Finally it was settled. Cripps was to wait three months longer; and Loman, although knowing perfectly well that there was absolutely less chance then of having the money than there had been now, felt a weight temporarily taken off his mind, and was all gratitude.
Of course, he stayed a while as usual and tasted Mr Cripps’s beer, and of course he met again not a few of his new friends—sharpers, most of them, of Cripps’s own stamp, or green young gentlemen of the town, like Loman himself. From one of the latter Loman had the extraordinary “good luck” that afternoon to win three pounds over a wager, a sum which he at once handed over to Cripps in the most virtuous way, in further liquidation of his debt.
Indeed, as he left the place, and wandered slowly back to Saint Dominic’s, he felt quite encouraged.
“There’s eight pounds of it paid right off,” said he to himself; “and before Christmas something is sure to turn up. Besides, I’m sure to get some more money from home between now and then. Oh, it’ll be all right!”
So saying he tried to dismiss the matter from his mind and think of pleasanter subjects, such, for instance, as Oliver’s crime, and his own clever use of it to delude the Sixth.
Things altogether were looking up with Loman. Cheating, lying, and gambling looked as if they would pay after all!