"And how long has that bill to run now?"
"About a fortnight."
"Did you indorse it?"
"I did. Mr. Sparkle required me to do so, to show that the bill came properly into his possession."
"This second bill, you say is urgently required to enable Miss Snape to leave town?"
"Yes; she is going to Brighton for the winter."
I gave Mr. Axminster a steady, piercing look of inquiry. "Pray, sir," I said, "could you meet that one hundred pounds bill, supposing it could not be paid by the accepter?"
"Meet it!" The poor fellow wiped from his forehead the perspiration which suddenly broke out at the bare hint of a probability that the bill would be dishonored—"Meet it? O no! I am a married man, with a family, and have nothing but my salary to depend on."
"Then the sooner you get it taken up, and the less you have to do with
Miss Snape's bill affairs, the better."
"She has always been punctual hitherto."