"Borrowed plumes with a vengeance," said Maddox. "Vaughan might just as well have turned him out tarred and feathered as illustrated by Mordaunt Crawley. Mind you, some of that tar will stick. It'll take him all his time to get it off."
"Did you see," said Stables, "that Hanson bracketed him with Letheby in this morning's Courier?"
"No, did he?" said Maddox; "I'm sorry for that. It's rough on little Rickman."
"It's what you must expect," said Rankin, "if you're illustrated by Crawley."
"It's what you must expect," said Stables, "if you go out of your way to offend people who can help you. You know he refused an introduction to Hanson the other day?"
"No!"
"Fact. And it was in his sublimest manner. He said he hadn't any use for Hanson. Hanson couldn't help him till he'd helped himself. I don't know whether any one was kind enough to tell that tale to Hanson."
"Hanson," said Maddox, "is too big a man to mind it if they did."
"Anyhow, he hasn't helped him."
"No," said Rankin; "but that's another story. Hanson was dining with Jewdwine, and Jewdwine was cracking up Rickman most extravagantly (for him). That was quite enough to make Hanson jump on him. He was bound to do it by way of asserting his independence."