young men,’ said he, ‘and will leave his own affairs at any time to aid or advise them.’ I knew Mr. Sylvester was kind, but Mr. Turner’s enthusiasm was uncommon. He evidently admires Mr. Sylvester as much as everyone else loves him. And he is not alone in this. Almost every day I hear some remark made of a nature complimentary to my benefactor’s character or ability. Even Mr. Stuyvesant who so seldom appears to notice us girls, once interrupted a conversation between Cicely and myself to inquire if Mr. Sylvester was quite well. ‘I thought he looked pale today,’ remarked he, in his dry but not unkindly way, and then added, ‘He must not get sick; he is too valuable to us.’ This was a great deal for Mr. Stuyvesant to say, and it caused a visible gratification to Mr. Sylvester when I related it to him in the evening. ‘I had rather satisfy that man than any other I know,’ declared he. ‘He is of the stern old-fashioned sort, and it is an honor to anyone to merit his approval. I did not tell him that I had also heard Mr. Stuyvesant observe in a conversation with some business friend of his, that Edward Sylvester was the only speculator he knew in whom he felt implicit confidence. Somehow it always gives me an uncomfortable feeling to hear Mr. Sylvester alluded to as a speculator. Besides since he has entered the Bank, he has I am told, entirely restricted himself to what are called legitimate operations.’ ”
“ Mr. Sylvester came home with a dreadful look on his face today. We were standing in the hall at the time the door opened, and he went by us without a nod, almost as if he did not see us. Even Ona was startled and stood gazing after him with an anxiety such as I had never observed in her before, while I was conscious of that sick feeling I have sometimes experienced when he came upon me suddenly from his small room above, or paused in the midst of the gayest talk, to ask me some question that was wholly irrelevant and most frequently sad.
“ ‘He has met with some heavy loss,’ murmured his wife, glancing down the handsome parlors with a look such as a mother might bestow