"All about this, sir," replied The Chobb. "I am a gentleman, and I was in hopes any tenant of mine would be a gentleman also; but when you descend to such conduct as, in presence of these parties, you did last night—there is no excuse for it—even the state of intoxication you were in is no excuse—no excuse for it at all."
"No excuse for it at all!" repeated the general, looking stately and solemn, as before.
"Perhaps the gentleman did it for a joke, and will make it good," suggested the benevolent lawyer.
"Oh, that's a different matter!" said The Chobb, slightly relaxing; "and if the gentleman withdraws it, and replaces the sum correctly, I am the last man in the world to find fault with a harmless pleasantry."
"As I don't know what you mean,"—Frank began.
"Oh, let me explain it!" interposed the general. "You offered last night to pay my step-son, Colonel Chobb, a month's rent of your cottage orné in advance. He agreed to accept it, and the ten-pound note with which you discharged the amount turns out to be a flash note on the Bank of Fashion. These are the simple facts. I regret to state that appearances are against you."
"We do not know you, you will observe," said the lawyer. "And my brother, Colonel Chobb, is always a great deal too careless in money matters. He should not have let you the cottage without a reference."
"You also raised a slight suspicion by your attempt at a wrangle on the guinea stakes," added the medical man.
"I am bound to say," observed the general, "that it would have an awkward appearance in a court of justice."
"But"—