“I should be almost afraid to try, John dear. Was he much the better for his wealth? Was I much the better for the little part I once had in it?”

“But all people are not the worse for riches, my own.”

“Most people?” Bella musingly suggested with raised eyebrows.

“Nor even most people, it may be hoped. If you were rich, for instance, you would have a great power of doing good to others.”

“Yes, sir, for instance,” Bella playfully rejoined; “but should I exercise the power, for instance? And again, sir, for instance; should I, at the same time, have a great power of doing harm to myself?”

Laughing and pressing her arm, he retorted: “But still, again for instance; would you exercise that power?”

“I don’t know,” said Bella, thoughtfully shaking her head. “I hope not. I think not. But it’s so easy to hope not and think not, without the riches.”