It is hardly
necessary to say that, before I allowed the man to enter into any
particulars, I stipulated that he should obtain his mistress's
leave to communicate what he knew. Having gained this, and having
further surprised me by mentioning that he had been himself
connected with all the circumstances, he told me the whole story
in the fullest detail. I have now tried to reproduce it as nearly
as I could in his own language. Imagine, therefore, that I am
just languidly recovering in bed, and that a respectable elderly
man, in quiet black costume, is sitting at my pillow and speaking
to me in these terms--"
Thus ending my little preface, I opened the manuscript and began
my last story.
BROTHER GRIFFITH'S STORY
of
A PLOT IN PRIVATE LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
THE first place I got when I began going out to service was not a
very profitable one. I certainly gained the advantage of learning
my business thoroughly, but I never had my due in the matter of
wages. My master was made a bankrupt, and his servants suffered
with the rest of his creditors
My second situation, however, amply compensated me for my want of
luck in the first. I had the good fortune to enter the service of
Mr. and Mrs. Norcross. My master was a very rich gentleman. He
had the Darrock house and lands in Cumberland, an estate also in
Yorkshire, and a very large property in Jamaica, which produced,
at that time and for some years afterward, a great income.
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