"Yes."
"Then," announced the stranger, proffering the blue paper, "I must arsk you for your hospitality for a short time--a mere matter o' form, of course--until this small account is settled. It's Gandy and Cox," he continued chattily: "seventeen-seventeen-six; and I 'm put in possession until it's settled. In other words, 'ere I am, and 'ere I stays until I gets what I came for."
Depositing his frayed headgear upon the piano, the emissary of Gandy and Cox was upon the point of selecting a chair, when he became conscious of a sudden pressure upon the nape of his neck.
"Outside!" intimated Percy's voice.
"Pardon me," replied the visitor without moving, "but you touch me at your own risk. I'm put in by the law."
There was a stifled cry from Mrs. Welwyn and the girls.
"The warrant was signed and 'anded to me this morning," continued the representative of Justice, "at ten-thirty exact. It is now in the 'ands of your Pa, young ladies--"
"Law be damned! Out you go!" shouted Percy, whirling the speaker round towards the door.
"Reflect!" urged the broker's man, gently resisting Percy's efforts to eject him by leaning back and digging his heels into the carpet. "What's the good? If you dot me one and fling me out, it merely means fourteen days without the option for assaulting a sheriff's officer in the execution of his duty, on top of the distraint. If you don't believe me," he added, clinging affectionately to the leg of the piano, which he was passing at the moment, "go and read the warrant."
