“Something must be done about Carry Brattle at once.” The Vicar felt that he had pledged himself to take some steps for her welfare, and it seemed to him, as he thought of the matter, that there were only two steps possible. He might intercede¹ with her father, or he might use his influence to have her received into some house of correction, some retreat, in which she might be kept from evil and disciplined for good. He knew that the latter would be the safer plan, if it could be brought to bear; and it would certainly be the easier for himself. But he thought that he had almost pledged himself to the girl not to attempt it, and he felt sure that she would not accede² to it. In his doubt he went up to his friend Gilmore, intending to obtain the light of his friend’s wisdom. He found the Squire³ and the Prebendary together, and at once started his subject.

“You’ll do no good, Mr. Fenwick,” said Mr. Chamberlaine, after the two younger men had been discussing the matter for half an hour.

“Do you mean that I ought not to try to do any good?”

“I mean that such efforts never come to anything.”

“All the unfortunate creatures in the world, then, should be left to go to destruction in their own way.”

“It is useless, I think, to treat special cases in an exceptional manner. When such is done, it is done from enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is never useful.”

“What ought a man to do, then, for the assistance of such fellow-creatures as this poor girl?” asked the Vicar.

“There are penitentiaries⁴ and reformatories, and it is well, no doubt, to subscribe⁵ to them,” said the Prebendary. “The subject is so full of difficulty that one should not touch it rashly. Henry, where is the last Quarterly?”

“I never take it, sir.”

“I ought to have remembered,” said Mr. Chamberlaine, smiling blandly⁶. Then he took up the Saturday Review, and endeavoured to content himself with that.

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