"Bessie Costrell" by Mary Augusta Ward, also known as Mrs Humphry Ward was a British novelist and charity worker. This is a bleak little tale, with apparently only the hope of salvation to give the reader hope that the characters can find redemption. Bessie looks after John Bolderfield's box of money and gradually starts to pilfer from it, falling into bad ways like drinking gin at the Spotted Deer public house. This book shows how easy it was and still is to fall into bad habits.