"Oh I not such hard luck. He's a sort of manager there. He draws a decent salary, and they have a freehold house in Brixton. They're not badly off. The three men got their old positions back, so everything's pretty comfortable."
"Blackfriars!" yelled the 'bus conductor, "Elephant, Kennington, and Brixton. Now for Brix—ton!"
A man jumped on and clambered up to the top.
"What—George!"
Cattermole and George Early shook hands, and George was introduced to the man in the top hat.
"Business good?" asked Cattermole.
"Splendid!" said George. He whispered in his friend's ear.
Cattermole held out his hand again. "I congratulate you, old man!" he said. "What are you going to call her?"
Instead of replying directly George poured some further confidence into his friend's ear, and accompanied the recital by sundry taps on his friend's coat-sleeve.
"No!" said Cattermole at the finish. "Worth as much as fifteen thousand! She's your aunt, isn't she?"