapter 10: The Browser Environment 294
Including JavaScript in an HTML page 294
BOM and DOM – an overview 295
BOM 296
The window object revisited 296
Using window.navigator property 297
Your console is a cheat sheet 298
Using window.location property 299
Using window.history property 300
using window.frames property 301
Using window.screen property 303
window.open()/close() method 303
window.moveTo() and window.resizeTo() methods 304
window.alert(), window.prompt(), and window.confirm() methods 305
Using window.setTimeout() and window.setInterval() methods 307
window.document property 309
DOM 309
Core DOM and HTML DOM 312
Accessing DOM nodes 313
The document node 314
documentElement 316
Child nodes 317
Attributes 318
Accessing the content inside a tag 319
DOM access shortcuts 320
Siblings, body, first, and last child 322
Walk the DOM 323
Modifying DOM nodes 324
Modifying styles 324
 Fun with forms 325
Creating new nodes 327
DOM-only method 328
Using cloneNode() method 329
Using insertBefore() method 330
Removing nodes 330
HTML – only DOM objects 332
Primitive ways to access the document 333
Using document.write() method 334
Cookies, title, referrer, and domain 335
Events 336
Inline HTML attributes 337
Element Properties 337
DOM event listeners 338
Capturing and bubbling 338
Stop propagation 340
Prevent default behavior 342
Cross-browser event listeners 343
Types of events 344
XMLHttpRequest 345
Sending the request 346
Processing the response 347
Creating XMLHttpRequest objects in IE prior to Version 7 348
A is for Asynchronous 349
X is for XML 350
An example 350
Exercises 353
Summary 355
Chapter 11: Coding and Design Patterns 357
Coding patterns 358
Separating behavior 358
Content 358
Presentation 359
Behavior 359
Example of separating behavior 360
Asynchronous JavaScript loading 361
Namespaces 361
An Object as a namespace 362
Namespaced constructors 362
A namespace() method 363
Init-time branching 364
 Lazy definition 365
Configuration object 366
Private properties and methods 369
Privileged methods 370
Private functions as public methods 370
Immediate functions 371
Modules 372
Chaining 373
JSON 374
Higher order functions 375
Design patterns 377
Singleton pattern 378
Singleton 2 pattern 378
Global variable 378
Property of the constructor 379
In a private property 380
Factory pattern 380
Decorator pattern 382
Decorating a christmas tree 383
Observer pattern 384
Summary 388
Chapter 12: Testing and Debugging 389
Unit testing 390
Test Driven Development 391
Behavior Driven Development 391
Mocha, Chai and Sinon 397
JavaScript debugging 398
Syntax errors 398
Using strict 399
Runtime exceptions 399
Console.log and asserts 400
Chrome Developer Tools 401
Summary 407
Chapter 13: Reactive Programming and React 408
Reactive programming 408
Why should you consider reactive programming? 411
React 412
Virtual DOM 412
Installing and running react 413
Components and props 417
 State 418
Life cycle events 421
Summary 422
Appendix A: Reserved Words 423
Keywords 423
ES6 reserved words 424
Future reserved words 425
Previously reserved words 425
Appendix B: Built-in Functions 427
Appendix C: Built-in Objects 430
Object 430
Members of the Object constructor 431
The Object.prototype members 431
ECMAScript 5 additions to objects 433
ES6 addition to objects 438
Property shorthand 438
Computed property names 438
Object.assign 439
Array 439
The Array.prototype members 440
ECMAScript 5 additions to Array 443
ES6 addition to arrays 447
Function 449
The Function.prototype members 449
ECMAScript 5 additions to a Function 450
ECMAScript 6 additions to a Function 451
Boolean 451
Number 452
Members of the Number constructor 453
The Number.prototype members 453
String 454
Members of the String constructor 455
The String.prototype members 456
ECMAScript 5 additions to String 458
ECMAScript 6 additions to String 459
Date 459
Members of the Date constructor 460
The Date.prototype members 461
 ECMAScript 5 additions to Date 464
Math 464
Members of the Math object 465
RegExp 466
The RegExp.prototype members 467
Error objects 468
The Error.prototype members 469
JSON 469
Members of the JSON object 470
Appendix D: Regular Expressions 472
Appendix E: Answers to Exercise Questions 477
Chapter 2, Primitive Data Types, Arrays, Loops, and Conditions 477
Exercises 477
Chapter 3, Functions 481
Exercises 481
Chapter 4, Objects 485
Exercises 485
Chapter 5, Prototype 494
Exercises 494
Chapter 6, Inheritance 495
Exercises 495
Chapter 7, The Browser Environment 503
Exercises 503

Index 511
 Preface
JavaScript has emerged as one of the most robust and versatile programming language
around. Modern JavaScript embraces a vast array of time-tested and cutting edge features.
Several of these features are slowly giving shape to the next generation of web and server
platforms. ES6 introduces very important language constructs, such as promises, classes,
arrow functions, and several, much anticipated features. This book takes a detailed look at
the language constructs and their practical uses. This book doesn't assume any prior
knowledge of JavaScript and works from the ground up to give you a thorough
understanding of the language. People who know the language will still find it useful and
informative. For people who already know JavaScript and are familiar with ES5 syntax, this
book will be a very useful primer for ES6 features.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Object-Oriented JavaScript, talks briefly about the history, present, and future of
JavaScript, and then moves on to explore the basics of object-oriented programming (OOP)
in general. You will then learn how to set up your training environment (Firebug) in order
to dive into the language on your own, using the book examples as a base.

Chapter 2, Primitive Data Types, Arrays, Loops, and Conditions, discusses the language basics-
-variables, data types, primitive data types, arrays, loops, and conditionals.

Chapter 3, Functions, covers functions that JavaScript uses, and here you will learn to
master them all. You will also learn about the scope of variables and JavaScript's built-in
functions. An interesting, but often misunderstood, feature of the language--closures--is
demystified at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 4, Objects, talks about objects, how to work with properties and methods, and the
various ways to create your objects. This chapter also talks about built-in objects such as
Array, Function, Boolean, Number, and String.

Chapter 5, ES6 Iterators and Generators, introduces the most anticipated features of ES6,
Iterators and Generators. With this knowledge, you will proceed to take a detailed look at
the enhanced collections constructs.
Chapter 6, Prototype, is dedicated to the all-important concept of prototypes in JavaScript. It
also explains how the prototype chain works, hasOwnProperty(), and some gotchas of
prototypes.

Chapter 7, Inheritance, discusses how inheritance works. This chapter also talks about a
method to create subclasses like other classic languages.

Chapter 8, Classes and Modules, shows that ES6 introduces important syntactical features
that makes it easier to write classical object-oriented programming constructs. ES6 class
syntax wraps the slightly complex syntax of ES5. ES6 also has full language support for
modules. This chapter goes into the details of the classes and module constructs introduced
in ES6.

Chapter 9, Promises and Proxies, explains that JavaScript has always been a language with
strong support for asynchronous programming. Up until ES5, writing asynchronous
programs meant you needed to rely on callbacks--sometimes resulting in callback hell. ES6
promises are a much-awaited feature introduced in the language. Promises provide a much
cleaner way to write asynchronous programs in ES6. Proxies are used to define custom
behavior to some of the fundamental operations. This chapter looks at practical uses of both
promises and proxies in ES6.

Chapter 10, The Browser Environment, is dedicated to browsers. This chapter also covers
BOM (Browser Object Model), DOM (W3C's Document Object Model), browser events, and
AJAX.

Chapter 11, Coding and Design Patterns, dives into various unique JavaScript coding
patterns, as well as several language-independent design patterns, translated to JavaScript
from the Book of Four, the most influential work of software design patterns. This chapter
also discusses JSON.

Chapter 12, Testing and Debugging, talks about how Modern JavaScript is equipped with
tools that support Test Driven Development and Behavior Driven Development. Jasmine is
one of the most popular tools available at the moment. This chapter discusses TDD and
BDD using Jasmine as the framework.

Chapter 13, Reactive Programming and React, explains that with the advent of ES6, several
radical ideas are taking shape. Reactive programming takes a very different approach to
how we manage change of states using data flows. React, however, is a framework focusing
on the View part of MVC. This chapter discusses these two ideas.

Appendix A, Reserved Words, lists the reserved words in JavaScript.

[2]
Appendix B, Built-in Functions, is a reference of built-in JavaScript functions together with
sample uses.

Appendix C, Built-in Objects, is a reference that provides details and examples of the use of
every method and property of every built-in object in JavaScript.

Appendix D, Regular Expressions, is a regular expressions pattern reference.

Appendix E, Answers to Exercise Questions, has solutions for all the exercises mentioned at
the end of the chapters.

What you need for this book

You need a modern browser--Google Chrome or Firefox are recommended, and an optional
Node.js setup. Most of the code in this book can be executed in http://babeljs.io/repl/
or http://jsbin.com/. To edit JavaScript, you can use any text editor of your choice.

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who is starting to learn JavaScript, or who knows JavaScript but
isn't very good at the object-oriented part of it. This book can be a useful primer for ES6 if
you are already familiar with the ES5 features of the language.

Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds
of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions,
pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "The
Triangle constructor takes three point objects and assigns them to this.points (its own
collection of points)."

A block of code is set as follows:

function sum(a, b) {
var c = a + b;
return c;
}

[3]
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
mkdir babel_test
cd babel_test && npm init
npm install --save-dev babel-cli

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for
example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "In order to bring up the
console in Chrome or Safari, right-click anywhere on a page and select Inspect Element .
The additional window that shows up is the Web Inspector feature. Select the Console tab,
and you're ready to go".

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this
book-what you liked or disliked. Reader feedback is important for us as it helps us develop
titles that you will really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply e-mail [email protected], and mention the

book's title in the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or
contributing to a book, see our author guide at www.packtpub.com/authors.

Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you
to get the most from your purchase.

[4]
Errata
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do
happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books-maybe a mistake in the text or the code-
we would be grateful if you could report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers
from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any
errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting
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be uploaded to our website or added to any list of existing errata under the Errata section of
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To view the previously submitted errata, go to https://www.packtpub.com/books/conten

t/supportand enter the name of the book in the search field. The required information will
appear under the Errata section.

[5]
 Object-Oriented JavaScript
1
Ever since the early days of the web, there has been a need for more dynamic and
responsive interfaces. While it's OK to read static HTML pages of text, and even better
when they are beautifully presented with the help of CSS, it's much more fun to engage
with applications in our browsers, such as e-mail, calendars, banking, shopping, drawing,
playing games, and text editing. All that is possible thanks to JavaScript, the programming
language of the web. JavaScript started with simple one-liners embedded in HTML, but is
now used in much more sophisticated ways. Developers leverage the object-oriented nature
of the language to build scalable code architectures made up of reusable pieces.

If you look at the past and present buzzwords in web development, DHTML, Ajax, Web 2.0,
HTML5, they all essentially mean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript–HTML for content, CSS for
presentation, and JavaScript for behavior. In other words, JavaScript is the glue that makes
everything work together so that we can build rich web applications.

However, that's not all; JavaScript can be used for more than just the web.

JavaScript programs run inside a host environment. The web browser is the most common
environment, but it's not the only one. Using JavaScript, you can create all kinds of widgets,
application extensions, and other pieces of software, as you'll see in a bit. Taking the time to
learn JavaScript is a smart investment; you learn one language and can then write all kinds
of different applications running on multiple platforms, including mobile and server-side
applications. These days, it's safe to say that JavaScript is everywhere.

This book starts from zero, and does not assume any prior programming knowledge other
than some basic understanding of HTML. Although there is one chapter dedicated to the
web browser environment, the rest of the book is about JavaScript in general, so it's
applicable to all environments.
Object-Oriented JavaScript

Let's start with the following:

A brief introduction to the story behind JavaScript

The basic concepts you'll encounter in discussions on object-oriented
programming

A bit of history
Initially, the web was not much more than just a number of scientific publications in the
form of static HTML documents connected together with hyperlinks. Believe it or not, there
was a time when there was no way to put an image in a page. However, that soon changed.
As the web grew in popularity and size, the webmasters who were creating HTML pages
felt they needed something more. They wanted to create richer user interactions, mainly
driven by the desire to save server round trips for simple tasks such as form validation.
Two options came up–Java applets and LiveScript, a language conceived by Brendan Eich
at Netscape in 1995 and later included in the Netscape 2.0 browser under the name of
JavaScript.

The applets didn't quite catch on, but JavaScript did. The ability to use short code snippets
embedded in HTML documents and alter otherwise static elements of a web page was
embraced by the webmaster community. Soon, the competing browser vendor, Microsoft,
shipped Internet Explorer (IE) 3.0 with JScript, which was a reverse engineered version of
JavaScript plus some IE-specific features. Eventually, there was an effort to standardize the
various implementations of the language, and this is how ECMAScript was born. European
Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) created the standard called ECMA-262,
which describes the core parts of the JavaScript programming language without browser
and web page-specific features.

You can think of JavaScript as a term that encompasses the following three pieces:

ECMAScript: The core language–variables, functions, loops, and so on. This part
is independent of the browser and this language can be used in many other
environments.
Document Object Model (DOM): This provides ways to work with HTML and
XML documents. Initially, JavaScript provided limited access to what's scriptable
on the page, mainly forms, links, and images. Later, it was expanded to make all
elements scriptable. This led to the creation of the DOM standard by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as a language-independent (no longer tied to
JavaScript) way to manipulate structured documents.

[7]
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
receptacles. But Matthew, after his former discoveries,
cared little for these in comparison with the contents of one
of these pockets, which attracted his glistening eyes.

"Bank notes! One, two, three. Ten! Twenty! Fifty!"

gasped the covetous old man, as he unfolded and held them
up to the light. "Who would have thought of this, now!"

Who shall tell the force of the temptation that whirled

through that sordid brain, and quickened the sluggish
pulses Of that throbbing heart?—The temptation which
whispered to his grasping thoughts and desires that his son,
being dead, needed money no longer; that no one knew of
his having that amount of portable wealth about his person,
that his grand-daughter was of course well provided for, and
that, at all events, he himself was the proper person to take
care of this property—till it was claimed, if it ever should
be; and if not claimed—well, what then?

His trembling hands had closed upon these notes, and

he was about to—no, not to replace them in the pocket-
book, when suddenly the chamber door was thrown open,
and his daughter stood before him, flushed with fear and
anger.

"For shame, father! Oh, father, father! What is it you

are doing? Put them back, put them back, put them back!"
she cried, in tones of terror. "And thank God for having
saved you from this sin."

"Elizabeth, woman! How dare you speak to me like

that? What is it you mean? What business have you to be
prying into what doesn't concern you?" stammered the
miserable old man, in broken sentences, as he sprang to his
feet, the bank paper still in his grasp.
 "Put them back! Put them back!" repeated the daughter,
in yet stronger tones of desperation. "Strike me if you will,
father," she cried, as she thought she detected a
threatening gesture in the clenched hand. "Strike me, and
kill me, if you will, and let me be laid along with poor Walter
—oh, I wish I could be! I wish I could be!—But don't rob the
dead and the living as well. Father, dear father," she went
on, in more imploring accents; "put them back; oh, father,
put them back!"

"How came you here, girl?" demanded the old man,

hoarsely.

"God sent me, I think," said she; "oh, father, I heard

you come in, and knew that you came up here, and I
followed, and have seen it all from that little window—" and
she pointed to a single pane of glass in a corner of the room
near the ceiling, which dimly lighted a narrow dark staircase
to the attic above—"and God has sent me to keep you from
doing a great sin. Oh, father, father, put them back!"

Slowly and silently the old man cast his eyes on to the
floor, stooped, picked up the pocket-book, put the notes in
their former position, then passionately threw the book
down again, muttering, "I shall remember this, Elizabeth. I
shan't forget it, you may make sure of that," and then he
shuffled out of the room.

It was a fine, soft, sunny day on the afternoon of which

Walter Wilson was buried. There was but little pomp at that
funeral, though there were many to follow him to his grave.

There was Helen as chief mourner, and the ceremonious

undertaker said that it was the right and proper thing for
her, as the only child, to walk first and alone, behind the
coffin, all the way from Low Beech Farm to the church—for
it was a walking funeral, as was the fashion then in those
parts; but Helen pleaded so earnestly and tearfully that
Sarah might accompany her and support her, and so put
strength into her to bear the last scene in her father's
history on earth, that it was yielded.

And so Walter's old discarded lover, and his daughter by

another and perhaps more highly-prized wife than Sarah
would ever have been, followed him together and stood side
by side at the open grave, and were the last to depart when
the solemn ceremony was over.

And if the tears which ran down Sarah's cheek then,

sprang, some of them, from old remembrances revived,
there was no treason in them against God or man. In that
world whither the words just uttered over the dead
transported the thoughts of the living, "they neither marry
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in
heaven."

Old Matthew and his wife followed their first-born to the

grave, and in their train came Walter's sister and his
brothers and their wives. And then John Tincroft and the
lawyer came after. And the Grigsons were there too.

It was "a fine funeral," one of the onlookers said to

another. But it was soon over, and then the family, with
Tincroft and the lawyer, returned to Low Beech to transact
business, for there was Walter's will to be read, as Mr.
Fawley had taken care to inform them all.

Helen would fain have stayed away, but it was needful

she should be there; and, still under Sarah's wing, but
supported and comforted now by John Tincroft also, she
entered, for almost the first time, the home of her father's
childhood and youth.

The will, when it came to be read, was not very prolix.

It contained an inventory of investments, and all was left in
trust—after the payment of a legacy of a thousand pounds
to his dear cousin Sarah Tincroft—to John Tincroft, of
Tincroft House, and so forth, for the benefit of the testator's
dear and only child, Helen. The property thus bequeathed
amounted, at a rough calculation, to something over twenty
thousand pounds. The will also constituted John Tincroft
sole executor of the testator's estate and effects, and the
guardian of his daughter until she should be of age. In case
of her decease before she had reached twenty-one, the
property was to be distributed among certain charities
which were named.

No mention was made in this will of any other family

connections than John and Sarah. Evidently it had been
prepared at a time when the fire of resentment in Walter's
mind against his family had not yet died out.

Matthew 'Wilson looked furiously across the room at

John Tincroft and Sarah. He understood it all now, he
thought; and before he had composed himself, the lawyer
was reading the codicil which had been drawn up and
signed and witnessed so lately in the sick-chamber at High
Beech.

In this instrument was revoked so much of the original

will as related to the disposal of the property in case of
Helen's death, and a fresh disposition was made of it. It was
to be divided in equal parts between the several members
of the testator's family, or their survivors.
 Old Matthew smiled ghastlily at this. Little hope that he
should ever see any of his son's money, he probably
thought.

But there was something else more interesting.

After an expression of regret that there had been so

long an alienation or distance of feeling between the
testator and his family, certain legacies were to be paid to
them out of the estate, amounting altogether to a thousand
pounds—namely two hundred pounds each to the brothers,
to Old Matthew, and to the sister. In addition to this, there
were some bank notes which would be found in his pocket-
book—(old Matthew broke out into a visible perspiration
here)—amounting to eighty pounds. This sum the testator
willed to be placed without deduction into the hands of his
dear sister Elizabeth, in remembrance of their old love,
which had been afresh stirred up (the document went on to
say) by what passed in the last walk they took together.

This was nearly all. The funeral expenses were, of

course, to be paid out of the estate, and the necessary legal
powers were to be placed in John Tincroft's hands to
administer to the will.

There was a short silence when Mr. Fawley had finished

reading; and he and his friends from the Manor House were
about to depart, when Old Matthew arose. Hoarsely, he
spoke.

He had never known such trickery—never. Here was his

son Walter, who had come home from Australia a rich man,
making believe to be a poor man. Or if he didn't make-
believe that, he never said he wasn't, and didn't seem as if
he had got a pound to bless himself with. And then, instead
of coming to his proper home in England, as he ought to
have done, and to his old father and mother, he had been
putting up with his old lover and her husband, which was
most improper; but, of course, Mr. Tincroft had made it
answer his purpose. And though he had pretended to him
that he did not know whether Walter was rich or poor,
anybody could see now what a pretence that was. And he
was to be executor too, and Helen's guardian, when, by
rights, he, the grandfather, ought to have been. A good deal
more fit, he was, though he said it, to take care of money
(having been used to business all his life) than a college
gentleman who had never added up a sum since he went to
school, he dared to say. And he said now that it was an
unnatural thing, and wicked, to be taking his poor grand-
daughter from her proper sheltering-place; and he wanted
to know if Mr. Tincroft meant to come between relations like
that. Wasn't Helen Wilson his own flesh and blood?

And then there was the money that was left to Elizabeth
over and above her share of that paltry thousand pounds—

"You shall have it all, father, if you will," said Elizabeth,

"only if you won't go on talking like this," she added, her
cheeks mantling with shame.

"And if your grand-daughter prefers making her home

at Low Beech, she has only to say so, and her will shall be
law to me," said John Tincroft.

We need not give Helen's reply. And as little need is

there to tell how the sombre party soon broke up. Our next
chapter will open on other scenes and circumstances.
 CHAPTER XXXI.
YOUNG TOM GRIGSON.

THE record of every man's life is necessarily mixed up

and interwoven with that of many other lives; and to
discourse on the one with any degree of interest, not to say
intelligibly and coherently, it is absolutely necessary to
include some portions of those other histories. For instance,
how could my readers have known anything worth knowing
of John Tincroft, apart from his friend Tom Grigson?

And our introduction to Tom led us in the most natural

way to the bachelor brother at the Manor House. Then we
could not have followed out our friend's matrimonial
adventures unless we had accompanied him to High Beech
Farm, and seen how he became engulfed or influxed, so to
speak, in the vortex of that great maelstrom of which I
have elsewhere spoken. High Beech led us to Low Beech,
just as the Manor House and its surroundings conducted us
to the Mumbles.

Then, without intending it in the first instance, a needs-

be gradually forced itself upon the present chronicler to
lightly sketch certain other characters and scenes, so as to
make, as far as lay in his power, a harmonious and
congruous whole, of which, as a matter of course, John
Tincroft should be the central point of interest, but without
which other characters and scenes the picture would have
presented an unpleasant confusion of impalpable shadows.

Above all, it has been the writer's design and study and
earnest labour to give the colouring of truth to every
subordinate as well as principal character in this picture of
life, so that, in the end, at least one useful lesson may have
been presented to each reader of this story, who, without
intending it, or even expecting to be instructed, has taken
up these pages to pass away an idle day or to amuse a
leisure hour.

Not many more chapters remain to be written; and this

immediate one must be given up to one or more of those
subordinate actors to whom I have referred.

A few days after that which witnessed the funeral of

Walter Wilson, and also the reading of his will, Tom Grigson
and his son took their departure homewards, John Tincroft
and Sarah and the young Helen accompanying them—Mr.
Fawley, the lawyer, having already taken his leave of the
hospitable master of the Manor House, and the woodland
glades of which he had become enamoured.

Tincroft and his following passed a day or two at their

friend's villa on the banks of the Thames, and then returned
to their home near Trotbury, where he and his Sarah
devoted themselves to comforting their darling ward, and to
puzzling themselves in laying plans for her unknown future.
Thus occupied we must at present leave them, our business
being, in the first place, with Tom Grigson the younger.

It was not, after all, an uncongenial life on which he was

about to enter. It may be thought, at first sight, perhaps,
that an active, enterprising lad of sixteen could find little
interest in the monotonous and wearying details of a
London house of business, especially if he should be the
possessor of what is called a correct and classical taste,
improved by education. I take leave to say, however, to
those who argue thus, that they are very little acquainted
with the subject on which they think themselves competent
to pass a judgment.

The details of business, in London or elsewhere, are

neither monotonous nor wearying to properly constituted
minds; nor are they inconsonant with good taste and good
education. There are men, old and young, and in every
proper sense of the word true gentlemen, who belong to
houses of business all the world over, and who yet have
more true taste for the beautiful in nature and art, more
cultivation of mind, and greater scientific and literary
acquirements, than are to be found in one half of the
frequenters of fashionable salons. And yet these same
persons are energetic men of business, and possess talents
which, if need were, would qualify them for conducting the
affairs of a nation almost as easily, and quite as
successfully, as those of a mercantile firm.

Such a person as this was the principal partner in the

house with which Elliston and Grigson were connected; and
this gentleman—who had by this time become a member of
Parliament—took a strong fancy to young Tom, almost on
his first entrance into the house. Under his auspices, the lad
was not only pushed forward in the higher departments Of
business, but was introduced to some circles in society,
intercourse with which gave a zest to the everyday and
more prosaic details of London life.

It is scarcely to be wondered at, therefore, that, after a

short time, the young man was sufficiently satisfied with his
present position to desire no change. In other words, his
visions of university life gradually faded away, and nothing
more was said or thought of entering him at Oxford.

To compensate—if compensation were needed—for this

deprivation, which cannot be called a disappointment, Tom
was indulged, at the end of his second year's experience in
business life, with a long holiday ramble on the Continent,
whence he returned full of enthusiastic admiration for Alpine
scenery and adventures, but with more energy than ever
for the common concerns and ordinary duties of his worldly
calling.

Nor were the attractions of home very feeble for young

Grigson. A pleasant villa, a good-tempered father, who did
not draw the cords of discipline over tightly, an indulgent
mother, a tolerably harmonious brood of younger brothers
and sisters, a select circle of friends, occasional visitors,
serviceable domestics, a horse to ride when he pleased, a
sailing-boat on, if not one of the loveliest rivers in the
world, yet a very passable one as rivers go, and time
enough to enjoy these luxuries of existence, and not too
much, so as to breed ennui. If with all these acquisitions
any young fellow overflowing with bodily health and animal
spirits could not be reasonably happy, that young fellow was
not our young Tom.

There was only one little ingredient in this cup of

happiness which now and then gave a slight flavour to it
which was not altogether to young Grigson's taste.

"I wish they had left me to choose for myself," said

Tom, one day, to his sister Catherine, who was only a year,
or a little more, younger than himself.

They were having a quiet sail on the river one summer's

evening, and were seated side by side at the stern, Tom
with the sail under his management.

"But you like Blanche, don't you, Tom?"

"Oh, don't I?" Tom rejoined, lightly.

 "Well, but you do, you know, Tom."

"Oh yes; Cousin Blanche is so charming, you know,

Kitty, that I ought to be the happiest young fellow in the
world. Everybody tells me so; and what everybody says
must be true. But for all that, Kitty—" and then Kitty's
brother came to a full stop.

"Well, Tom?" This after a long pause.

"Suppose we change the subject, Kitty."

"With all my heart; only we have not begun it yet, and

mamma wanted me to say just a word—may I? She thinks I
can do it better than she can."

"Say away, then, darling; but wait a bit: I'll just hitch
this line round the bolt, and take the rudder strings, There—
so; now."

It is as well to say that two years had passed away

since we fell in with Tom the younger at the Manor House.
He is consequently eighteen years old, or a little over, and a
strange sensation sometimes creeps over him, when he
reminds himself that in three years' time he is to be a
married man, will-he, nil-he; and the "nil-he" is at present
uppermost in his mind.

"And now," said he, settling himself soberly to hear

what his sister (who at seventeen is, in some respects,
older than her brother at eighteen) has to say.

"Mamma thinks you don't pay quite proper attentions to

Blanche."

"Pho! Pho! Kitty. Not proper attentions! Why, don't I go

to see her once a week? If that is not often enough, I don't
know what would be."

"I shouldn't think so, Tom, if I were Blanche. Besides,

when you do go to see her—or, rather, when you go to
dinner at Uncle Elliston's—you stay so long in the dining-
room that Blanche has very little of your company, she
says."

"I wonder what she would have," grumbled Tom. "She'll

have enough of it by-and-by, I'll be bound," he added.

"That depends. Do you know, mamma is afraid—" It

was Catherine's turn to come to a full stop now.

"Well, Kitty?" This after another pause.

"Mamma is afraid that you are running a risk of losing

Blanche, after all."

"You don't say so, Kitty?" cried Tom, with an odd

expression of alarm, too readily put on to be quite real, his
sister thought.

"Mamma says so," answered Kitty, demurely; adding,

"She says she is mistaken if—if somebody else, never mind
who—"

"Oh, I don't mind. Well?"

"Isn't trying to step into your shoes. That's what

mamma says, Tom."

"I hope the old shoes won't pinch the feet," said Tom,
laughing.

"But seriously, Tom."

 "To be sure; yes, seriously, Kitty," returned the brother,
composing his countenance.

"You don't want to lose Cousin Blanche, do you?"

"I have never thought much about it, Kitty. What do you
think about it?"

"I think, Tom, that you will be sorry to lose her."

"Um! Well?"

"You know it was all settled so long ago."

"That's true enough," said Tom.

"And then when you marry you are to come into a

partnership."

"Nobody ever married without coming into that," said

Tom.

"Tom, you are incorrigible. A partnership in the house, I

mean. You know what I mean."

"Yes, I know what you mean, darling Kitty; and it will all
come right, don't be afraid; and tell mamma not to worry
herself about it. I am agreeable. Only I wish it hadn't been
all planned out so nicely. If only they had left it for me to
choose for myself," he added, returning to his starting-
point.

"And if they had, you would have chosen Blanche, don't

you think?"

"Possibly. Blanche is a charming girl, of course. Oh,

Kitty, Kitty! Why didn't they leave me and Cousin Blanche to
set about it in the good old fashion? As it is, I feel as if
Blanche had been my wife and I her husband ever since we
were babies; and that I am an old married man."

"An old married man of eighteen!" and Kitty laughed

merrily.

"Just so," said Tom, grimly. "I wonder whether anybody

took the trouble to plan in this way for father and mother
before they were really married."

"Their case was different," argued the sister; "but what

does that signify? You say you are fond of Blanche, don't
you?"

"Why, of course. What a young infidel you are, Kitty."

"Then you should be a good boy, and take care she

doesn't slip through your fingers. That's what mamma
says."

"Tell mamma, then, that I will behave better in future.

Heigh-ho! And now let us talk about something else. Aren't
you sorry you have left school for good?"

"No, I don't think I am. There's only one thing makes

me sorry. Helen Wilson is to stay at Miss G—'s another half,
and she is my dearest friend. Poor dear Helen! You have
heard me speak of her, Tom?"

"I should think so. Where were my ears else?"

"And you remember her, don't you?"

"Yes; of course. I remember her—down at Uncle Dick's

when I was there, and came home with us—she and dear
old Tincroft and Mrs. T. Yes, I remember her."
 "I like her so much," continued Kitty; "and I wanted to
bring her home with me these holidays, but Mr. Tincroft
wouldn't hear of it. He couldn't spare her, he said. Ill-
natured, wasn't it?"

And then from this topic of conversation, the brother

and sister passed on to another, till it was time to finish
their cruise.

Tom did "behave better in future." That is to say, he

begun from this time to pay greater attentions to the young
lady, who, without any choice on his part, or hers either,
was marked out to be his future wife; that is to say, he
went twice a week instead of once to her father's house at
Camberwell, and devoted more time when he was there to
her special society.

And, not to flatter Blanche, she was not unworthy of

these attentions. She had made good use of her time since,
two years before, our friend Tincroft had passed, in his own
mind, so unfavourable a judgment respecting her. The
rather pert and conceited and affected schoolgirl had
changed into an attractive and well-behaved young woman;
while her pale face and unformed figure had ripened, if not
into a perfect Hebe, yet into a sufficiently blooming and
graceful piece of humanity. Whether or not it was wise in
this instance—or whether it is wise in any instance—for
such an alliance as has been spoken of to be contracted by
other parties as sponsors for those most deeply interested,
remains to be proved.

The wisdom of this arrangement, however, seemed

manifest to one, at any rate, of these contracting parties,
when a certain event of importance occurred.
 "Did you ever know anything like this?" Mrs. Tom
Grigson wished to be told, holding up her hands in sheer
astonishment, when she had made herself acquainted with
the purport of a letter which her husband had handed to her
across the breakfast-table.

"Yes, my dear, I have known a good many things so

exactly like it as to be identically the same," responded our
old friend Tom.

"What a—what a—moon-calf he must be, Tom," the lady

went on.

"Rather tough to digest, Kate," returned the husband,

drily.

"But they do say there's no fool like an old fool,"

continued Mrs. Grigson.

"My dear!" remonstrated Tom.

"To think that he should ever think of doing such a

thing!" said the lady. "'Tis dreadful!" she added.

"Is it so dreadful, Kate?" asked the gentleman, looking

up. "That's a new light cast on the subject," he added.

"Nonsense, Tom! You know what I mean. Of course it

isn't always dreadful, nor yet dreadful in itself; but, as you
say sometimes, 'circumstances alter cases.'"

"Alters, you should say, Kate, to give the proper roll to

the aphorism."

"That isn't grammar, Tom."

 "Never mind about grammar when you want to produce
effect. And I say, circumstances alters cases. And then,
again—"

"There's no accounting for opinions;

Some likes apples, some likes inions."

"And Dick likes matrimony, it seems. Why shouldn't

he?"

"Wasn't he always railing against it?"

"None the less likely to fall into it, for all that, Kate. And
when he had our example set before him to follow, with the
benefit of our experience—"

"Nonsense, Tom! Why, we have been man and wife any

time these twenty years."

"Is it so long, Kate?" Tom asked.

"Of course it is; and here's Dick pretty near old enough
to be your father—"

"Which he isn't," interposed the gentleman.

"You put me out, and make me forget what I was going

to say, Tom, when you interrupt me like that," remonstrated
the lady. "But what I mean is that at his age your brother
Richard ought to be above such folly."

"Ought not to be above such wisdom, you should say,

Kate. He sees his folly, no doubt, and argues that it is never
too late to mend."
 "To mend, indeed! An old man like him to be marrying a
girl of twenty! He ought to be ashamed of himself."

It was quite true that Mr. Richard Grigson had so far

committed himself. Having lived a single life till his hair had
turned grey, and all the while declaring against matrimony,
he had suddenly and violently become enamoured of a
young lady from London who, while visiting a friend in the
country, not far from the Manor House, accidentally fell in
with and was introduced to the Manor House's owner.

It was a storm of wind and rain that brought about the

introduction. The young lady and the old gentleman, in
whose house she was a guest were out walking one fine
May day, when suddenly the sky became overcast, and a
heavy dark cloud from the west began to discharge its
contents. The old gentleman was two or three miles away
from his own house; he was afraid of rheumatism; he had
not an umbrella; and the nearest shelter was the Manor
House, whose gates he and his young friend were passing
as the shower came on. He was slightly acquainted with
Richard Grigson, though on no familiar terms with him. But,
driven by the exigencies of the case, the storm-attacked
pedestrians rushed at once through the gateway, scudded
across the lawn, and presented themselves at the
hospitable doors of the Manor House, suppliants for shelter.

They received shelter and something more; and the

next day Richard bethought himself that it would be only
proper for him to ride over to the old gentleman's house to
give expression to his hope that the young lady had not
taken cold.

The young lady had not taken cold, thanks to Mr.

Grigson; but the old gentleman had, and was confined to
his chamber by its effects. And so, perforce, the elderly
bachelor and the juvenile maiden had to entertain each
other in the drawing-room. The entertainment lasted longer
than was calculated on; for, strange to say, while they were
thus engaged, another heavy shower came on; and Richard,
who never till now had minded being wet to the skin, felt an
unconquerable repugnance to facing the rain. Before the
shower was over, he had secretly made up his mind to pay
another visit—which he did, and this time it was to Miss
Hardcastle.

There is no need to multiply words in describing the

progress of a rapid thaw of frozen-up passions. It is enough
to say that before three weeks had passed away, Mr.
Richard's determination never to marry had melted away
beneath the influence of Miss Hardcastle's charms. In
another week, he was her accepted lover.

It was rather awkward—at least, kind-hearted Richard

Grigson felt it to be so—to make known to his brother the
change which had come over him, and the engagement on
which he had entered.

"It will be a little hard upon brother Tom," he thought

within himself, "and if not upon brother Tom, it will fall
heavy upon nephew Tom (bless his young heart!) to know
that the old family estate may have to keep in a straight
line after all. But they are good fellows, both of them, and I
am sure they won't make a quarrel of it, and I must make it
as easy for young Tom as I can. And, after all, it may come
to him all the same," he added, by way of salvo, or salve to
his conscience.

"Besides," continued he, in his thoughts, "there's no law

that I know of, in the Bible or out of it, to keep a man from
marrying because he has a fair estate on the one hand, and
a fair nephew on the other."
 The result of this soliloquy was the letter which had so
disturbed the equanimity of Mrs. Tom Grigson at the
breakfast-table; and, to tell the truth, it also took Mr. Tom a
little aback. But he soon recovered himself.

"Dick has as much right to please himself by taking a

wife as ever I had," said he; "and I'll go down to his
wedding," he added.

It could not be denied, however, that this new move (as

it was called) of Dick's sent all, or a good many, previous
calculations to the right-about. And our friend Tom
congratulated himself more than ever on having brought up
his son to business instead of sending him to Oxford.

"As it isn't at all likely our boy will come to the estate
now," he said to his wife, when they were by themselves, "it
is a good thing to have put him in the way of being
independent without it, which he mightn't have been if we
had made a scholar of him."

There was another source of congratulation also—

namely, that the young fellow's match with his cousin had
been made so long ago, and was progressing without any
palpable hitch.

"I wish Tom was a little more in earnest about it," the
father went on; "but, as he says, it will come on in time.
And then, when they are married, Tom will have got a snug
nest, anyhow."

Tom the elder did go down to his brother's wedding, and

so did Tom the younger. Mrs. Tom Grigson was also
prevailed upon to dispose of her chagrin and go also.
Richard Grigson was profoundly touched by this almost
unlooked-for kindness on their part.
 "I always knew you were a good fellow, dear old Tom!"
said Dick. "But I was half afraid you would turn rusty."

"Nonsense, Richard! The world's wide enough for us all,

isn't it? And there's no one wishes you all sorts of happiness
in your married life more heartily than I do. All sorts of
happiness, mind," he added.

CHAPTER XXXII.
IN THE FLOWER GARDEN.
 IT is high time we returned to Tincroft House, and our
friends there, whom we left puzzling themselves how best
to fulfil the new duties laid upon them. After many
consultations, and weighing all sorts of pros and cons, it
was finally decided—with the young lady's consent—that
Helen's education should be carried on and completed at a
boarding school. There were several reasons that led to this
conclusion.

Among others, it was wisely propounded by John that,

being an heiress, some accomplishments, in which Helen
was acknowledged to be deficient, were necessary for her
future establishment in life, whenever that event might
occur. Internally, John also reflected that neither from Sarah
nor himself were these accomplishments likely to be
obtained. Moreover (and here he spoke out again), the best
they could do for Helen by way of dissipating the grief of
her recent bereavement, was to provide her with a change
of scene and companionship, which, as far as he could see,
could be done only by the plan proposed.

In this emergency, John's friend Grigson came to his

help. His daughter Catherine was at a highly respectable
boarding school in a certain town on the coast, not far from
Trotbury. Tom spoke very highly of this school (which had
the additional virtue of not being called an "establishment
for young ladies"). And accordingly, after a brief interval
devoted to due preparations, Helen Wilson was placed
under the care of Miss G—.

How pleasantly the time passed there; how the young

Australian very soon became a favourite with all the girls
(some sixty or more) in the school; how, especially, she and
Catherine Grigson became bosom friends; and how she
made rapid progress towards those accomplishments in
which she had been held to be deficient—there is no need to
tell. Time passed quickly, and after an interval of some
three years, we find Helen Wilson once more at Tincroft
House, very dearly loved and cherished by the motherly
Sarah and dear old shy awkward John, both of whom
manifested their love in a variety of ways pleasant to
behold.

For instance, Helen's bower was replenished with a

bounteous store of treasures of art, literature, and science,
"calculated," as the advertisements have it, "to please the
eye and improve the taste." A new maid was hired for
Helen's especial behoof; but as she turned out a failure, and
the young lady declared herself quite capable of waiting on
herself, this adjunct was afterwards dispensed with.

To bring themselves and their old-fashioned ways more

into accord with the usages of modern society, moreover,
John and Sarah altered their dinner-hour from two to six,
greatly, it must be said, to the disgust of Mrs. Jane (now
exalted to the rank of housekeeper), who was to be
appeased only by the gift of a new dress and cap, which
outshone those of her contented mistress.

But the most admirable of all the wonders wrought by

affection when thus enlisted on the side of darling Helen,
was when dear old John set about witching the world with
his noble horsemanship. In our former account of Helen, we
noted that among the accomplishments she had learned in
her home in the bush was that of being an expert and
fearless rider. And if one ungratified wish, on her return to
Tincroft House, existed in her heart, it was for a wild gallop
across the country.

By accident this wish became known to John; and

before the world was a week older, the hitherto unused
stables of Tincroft House, and the chamber above, were
duly prepared for the reception of a horse fit for a lady's
use, a grey pony for John's own bestriding, and a groom to
keep them in proper condition. To what extent Tincroft was
compelled to draw his purse-strings, and how far he was
cheated in the bargain he made, no one probably knew at
the time—the honest horse-dealer only excepted.

But dear John, who had never in his life bestridden even
a rocking-horse! Well, well, he would have mounted a
hippogriff to please Walter Wilson's child, and his Sarah's
pet; and it was a sight worth seeing when, by Helen's side,
who gracefully reined in her steed to accommodate herself
to his more sober pace, John bumped up and down on his
saddle till the knobby chairs at High Beech Farm would have
been as downy pillows in comparison with it.

And so time wore on.

It has already been intimated that a strong attachment

sprung up between Helen Wilson and her school-fellow
Catherine Grigson. And this was continued after both young
ladies had left school. Their intercourse was kept up,
however, principally by writing; for, though Helen was often
invited to visit her friend on the banks of the Thames, some
unforeseen difficulty always started up to set the invitation
aside. I think our friend Tincroft could have given a rational
explanation of these unexpected hindrances if he had been
disposed to do so, which he was not.

There was nothing, however, to prevent Miss Grigson

paying a long-promised visit to Tincroft House one summer;
and when there, there was everything to invite its
prolongation. Dear Helen was so glad of her friend's
company, while Mr. and Mrs. Tincroft were so kind and so
hospitably inclined, that it would have been positive cruelty
—so Catherine wrote home—to deprive them of the
pleasure they coveted.

"And why don't you run down for a day or two?" she
wrote to her brother Tom. "'Tis years and years since you
were here, you know; and you haven't been out for a
holiday all the summer."

"No more have I," said Tom to himself, when he read

the note, and the next morning he had deposited himself on
the box seat of the Trotbury coach.

"Just come to see how you are getting on in this part of

the world," was his first salutation to John, as he landed
himself unexpectedly at the gate of Tincroft House, on the
afternoon of the same day.

John was very pleased to see the son of his old friend,
and he told him so. And as to the inconvenience of
accommodating an unexpected guest, quoth Mrs. Tincroft,
when young Tom apologised for the abruptness of his
invasion, as he called it, she hoped Tincroft House was big
enough to accommodate a dozen such as Tom, if need
were. And so he might set his mind at rest on that subject.

And Tom did set his mind at rest. In fact, he found his
quarters so much to his liking, that he lengthened his visit
from day to day, under a variety of pretences, until he had
been more than a fortnight an inmate of the pleasant
mansion.

"You must stay with us over next week now," said

Sarah, one evening when Tom was seriously propounding
the propriety of returning to business. "It is Trotbury cricket
week, and we shall want a gentleman to take us on to the
ground two or three of the days at least; and John doesn't
like cricket at all—do you, John?"
 John didn't like cricket, and he said so. He had had
enough of cricket in his younger days, and what pleasure
there could be in standing up before three sticks stuck into
the ground to knock away a ball, with the chance of being
maimed for life, he couldn't for a moment conceive. But for
all that, if his dear Sarah had any pleasure in seeing what
was called "the noble game" played, or if he could be of any
use to the young ladies in procuring them good positions for
viewing "the noble game," he was very much at their
service.

So, if Tom must really return, or felt called upon by the

imperative claims of business to return to London, he
himself would not interpose an obstacle in the shape of
Trotbury cricket week. Indeed, he wasn't quite sure that it
wouldn't be as well for Tom to remember that there were
claims upon him elsewhere. What, for instance, would the
young lady at Camberwell think when she heard, if she
should hear, of Tom's being seen on Trotbury cricket ground
with another young lady? John asked, gravely.

Whereupon, Tom declared that the young lady at

Camberwell might think as she pleased. He hoped he wasn't
tied to any young lady's apron strings; there would be time
enough for that when another knot was tied. Tom shifted
rather uneasily in his chair as he said this, and, though he
did feign to laugh, he looked a little redder than usual,
especially when he saw that his host's gravity was not at, all
moved by his gaiety.

Perhaps it was to prove how much at liberty he felt

himself, that, later in the day, Tom left his host and hostess
and his sister in the drawing-room, and strolled into the
pretty flower garden already described, where Helen was
employing herself—as he very well knew—in tending her
plants. By the way, there is no feminine occupation more
adapted to innocent flirtation (if such a composite term, or
rather, contradiction in terms, may be used) than in this
kind of gardening. The sweet, enthralling tyranny displayed
by the head-gardeneress in ordering her enchanted slave,
who for the nonce is made to be a hewer of wood (with his
pocket-knife in preparing flower-sticks) and a drawer of
water (in filling the watering-pot any number of times from
the nearest pump, well, or pond), is something quite
instructive to witness (for it points back to Eden, evidently),
and delightful to endure.

Tom at least thought so, as he found himself (his

offered services accepted), making himself of some use, as
she said, to the fair Helen. For by this time a kind of
understanding seemed to have been tacitly entered into
that Master Tom, being already on the high road to
matrimony, and within sight, so to speak, of the goal, was
to consider Miss Wilson as a sort of twin-sister to his own
sister Catherine, and to be treated with frank unreserve
accordingly, for:

"What was Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba?"

I am afraid, too, that dear old John Tincroft had by this

time, if the truth were known, rather spoiled darling Helen,
by making her see and believe how happy it made him to
be her humble servant; and perhaps she might have
thought that every gentleman she fell in with was like John.
But this by the way.

"There, that will do for all the watering we want to-

night," said the lady, looking round with admiration on her
revived flowers. "And now please help me tie up this
straggler, Tom."

In another moment TOM was on one knee, for the

convenience of the operation, and the young lady's slender
fingers were deftly fastening the string which was to confine
the flower-stalks to their supporting stick, when a hand, not
Helen's, was laid on Tom's shoulder.

"Very pleasantly employed, Tom," said Tincroft, quietly;

for he was the intruder.

Tom started to his feet.

"Don't hurry," said John; "but when Miss Wilson has

quite done with your services, I want a word or two."

The young lady graciously gave Tom permission to

retire; and the two gentlemen walked slowly down the path
together without speaking until they had reached the
farther end. Then John wheeled round (as also did Tom),
and stood looking from the distance towards the fair
gardeneress, who was now, as it seemed, occupied in
gathering a nosegay.

"Tom, don't you think it would be better for you to

return home to-morrow?" said Tincroft, after a rather
awkward pause.

Master Tom looked his elderly friend in the face, with

some surprise, as well he might, perhaps, for John Tincroft
was not usually anxious to get rid of his guests.

"Do you think so, sir?" the young fellow asked.

"I'll tell you presently what I think," said John, "and also
why I think it, if I do think it. You may be sure of one thing,
at any rate—I shall be very sorry to lose your good
company."

"Thank you, Mr. Tincroft. You are very kind," said young
Tom.

"You would like to stay over next week, it being the

grand cricket week?" continued John.

"Yes, I should," replied Tom, bluntly.

"No doubt, end not only because of its being the cricket
week?"

Tom again looked up into his friend's face, with a quick

gesture, not altogether of surprise; and then he turned
rather red in the face, I think, and looked down upon the
path. There was a broken twig upon it, which engrossed his
attention, perhaps; for he took great pains to turn it over
with his foot, so as to pass it under a kind of general
examination. He didn't speak.

Until now the two gentlemen had remained, as it

seemed, rooted to the spot, and the fair Helen was still
employed in filling her little flower basket. This completed,
she turned from the border and disappeared. Apparently
this broke the spell, for Tincroft now slipped his arm within
that of his young friend, and the two paced up and down
the long path as they communed together.

"My dear lad," said John, when they were thus in

motion, "your father and I were dear friends when we were
about your age. We were almost always together when we
were at Oxford. We never had a serious disagreement in our
lives; I received many a kindness from him; and though we
have not seen so much of each other of late years as
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